Across the river on SR-266
Three legs, one turn that matters.
| Leg | Road and direction | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Constitution Boulevard (2700 West), south | About 1.7 miles, to 4700 South |
| 2 | SR-266 east: 4700 South, then Taylorsville Expressway, then 4500 South | Crosses I-15 and State Street |
| 3 | 900 East, south | Plaza on the right, just north of Van Winkle Expressway |
Mind the name change on leg two. You set off east on 4700 South, but by the time the highway reaches I-15 it's called 4500 South, so don't hunt for the clinic along it. Confusing? A little.
Taylorsville sits on that same highway a bit closer in, and West Jordan, to the south, takes I-15 instead.
Olympic hockey, a mall and four highways
Maverik Center, the old E Center, hosted ice hockey at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and is home to the Salt Lake City Stars. On the TRAX Green Line, which opened on August 7, 2011, Decker Lake station serves the arena and West Valley Central serves Valley Fair Mall, with River Trail and Redwood Junction also inside the city.
Then count the roads. I-215, SR-201, Bangerter Highway and the Mountain View Corridor all serve West Valley City, which runs from the Jordan River on its eastern side toward the Oquirrh Mountains in the west. If your day includes any of them, it includes sitting.
Why should that matter? Because pain that's worse when you sit or drive is one of the patterns we look for when a disc might be involved. A night in the stands at Maverik Center, a long day on your feet at Valley Fair Mall, an event at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center: any of those can be when a back goes from annoying to hard to ignore.
The plan, and the evidence behind it
Everything starts with an exam by Dr. Cody Mecham, covering your history, an orthopedic exam and a look at relevant imaging. Facet, sacroiliac and muscular pain aren't what decompression is designed for, so the exam is really asking one thing. Is this a disc?
If it's a disc, you're usually looking at 20 to 30 sessions stretched across 8 to 12 weeks, in a pelvic harness on a table that cycles the pull rather than holding it steady. A checkpoint comes in the first 8 to 12 treatments. The full rundown is on what to expect from decompression sessions.
Fusion hardware, spinal fracture or instability, active cancer affecting the spine, pregnancy, aortic aneurysm: those don't get past screening.
Now the less comfortable reading. Wegner and colleagues' 2013 Cochrane review covered 32 randomized trials and 2,762 people and found traction had little or no effect on pain, function or return to work, and side effects such as increased pain were reported in 7 of 32 studies. We'd want you to know that going in, and our look at whether decompression works weighs it against the more hopeful results.
More on spinal decompression in Salt Lake City is on the home page. Ready? Schedule an appointment or phone (801) 590-8615.