You tried chiropractic and you’re still in pain

Short answer: non-surgical spinal decompression is not a chiropractic adjustment, and “chiropractic didn’t work” does not tell you much about whether decompression will. An adjustment is a brief, manual force applied to a joint to restore its motion. Decompression is a slow, machine-controlled traction cycle, held for around twenty minutes, to unload a disc or a nerve root — a different mechanism, a different target, a different course of care. Having already tried chiropractic or other conservative care is the norm among our patients, not the exception. It also does not mean decompression will work for you.

What an adjustment does, and what decompression does

  • A chiropractic adjustment applies a quick, precise force to a joint that is not moving well. It restores motion and can relieve a great deal of pain. What it does not do is hold a sustained unloading force on a disc.
  • Non-surgical decompression uses a computer-controlled table to apply a gradual pull, held and cycled over a session, aimed at a specific disc level. The goal is to take pressure off that disc and the nerve root near it.

One restores movement to a joint. The other holds a sustained stretch on a disc. Neither is “better” in the abstract — they address different mechanical problems.

Most of our patients were in your position

If chiropractic, physical therapy, injections or medication have not held, you are not an outlier here. A large share of the people who start decompression with us have already tried conservative care first. That is reassuring, but it is not a prediction.

Why manual care sometimes isn’t enough for a disc

An adjustment restores motion to a joint; it does not hold a sustained unloading force on a disc for twenty-odd minutes at a time. When the pain is being driven by pressure on a disc or a nerve root, the sustained, targeted unload is the thing that was missing — not because manual care is wrong, but because it is built for a different part of the problem.

So does it work when chiropractic hasn’t?

  • 62% had a clinically meaningful reduction in pain (95% CI 58-67%, n=426).
  • The worst-case floor is 34% — counting every patient who ever started a course as a failure (n=975).

And the limit: having failed chiropractic tells us nothing about whether you will respond to decompression. No characteristic we measured reliably predicts who responds. We cannot promise that failing one thing means succeeding at another, and we will not.

What is actually different about a course here

  • A course, not a single visit. Typically 12 to 24 sessions.
  • The DRX9000. A computer-controlled decompression table, not a manual technique. See the DRX9000.
  • A screen up front. Dr. Frye reads your films — an MRI is not required — and tells you plainly whether you are a candidate.
  • Referral out when we are not the right answer.

When it still won’t be enough

Decompression is not for everyone. Prior spinal fusion patients respond least well (39%, 95% CI 20-61%, n=18 — small sample, directional), and central canal stenosis is the lowest of our well-sized diagnostic groups (45%, 95% CI 35-55%, n=87). See who decompression does not help.

We won’t take your case unless we’re confident decompression can help you.

Book the $47 exam · Call (661) 949-9655

Frequently asked questions

Is this just traction? It is a targeted, computer-controlled form of traction, built to ramp the pull past the muscle-guarding reflex that limits older traction and inversion tables.

Is it the same as an inversion table? No. An inversion table uses your body weight and cannot target a specific disc level; the DRX9000 applies a controlled, programmed force to a chosen level.

Do I have to stop seeing my chiropractor? No. Manual care and decompression address different mechanical problems and can be complementary.

Related: The DRX9000 · Does spinal decompression work? · Who decompression does not help · Results and methods · Sciatica · Home