Where does the patient go when the pain won’t go away? Deep pain, disabling pain, can destroy a person’s life. Working with my partner Dr. Perry Bard, my son Dr. Jason Kaplan, and our 200 plus Disc Centers of America clinics in over 41 states, we are working to treat in a safe, effective way with Non Surgical Spinal Decompression, NSSD. Today, countless medical doctors and institutions are recognizing this amazing technology. NSSD has revolutionized back pain treatments and has made spinal surgery (and other back pain treatments) way less popular! Simply go online and look up Failed Back Surgery Syndrome, FBSS. Our clinics are winning, and so can you.
Because NSSD failed-back surgery, patients have finally found relief after surgery that worsened their conditions. With new technology, it’s obvious they may not have needed surgery in the first place. In one recent study in the Journal Neurosurgery of the Spine in February of 2010 , which was conducted in the prestigious Johns Hopkins University Hospital entitled “Long-term Back Pain after a Single-level Discectomy for Radiculopathy: Incidence and Health care cost analysis.” The results were quite shocking, and stated “At a mean follow-up of 37.3 months after primary discectomy, 75 patients (68%) experienced minimal to no back pain, 26 (23%) had moderate back pain requiring conservative treatment only, and 10 (9%) suffered severe back pain that required a subsequent fusion surgery at the site of the primary discectomy. The mean cost per patient for conservative treatment alone was $4696. The mean cost per patient for operative treatment was $42,554. The estimated cost of treatment for mechanical back pain associated with postoperative same-level degeneration or instability was $493,383 per 100 cases of first-time, single-level lumbar discectomy ($4934 per primary discectomy).”
The fact is: back surgery is expensive and has had very disappointing results recently. It is also very risky. There are many side effects associated with any type of surgery. I always have told my patients, “The difference between major surgery and minor surgery is minor surgery happens to someone else.”
The cost for the treatment of low back pain is staggering. Back pain is a billion-dollar industry. According to the Newsweek magazine article The Price of Pain, by Karen Springer, in 2005, Americans spent $85.9 billion looking for relief from back and neck pain through surgery doctors’ visits, X-rays, MRI scans, and medication. This cost was up from $52.1 billion in 1997, according to a study in the February 2013 13 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
She went on to report, “Not only are more people seeking treatment for back pain, but the price of treatment per person is also up.” In the JAMA study, researchers at the University of Washington and Oregon Health & Science University compared national data from 3,179 adult patients who reported spine problems in 1997 to 3,187 who reported them in 2005—and found that inflation-adjusted annual medical costs increased from $4,695 per person to $6,096 per person.
Spinal patient costs were also significantly higher than for nonspinal patients. “People with back problems cost 76 percent more on average, than people without back problems each year,” says study co-author Brook Martin, a research scientist at the University of Washington.
In a research study by Binod Prasad Shaw MD of Albert Einstein Medical College and Michele K. Shaufele of Emory University they state that “ in recognition of the extreme burden and impact that musculoskeletal disorders have on society, the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) have designated 2000-2010 as the bone and joint decade.” They report that 10 million Americans are currently disabled due to back pain.
Why would any patient consider surgery when...
Clinical studies have shown non-surgical spinal decompression to be successful (good or excellent relief) 86% and 92% of patients with herniated discs and degenerative joint disease—without the side effects. These results were shown in the study by neurosurgeon Dr. Dennis McClure.
Clinical studies have shown Decompression Therapy to be extremely effective in treating back pain. In a recent study published in Orthopedic Technology Review, Decompression Therapy was shown to be 86% effective in treating herniated and degenerative discs. Another study published in Anesthesiology News showed that after 4 years over 91% remained pain free.
• In the Journal of Neurological Research Vol. 20, No. 4, April 1998, researchers stated: “We consider decompression therapy to be a primary treatment modality for low back pain associated with lumbar disc herniation at single or multiple levels, degenerative disc disease, facet arthropathy, and decreased spine mobility. Physiology (pain and mobility) and pathology correlate imprecisely. We believe that post-surgical patients with persistent pain or ‘Failed Back Syndrome’ should not be considered candidates for further surgery until a reasonable trial of decompression has been tried.”
• In the Journal of Neurological Research Vol. 23, No. 7, October 2001, the researchers stated: “For any given patient with low back and referred leg pain, we cannot predict with certainty which cause has assumed primacy. Therefore surgery, by being directed at root decompression at the site of the herniation alone, may not be effective if secondary causes of pain have become predominant. Decompression therapy, however, addresses both
primary and secondary causes of low back and referred leg pain. We thus submit that Decompression therapy should be considered first, before the patient undergoes a surgical procedure which permanently alters the anatomy and function of the affected lumbar spine segment.”
• In that same Volume of the Journal of Neurological Research the Senior Lecturer in Orthopedics at Sydney University stated “Successful reduction of intradiscal pressures with decompression therapy represents a technological advance in lumbar spinal treatment and is likely to affect both the biomechanical and biochemical causes of discogenic pain.”
Clinical studies have shown Decompression Therapy to be extremely effective in treating back pain. In a recent study published in Orthopedic Technology Review, Decompression Therapy was shown to be 86% effective in treating herniated and degenerative discs. Not only that, but another study published in Anesthesiology News showed that after 4 years over 91% remained pain free.
Decompression Therapy should be considered first, before the patient undergoes a surgical procedure which permanently alters the anatomy and function of the affected lumbar spine segment.”
Surgeons are an important part of our medical system. I work and review with surgeons, often Spine surgeons, who are typically trained as orthopedic surgeons or neurosurgeons, they do essential things. They repair traumatic injuries; they excise spinal tumors; they fix congenital abnormalities. But except for top-tier physicians who usually work at academic medical centers, disc procedures are usually not their mainstay. About 60 percent of patients who walk into a spine surgeon’s clinic have back pain that will be diagnosed as “ordinary,” “axial,” “mechanical,” “degenerative,” “functional,” or “nonspecific.” Too often, surgeons point to these commonplace artifacts on an MRI and diagnose “degenerative disc disease,” recommending lumbar spinal fusion surgery as the best option. But there’s a problem with this now common procedure, in which the intervertebral disc is excised and adjacent vertebrae are connected with cages, screws, plates, rods, and other medical devices. Some studies show that lumbar fusion succeeds in barely 40% of patients. Now is the time in history for taking the lead in the treatment of disc injuries.
Spinal Decompression has been shown to:
• Enlarge the Disc Space.
• Reduce Herniations.
• Strengthen Outer Ligaments to Help Move Herniated Material Back into place.
• Reverse the High Intra-Disc Pressures Through the Application of Negative Pressure.
Let’s Summarize
Spinal Decompression was cleared by The Food and Drug Administration. You’ve gotten to know them as the FDA. The main conditions treated with non-surgical spinal decompression, which has documented success are:
• Pinched nerve—neck or low back
• Sciatica
• Herniated disc (or herniated disk)
• Bulging disc
• Ruptured disc
• Torn disc (or disc tear)
• Collapsed disc
• Disc protrusion
• Disc degeneration
• Degenerative disc disease
• Disc disease
•Facet Arthrosis
Are there conditions that are contraindicated?
Yes, pregnancy, fractures, severe osteoporosis, tumors, cancers, Ankylosing Spondylitis, post-surgical conditions with hardware (rods, screws, plates, cages) and recent fusions to name a few. Greater then Grade 1 Spondylolisthisis, contact your manufacturer for the complete list.
Time to Take Control
Doctors, now is your time to win in the disc world. This year marks our 10th annual National Certification I founded with my partner, Dr. Perry Bard. This event has been held at Parker University, National University, and this at year Life University. It has been sold out the last two years, it a 12unit CEU event. If you want to be the best, come learn with the best.
So doctors, face the facts, in reality, you’re the president of your own personal-services corporation. You were put on earth to heal. You’re completely in charge of your success, of your clinics production, quality control, training and development, marketing, finance, and promotion. Thinking of yourself passively, as being employed and, therefore, subject to the dictates of someone else, can be fatal to your long-term success. On the other hand, seeing yourself as self-employed forces you to see that you also are self-responsible and self-determining, that everything that happens to you happens because of your conduct and your behavior. You’re in the driver’s seat. You’re behind the steering wheel of your life, of your practice. Educate the masses on what you do, on being the best doctor you can be. It’s up to you to decide how to utilize your talents and abilities in such a way as to bring you the very highest return on investment of your time and energy. No one else is going to do it for you. You’re the boss. Others can help you, guide you, direct you, channel you, point you in the right direction and even give you opportunities. In the final analysis, however, no one but you can make the critical decisions that will determine your future and your fortune. Make NSSD the first choice, the second choice, and the third choice, prior to surgery. The future is in your hands. Study, work hard, study, “The road to success is always under construction.”
Now is your time to dominate disc disease, to be the doctor yon always wanted to be. Good luck
During 34-plus years as business partners, Dr. Eric Kaplan and Dr. Perry Bard have developed Disc Centers of America, Concierge Coaches, and the first national certification program for non-surgical spinal decompression a 12 CEU credit event. Being held for the 10th anniversary on November 5,6. This event has been sold out for two years running.
Dr. Jason Kaplan is a Parker University graduate practicing in Wellington, Florida with his wife, Dr. Stephanie Kaplan. Jason also is an Instructor for Disc Centers of America and teaches techniques for the National Certification Program at Life University. To learn more, call 888-990-9660 visit thechiroevent. com or decompressioncertified.org.
References
1. http .'//medical-dictionary, thefreedictionary. com/spinal+ decompression
2. http: //www. med. nyu. edu/hjd/hjdspine/education/glossary/definitionlist.html
3. http: //www. siirgeryencyclopedia.com/Fi-La/Laminectomy.html
4. http: //www. vaxd. net/about.htm
5. http://www. vax-d. com/WhatsbmbspnbspNew/AnLooklnside/ tabid/8 3/Default, aspx
6. Shealy C Norman; Koladia, Nirman; Wesemarm, Merrill M (July 2005). “Long-term Effect Analysis ofIDD Therapy in low back pain: a retrospective clinical pilot study” (PDF). American Journal of Pain Management (American Academy of Pain Management) 15 (7. 7. 7.) Sherry, Eugene: Kitchener, Peter; Smart, Russell (October 2001). “A prospective randomized controlled study of VAX-D and TENS for the treatment of chronic low back pain. ” Neurological Research 23 (7): 780—784. doi: 10.1179/016164101101199180. PMID 11680522.
7. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA). HCFA Technology
