Saying no to surgery for Sciatica and Herniated Discs

When you are screaming in pain, surgery sounds quick, clean and easy. The problem is that the stuff they take out of you will not grow back, and the cuts they make will leave your back weaker than ever. The chances of getting back to normal are slim, and the chances of winding up with a re-herniated disc are better than ever. In addition, you will grow scar tissue where the surgery happened, so now you have one more thing to cause back pain.

Before I had my back surgery, people had warned me. Some suggested more rest, some suggested more physical therapy, and others suggested more 'way out' solutions. I just wanted it fixed, and a NeuroSurgeon showed me the technology, so I wanted to get it over with. The problem is that you cannot undo the procedure!

The second time I herniated it, there was no way I was going to go for yet another surgery. One of my friends had told me about something called Vax-D, which is a sort of traction, and is very expensive. He said it had really helped his brother. So I checked it out, and it turned out that there was a VAX-D clinic very close to me. Here is the one I went to. The company that makes the VAX-D machine is here http://www.vax-d.com/. More info on Vax-D here.

I read all about it, and it looked like snake oil to me. I researched it on the net and found some people swearing by it and some against it. I also found competign companies like this one: http://www.spinemedtherapy.com/. They seem to be at war with one another, each blasting the other and boasting themselves as the only real solution. Ahhh, the confusion!!!

Since there was a VAX-D clinic near me, I decided to talk to them. Their answer was $5,000 and 35 sessions. Pretty expencive, but I decided to give it a try. Along with that, I did do epidurals.

The people at the clinic had me on a strict set of vitamins and excercise, in addition to the VAX-D. It was a very well-rounded program, and within 6 weeks, I was actually better. I wasn't just better, I was actually great. It was the best I had ever been since surgery!!!

Now I didn't like the idea of forking out $5,000 if my back went out again, so I did more research to see if I could duplicate the results myself, or at least use something along those lines to stay it off. Here is some of what I found:

ISO-TRAC - http://www.iso-trac.com/
This is a home-built VAX-D type machine that the guy sells for something like $350. He swears it is the same thing. I haven't tried this (I haven't needed it), but if my back goes again, this is where I am going first.

Inversion Machines
The principle seems to be the same. I spoke to some physical therapists, and they agree. The one that seemed the best was the Teeter Dex. You can see it here: http://www.sitincomfort.com/dexcoindeexm.html. I actually went out and bought one, although I got mine on ebay. Whenever my back feels a little tweaked, I get on this thing for about a minute, and it REALLY helps quite a bit!

The McKenzie Method
Robin McKenzie seems to be the miracle worker of physical therapy for backs. He is from Australia, and has developed this method that every physical therapist I have talked to highly respects. It consists of a series of excercises that more or less do the same thing the inversion machine and Vax-D do. In fact, the home excercises the Vax-D clinic had me do were, in fact, McKenzie excercises. His book, Treat your own back, should be on your shelf tomorrow! I use these excercises every single day now.