I started playing piano when I was 22, and by 24, I had severe tendonitis on both arms because of poor technique. My wrists were locked, elbows too bowed, shoulders too tight and I basically white knuckled it all the way towards early retirement from the concert stage (I was never really on the stage, but you get what I mean).
If you’ve bounced around between as many physiotherapy clinics as I have, it’s possible that you’re going there just for the the whacky gear. You know, like the slightly modified gym equipment, the rack of tiny weights, the wide selection of bouncy balls, ropes, pulleys and elastic bands. Oh, and of course, the gentle, soothing pulse of the TENS unit.
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“If you took 100 people off the street and gave them MRIs, a third of them — even if they had no back pain whatsoever — would have obvious structural problems,” says Dr. Charles Rosen, M.D., clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine.
As spine treatment centres pop up in my city, I’ve noticed that many of these facilities (usually run by chiropractors), offer Spinal Decompression Therapy to relieve pressure on herniated or degenerative discs.
The basic premise of SDT involves laying on some sort of traction table, hooked up to a computer with electronic pulses stimulating certain muscle groups. By taking pressure off the disks, which function like gel cushions between the bones in your spine, the bulging or herniated disks can retract, taking pressure off nerves. With less pressure, the spine can move more freely increasing the movement of water, oxygen, and nutrient-rich fluids which promotes healing.
