Spinal decompression is a non-surgical, computer-controlled traction treatment for disc-related back pain and sciatica, and at Mecham Chiropractic it follows an exam, takes 20 to 30 sessions across 8 to 12 weeks, and usually isn't covered by insurance.
These are the questions that don't fit neatly on any one page. Some are practical. A couple might feel a little silly to ask — they aren't.
Care by Mecham Chiropractic · 4700 South 900 East
Four questions get whole pages of their own. There's what spinal decompression costs, whether Utah insurance covers it, whether it works at all, and what each session is actually like.
The short versions are below. Tap a question to open it.
Non-surgical spinal decompression is a form of motorized traction: a computer-controlled table pulls gently along the spine in repeating cycles, aiming to ease pressure on an irritated disc and the nerve root beside it. Nothing is cut or injected.
Non-surgical decompression and decompression surgery share a name and not much else. Surgical decompression, such as a microdiscectomy or a laminectomy, is an operation done by a spine surgeon; the non-surgical version is a traction session on a table.
An inversion table tips you upside down and lets your own body weight do the pulling. A decompression table like the DRX9000 sets the force by computer and cycles it up and down so spinal muscles don't brace. We couldn't find a trial comparing the two directly.
The DRX9000 is one of many. Aetna's policy names more than a dozen vertebral axial decompression devices, including the VAX-D, the Accu-SPINA System, the Lordex Lumbar Spine System and the SpineMED table, and it treats every one of them as unproven.
Spinal decompression isn't a height treatment. The 2010 DRX9000 study found disc height on CT scans rising from 7.5 to 8.8 millimeters, a change measured inside the spine, and nobody should expect a measuring tape at home to notice.
Spinal decompression isn't risk-free. The 2013 Cochrane review found side effects reported in 7 of 32 trials, including increased pain and worsened nerve symptoms, which is why people with fractures, fusion hardware, spinal cancer, significant osteoporosis, an aneurysm or a pregnancy are screened out first.
University of Utah Health lists spinal stenosis among the conditions decompression therapy is used for, but the controlled evidence for traction in general is weak. Whether stenosis is really what's driving your symptoms, and whether you're a candidate, is something an exam has to sort out.
Home stretches, hanging from a bar and inversion tables all get called decompression online, but none of them is a screened, computer-controlled session. If you have disc symptoms, especially pain travelling down a leg, check with a clinician before trying any of them.
Spinal decompression isn't used on people with fusion hardware such as screws, rods or cages, according to Mecham Chiropractic's screening list. Any other past surgery gets discussed at the exam, so bring whatever surgical records you have.
Age alone doesn't rule decompression out; the patients in the 2010 DRX9000 study averaged 65 years old. Bone strength matters more than birthdays here, since osteoporosis past a safe threshold is on the screening list.
Decompression is sold as a series of sessions rather than a single visit, and insurers generally won't share the cost. A 2020 FairWarning investigation reported about $3,500 for a full DRX9000 course, which is why it's worth asking what happens if you stop early.
Vertebral axial decompression has its own HCPCS code, S9090, billed per session. Aetna lists that code as not covered for the conditions in its policy, so seeing S9090 on an estimate likely means you'll be paying for it yourself.
Spinal decompression is worth paying for only if it changes your symptoms, and the research can't promise it will. The protection is a plan with a checkpoint: meaningful improvement by treatments 8 to 12, or the plan gets reconsidered before it goes any further.
HSA and FSA funds are for medical care, and IRS Publication 502 names chiropractor fees as a medical expense, so decompression is usually payable from either. The plan administrator decides, so keep an itemized receipt showing the diagnosis and the service.
Mecham Chiropractic is at 4700 South 900 East #16, in the Ivy Place center on the west side of 900 East at Van Winkle. The mailing address reads Millcreek, UT 84117, though the building sits on the Murray side of the city line.
Mecham Chiropractic is open Monday and Wednesday 8:30 am to 12:00 pm and 3:30 to 6:00 pm, Tuesday 3:00 to 6:00 pm, Thursday 2:00 to 6:00 pm, and Friday 7:30 am to 1:00 pm.
Mecham Chiropractic says most people in Utah can see a chiropractor without a medical doctor's referral, so you can call the clinic directly. If your insurance plan has referral rules of its own, check those before your first visit.
Bring any MRI or X-ray reports, a list of your medications, and a rough timeline of when the pain started and what makes it worse. If you've already tried physical therapy, injections or other care, that history helps the exam too.
Call (801) 590-8615 or use the scheduling form on this site. The first step is a conversation, then an exam, and decompression only comes up if that exam supports it.
Dr. Cody Mecham checks whether your pain actually behaves like a disc problem before anyone talks about sessions. If decompression isn't a fit for you, that's the first thing you'll hear.