Therapy using the DRX9000 is an alternative to surgery for disc ailments.

Twice in a span of 12 years, Sharon Cox was in the wrong job at the wrong time. She was a mortgage broker when the housing bubble burst in 2008 and an asthma-suffering certified nursing assistant for a nursing home when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.

“I was the breadwinner in the house when the financial crisis hit, and we wound up losing our house,” Sharon shares. “After that, I decided to do something in the medical field. That’s how I wound up becoming a CNA. Then the coronavirus hit.

“I took medications and dealt with the asthma just fine for years, but when the pandemic arrived it was a different story. I knew I couldn’t work at the nursing home anymore after that, but things have worked out pretty well since.”

Since leaving the nursing home, Sharon has become the weekday caregiver to her 18-month-old grandson, Cooper.

“I love it,” the 52-year-old grandmother exudes. “My daughter and son-in-law are both working, so I am more than happy to step in and help. And I’m grateful that I’m healthy enough to be able to play with him and take him to parks and museums and things.”

That wasn’t the case a few months ago.

“We have chickens where we live, and my grandson and I were out gathering the eggs one day,” Sharon relates. “When we were finishing up, I turned around and swooped my grandson up to take him back into the house.

“As soon as I swooped him up, it felt as if someone had cut my spinal cord. The pain was excruciating, like nothing I’d ever felt before. I could barely move, and no one was home to help, so it took me three hours to crawl back to the house.”

Certain that she could not care for her grandson, her first call was to her granddaughter, who soon relieved Sharon of her duties. Her second call was to her husband, who came home a few hours later to find Sharon writhing in pain.

“It’s really amazing what this decompression machine can do for you.” – Sharon

“Because I was no longer working, I didn’t have health insurance, so my husband suggested that we go visit his chiropractor,” Sharon recalls. “He was hoping that maybe the chiropractor would be able to do something for me. The problem was getting me there.

“I couldn’t bend over, so it was a major chore just to get me in and out of the car. Then, once we got to the chiropractor, I was still in so much pain that I couldn’t even get up on the table to be examined.”

The chiropractor, Jeremy M. Gordon, DC, of DeLand Chiropractic & Spinal Decompression, eventually maneuvered Sharon into position to perform an examination. The findings of that examination and Sharon’s symptoms prompted Dr. Gordon to refer Sharon for a lumbar MRI, the results of which were shocking.

“The MRI showed that all the lower discs in my back were either squeezed all the way together so that no spinal fluid could come through them or were blown all the way out,” Sharon reports. “It also showed that the vertebrae were greatly deteriorated.

“Dr. Gordon told me that, considering the condition of my vertebrae, what happened when I picked up my grandson was bound to happen at some point no matter what I was doing. I could have suffered the same injury bending over and picking up a piece of paper.

“Then he said, You have two choices. I can refer you for surgery or we can try spinal decompression. I told him that, first of all, I was terrified to be put to sleep. And besides, I didn’t have health insurance. So, I said, Let’s try spinal decompression.”

Treatment That Works

Spinal decompression is a drug-free, nonsurgical therapy that can be used to treat bulging, herniated or protruding spinal discs; spinal stenosis; degenerative disc disease; neuropathy in the arms or legs; and postsurgical neck or back pain.

At DeLand Chiropractic & Spinal Decompression, these treatments are delivered with a table device called the DRX9000™, which is engineered to alleviate pain associated with sciatica, stenosis, and bulging or herniated discs.

“If you want the best results for your patients, you need the best equipment. That’s why we utilize the DRX9000 decompression system,” Dr. Gordon asserts. “It’s unequaled in design and clinical results.”

A typical session begins with the patient getting comfortable on the decompression table. The DRX9000 then creates a gentle decompressive force on the patient’s damaged discs. This reduces pressure on the discs, which helps retract some of the disc material into its natural position, rehydrating the injured disc and alleviating the pain.

The DRX9000 can be used to treat cervical and lumbar injuries through a program typically comprised of 24 appointments across 10 weeks. Each visit lasts about an hour, with the first 10 designed to determine the patient’s likely response.

“We start by treating patients five days a week for two weeks, and our goal is to see a 50 percent improvement in function and pain in those first 10 visits,” Dr. Gordon explains. “If we see that improvement, we continue with the remaining 14 treatments.”

DeLand Chiropractic & Spinal Decompression has charted the results of patients receiving its spinal decompression therapy for more than a decade and determined that its standard course of treatment is highly effective.

“After tracking hundreds of patients, I am very proud to report that our patient satisfaction rate exceeds 80 percent,” Dr. Gordon proclaims. “That’s a much higher satisfaction rate than invasive surgery.”

Decompression is normally followed by cold therapy and/or electrical muscle stimulation to restore proper muscle tone, decrease inflammation and maximize the effects of the treatment.

 

“Amazing” Results

Sharon sustained her back injury March 22. “That date is burned into my head,” she says. She began treatment on the DRX9000 a few days later. She was a little hesitant at first but knew she had to make an effort.

“I said to myself, Sharon, you’re just going to have to try this and do whatever it is they tell you to do,” she says. “And that’s exactly what I did. I showed up for every appointment even though I couldn’t drive and had to have somebody take me.

“I was very intrigued. Before the treatment starts, you step onto a table that’s upright and lean back against it. Then they harness you in at the top and bottom of the table, and once they’ve done that the table tilts back.

“Once it’s in a flat position, the table unlocks and starts to separate. With each appointment, they increase the decompressive force by 3 pounds. I made it up to 92 pounds by the time I was done, but I began to feel the effects sooner than that.

“After the third or fourth treatment, I was feeling so good that I got off that table one day, and I was ready to give someone a hug. I was feeling almost normal. Before that, I couldn’t get off the table without help.”

Despite the rapid improvement, Sharon followed Dr. Gordon’s recommendation and finished the course of 24 treatments. She also did physical therapy and received a massage, which “made a world of difference, too,” she notes.

“By the time my treatment was completed, I was able to take care of my grandson again and lift him up. I was able to drive again and do everything I normally do,” Sharon exudes. “And today, I feel fine. I take it a little easier now, but I can do everything I want.

“And I didn’t have to have surgery or take drugs or anything to get to that point. When you think about it, it’s really amazing what this decompression machine can do for you. I was so impressed that I took friends with me to my appointments so they could see it.”

Sharon says she would gladly recommend spinal decompression to anyone suffering with back pain. And she applauds Dr. Gordon and his staff for their passionate care. She says she’s fortunate her husband had long been a patient of Dr. Gordon’s.

“He’s a wonderful doctor, absolutely wonderful,” she concludes. “He really cares about his patients. When we started this, he said, Our goal is to help you feel better; that’s what matters. And that’s what they did. They got me feeling great again.”

More Information

• DRX 9000 Spinal Decompression