What to Expect From Spinal Decompression, Session by Session

Before the first session: the exam

Decompression doesn't start until Dr. Cody Mecham has examined you.

That exam covers your history, an orthopedic exam and a review of whatever imaging is relevant, so bring your imaging reports if you have them. It's answering two questions. Does your pain behave like a disc problem? And is there anything that makes decompression unsafe for you?

Mecham Chiropractic treats these patterns as pointing toward a disc:

• pain that's worse sitting or driving, stop-and-go I-15 commute included
• pain traveling below the knee, the usual path of sciatica
• trouble bending forward or getting up from a chair
• flare-ups that settle and then come back

Some findings rule decompression out altogether. A fracture or unstable segment in the spine, hardware left by a fusion, cancer that's active in the spine, osteoporosis past the point where pulling is safe, a pregnancy, or an aortic aneurysm all mean no, and you'll be told so directly rather than sold a plan.

Your first time on the table

For low back work, a pelvic harness is fitted, and the computer in the DRX9000 table controls the pull.

It isn't a steady pull. The force builds, eases off and builds again, because a constant stretch makes the muscles along the spine brace against it and a cycling one gives them less reason to. That rhythm fills most of a session lasting about 20 to 30 minutes.

Does it hurt? It isn't supposed to.

If you feel real pain during a session, say so right then. At Mecham Chiropractic that's a stop-and-reassess moment, not something to grit your teeth through.

The checkpoint at treatments 8 to 12

If you want one reason to trust a plan, this is the part we'd point to.

Around treatments 8 to 12, Dr. Cody Mecham looks at whether anything meaningful has changed. When it has, the plan continues. When it hasn't, the plan is reconsidered, rather than running out the remaining visits on hope.

Why so early? One reason is the research. When Cochrane reviewers pooled 32 randomized trials in 2013, traction made little or no difference to pain or function, and a treatment with that record should have to show something in your own back, soon. The other reason is arithmetic: in a plan of 20 to 30 sessions, a third to two-thirds of the visits come after the checkpoint, and so does a big share of the cost.

What counts as meaningful? A pain score is only part of it. Tell us about the things that shape your week: sitting through a meeting, sleeping through the night, getting out of the car at a Big Cottonwood trailhead without planning the move first.

Nobody has a formula that predicts who'll pass the checkpoint. We'd rather find out in 8 to 12 visits than guess before the first one.

Finishing the plan

Once the checkpoint goes well, the rest looks a lot like the early visits: same table, same 20 to 30 minutes, alongside chiropractic care and guidance on how you sit, stand and move.

And how long does the relief last once the plan ends? We don't have reliable evidence on that, and we won't make up a number. What we can say is that the table was never the whole plan; the position and movement habits you leave with are meant to stay useful.

Soreness and side effects

Mild soreness the day after an early session isn't unusual. Mention it at the next visit.

Pain on the table is a different matter, and it means we stop and reassess.

Research has recorded worse outcomes, too. Side effects turned up in 7 of the 32 studies in the 2013 Cochrane review: increased pain, aggravated neurological signs and subsequent surgery. Report new numbness, weakness that's getting worse, or any change in bladder or bowel control straight away, and treat that last one as an emergency.

Between sessions

This part stays general on purpose, because the specifics come from your exam.

Every plan at Mecham Chiropractic includes advice on position and movement. If your week involves long stretches in a car, whether that's a drive to St. George or an afternoon crawling along I-15, ask how to break them up. Tell us what reliably sets off a flare, too. It's information the plan can use.

How this plan compares with other protocols

Decompression protocols vary, and the sources don't agree on a standard.

A longer protocol isn't automatically a more careful one. Ours is the longest of the three, and more visits means more money when you're paying out of pocket, which is why the checkpoint matters more than the headline session count.

For prices and what insurers say, see what spinal decompression costs in Salt Lake City. For whether any of it works, read our honest look at the decompression research, and when you're ready, book the exam online.