Dr. Boydston's Back Pain & Sciatica Blog

What Causes Degenerative Disc Disease?

Dr. Robert Boydston, a Chiropractor in Fresno...utilizing the DRX9000 Spinal Decompression System, Explains:

Your lumbar spinal discs...are cartilage structures...that act as cushions for your spine. Cartilage is a tough, durable tissue...in large part because it does not have a direct blood supply. Since the discs don't have blood vessels that go directly into them...they have to use a different process to stay hydrated and healthy.

This process is called imbibition...the pumping action in the discs and tissues. With every movement of your spine...you move fluid, oxygen, nutrients, and wastes, in and out of the discs. It is this gentle pumping action that brings the good nutrients in and takes the toxic waste products out.

When there is an injury to the disc...the disc's function is damaged. When the disc gets damaged it begins to lack the ability to pump.

Here is where the story gets good. Let’s use a short analogy...think of your lumbar discs like a clear, beautiful pond.

When you have a healthy pond...there is a stream coming in and a stream going out that circulates the water.

This circulation brings the good stuff in (nutrients) and takes the toxic waste out. Creating a healthy environment. You can picture it now: the fish, lily pads, frogs, and other LIFE in the pond. This means the water is more alkaline and livable.

Let’s look at it another way.

If this pond of yours...and it has it's incoming stream dry up or slow down to a trickle (this simulates an injury)...what happens to the pond water and the life in it?

The pond begins to dry up...that green slimy stuff is all over...and it starts to stink. The water gets murky, stagnant...and all the life in the pond begins to die.

This is exactly what happens to your discs. After an injury, your discs lose the ability to pump (circulate fluids). That allows them to slowly dry out, crack & tear.

The pond water becomes more acidic too, just like your discs. It is this acidity that leads to Degenerative Disc Disease or DDD as it is often referred to.

How does acidity lead to degenerative disc disease?

Well, acid, by nature, eats things. Basically all of the acid from the stagnant disc (the toxic waste that couldn’t be pumped out is held inside the disc), slowly, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, and month by month is slowly eating away your discs.

It causes inflammation as it DESTROYS and damages the tissues.

When the tissues in your back are so acidic, you can do all the exercises in the world and you won't...you can't fix the problem. As your discs dry up more pressure is created. This increased pressure accelerates the problems and the damage in your back. It's a viscious cycle.

I have patients who bring in multiple sets of x-rays. As we sit down together and review the x-rays we see a common pattern...the degeneration of the discs has progressed with each consecutive year. We then have to ask..."What is causing this problem to progress?"  Then I sit down and explain what I just explained to you.  

Often times the patient feels that they have been doing the right things. They may be exercising and even recieving regular chiropractic spinal manipulation.

The problem is...we need a way to pump the acid out of the disc, and bring oxygen, fluid, and nutrients into the disc...or the disc is going to continue to degenerate.

In my Fresno Spinal Decompression Center, we use the DRX9000 Lumbar Disc Repair System. The DRX9000 uses a very precise, computerized, decompressive force...that gently separates the lumbar vertebrae. The decompressive force creates a negative pressure inside the disc, a vaccum-like effect, that pulls nutrients into the disc, and pushes acid out. Through this process we can restore normal motion and rehydrate the disc. Not only halting the degenerative process...but actually reversing the problem.

Before the invention of DRX9000 Spinal Decompression just a few years ago...there was no way to non-surgically repair degenerative discs. Now with advanced technology we can not only stop the degenerative disc disease process...we can reverse it.

Do you suffer with degenerative disc pain, and would like to see if the DRX9000 and the ATM2 Back Pain Machine can help you? Call the Boydston Institute...in Clovis, CA...just 2 blocks east of Fresno...at 559-297-9218. Ask for a Spinal Decompression Consultation with Dr. Robert Boydston.

Degenerative Disc Disease - Treatment With The DRX9000

Dr. Robert Boydston, a Chiropractor in Fresno...utilizing the DRX9000 Spinal Decompression Machine...explains:

Your spinal discs, a fibrous piece of cartilage that sits between each vertebrae, act as shock absorbers in your spine. They cushion and absorb shock from your everyday movements. With each spinal movement you move fluid in and out of your discs, through a pumping mechanism call imbibition. This pumping action keeps the discs flexible and hydrated. 

When a spinal joint loses it's normal movement, through injury and loss of proper brain control mechanisms, it will lose this pumping action, and the disc will begin to dehydrate,  and build up acid waste products. The disc then become cracked and brittle. This can cause the discs to bulge or herniate. It also leads to approximation of the posterior spinal joints...creating pain and stiffness. This process is termed Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD).

I consult with chronic back pain patients every day at my Fresno Spinal Decompression Center. Most DDD patients have never been given any real treatment options. It was always assumed that once a disc began to degenerate there was little that could be done to stop or reverse the process. That was before the introduction of the DRX9000 Spinal Decompression System a few years ago.

The DRX9000 creates a decompressive force, resulting in a negative vacum-like force within the disc. This infuses the disc with fluid, and pulls bulging disc material toward the center of the disc. With the appropriate number of treatment sessions the disc can gain height, become more flexible, and more fluid filled.

As Fresno's leader in spinal decompression therapy we help degenerative disc disease sufferers relieve the pain and discomfort that often accompanies this condition. Finally there is an option that doesn't involve the line, "your just going to have to live with it." You DON'T have to live with it, at least not anymore.

Do you suffer with degenerative disc pain, and would like to find out if the DRX9000 can help you? Call the The Boydston Institute in Clovis, just 2 blocks East of Fresno...ats 559-297-9218. Ask for a Spinal Decompresssion Consultation with Dr. Robert Boydston. If you have question Contact Us.