Spinal Decompression Cost

Spinal Decompression is a non-invasive, non-surgical, and cost effective treatment for people suffering from disc pain in the back and neck. There are some significant advantages to spinal decompression, including – no needles and quick treatment visits.

Typically, each visit for spinal decompression ranges from $35 to $145 per visit, but speak to your health care provider about specific costs. Health insurance companies will rarely pay for this treatment, as it is provided by a chiropractor and many health insurances refuse to reimburse for chiropractic care.

Spinal decompression therapy is an FDA cleared medical technology. A simple explanation of it is that it is similar to traction in that it gently stretches the spine, decompressing the discs. This technique of spinal decompression therapy, that is, unloading due to distraction and positioning, has shown the ability to gently separate the vertebrae from each other, creating a vacuum inside the discs that we are targeting. This "vacuum effect" is also known as negative intradiscal pressure.

Practically speaking, the primary evidence for spinal decompression is anecdotal reports from patients. To date, there are no peer-reviewed articles in medical journals that support spinal decompression as an evidenced-based best practice for back pain. That doesn’t mean it may not work for you, but it does mean you need to be aware of the potential for no improvement, or even harm, as all medical treatments (even those which are proven effective in medical journals) have some risk.

One source of information, although from an industry perspective is The American Spinal Decompression Therapy Association. From there, you can find local providers, information on specific protocols and on which types of pain might be helped.