Show #435 Airing Sunday, 5/25/08
How long did it take you to get out of bed this morning? A few weeks ago, one of our producer’s brothers struggled for 45 minutes. And he’s only 29 years old. That’s what a bad back can do! Here to explain how to fight “back” against back pain is Dr. Noel Abood from the Solon Spine and Wellness Center, and his patient, Lou Trivisonno.
Question:Lou, you're too young to have back pain. What's the story?
Answer: Ever since high school, I’ve periodically gotten a stiff lower back, having trouble getting out of chairs. Through the years, this back pain has worsened. About 6 months ago, I started being stiff more often. I walked around work looking like I had a rake up my back. The pain spread down my leg.
Between exercising and shoveling this winter, my back took a huge turn for the worse until, one morning, it took me 45 minutes to get out of bed. At that point, I did what any other 29-year-old man in pain would do—I called my mother. She told me that my sister Maria had a guest on the show that dealt with back pain. Maria gave me Dr. Abood’s name and number, and I got an appointment.
Question:Dr. Abood, what shape was Lou in when he arrived?
Answer: Pretty bad shape. He was obviously in a lot of pain. We had him do a session of lumbar decompression and then sent him to get an MRI of his back. We rushed the results and got them the next morning. Lou had a disc herniated 9 millimeters, which is about 3 times the average. We started him on lumbar decompression right away.
Question:Lou, can you give us a patient's eye view on lumbar decompression?
Answer: Sure. First, you walk into Dr. Abood’s office, and his entire staff treats you very nice. As far as the lumbar decompression, you strap a harness on your waist/pelvic/lower back area, and put on a jacket that crosses over your stomach. You lie down in place on the table. The lower harness has a cord that is attached to the decompression machine while the upper jacket has straps attached to the table. The machine then gently stretches your back at 30-second intervals over 30 minutes. The procedure concludes with 10-15 minutes of icing your back.
At the start of treatment, it took me 45 minutes to actually get off the table. But now, I can hop off it.
I also had physical therapy for some time, though that has ended.
Question:Dr. Abood, how does lumbar decompression help?
Answer: When the back is stretched in lumbar decompression, the machine is able to mimic zero-gravity, which allows the disc material to grow thicker and therefore again cushion the nerve.
Question:Lou, how do you feel now?
Answer: Good. I feel like I’m 29 years old again! After a week of the decompression, I was at about 50%, when at the start I was at a 0. After three weeks, I was at 75%. Now, at some points I feel 100%, some times 90%.
The best part is that there was no surgery and no painkillers. I can’t stand the way painkillers make me feel!
Back relief without surgery is not a stretch of the imagination. To learn more, call the Solon Spine and Wellness Center. My thanks to Dr. Noel Abood and Lou Trivisonno. (And no, he’s not related to Mike).
