Taking Away the Pain

Spinal Decompression of Oklahoma helps patient return to her active lifestyle.

Claremore resident Barbara Moonen is grateful to Spinal Decompression of Oklahoma for helping her get back to an active lifestyle. Moonen underwent spinal decompression treatments to relieve the pain that was keeping her from the things she loved to do.

A trip to Minnesota in September, 2011 to visit relatives for a month left Claremore ­resident Barbara Moonen in pain – so much pain that it affected her sleep and her regular exercise routine.

    “Shortly after returning from the trip, I began to have pain in my right leg,” says Barbara. “It was a constant ­irritation and I didn’t know how the two were related – the drive to and from Minnesota and the pain.”

    Barbara turned to Ibuprofen and an ice pack on the affected knee to relieve the pain. “I ­purchased the wrap-around ice pack designed especially for knee pain when I was getting some custom orthotics made for my walking shoes. It provided ­temporary relief.”

    During a routine physical the following April with her ­primary care physician, Dr. Dwight J. Korgan, Barbara mentioned her leg pain. “He ­didn’t think it was my knee but my back that was causing the problem,” she said. “I didn’t think it was my back, but Dr. Korgan thought the long drive I had taken to and from Minnesota was the cause of the pain.”

    Back pain, according to ­statistics, affects 85 percent of the U.S. population at some point in their lives. “I had never had back pain before,” adds Barbara. “In fact, I rarely get sick and don’t go to the doctor very often. I thought stress might be causing my problem.”

    Barbara has always been active. “I exercise a lot, including walking and weights.” The pain led to cutting back on her ­walking routine. “I just couldn’t walk as much. I kept cutting back from my normal three miles a day until I was only walking one mile,” she says.

    Eventually, she took up ­riding a stationary bicycle at the Claremore Recreation Center. “It didn’t hurt my knee like walking did,” she adds.

    Dr. Korgan ordered X-rays of Barbara’s back, which revealed arthritis. However, after an MRI to discover the root of the problem, she learned that the very last vertebra in her back was pinching a nerve. “Dr. Korgan said I had three options,” she says. “Do nothing, have surgery or try spinal decompression therapy.”

    Barbara knew she couldn’t continue with the pain. “I wasn’t sleeping,” she said. “I had to do something but surgery wasn’t an option I wanted to consider. I knew others who had chosen that route and it hadn’t worked—at least for them.”

    Spinal Decompression proved to be the answer. For two weeks, Barbara went in daily for her 45-minute treatment. As she progressed, her visits were cut back. “Eventually, I was doing so well that Dr. Korgan agreed that I didn’t have to complete the entire course,” she adds. “He did give me four different back stretching exercises to do daily for the rest of my life. I do two sets of ten when I get up in the morning.”

    Barbara found relief from her pain after the fourth visit. While there is no pain during the actual treatment, Moonen said she used an ice pack on her lower back after the treatment for the first few times. “It wasn’t really pain but more of an ache,” she says. “I also had to take it easy during this time so my husband took over a lot of the housework for me.”

    According to Barbara, “The staff at Spinal Decompression of Oklahoma is not only helpful but nice. They couldn’t be any ­better.” She is so pleased with her results that she is back exercising at the Rec Center and has already referred several others to the office. “I tell them to at least check into spinal decompression if they are in pain.”

    To find out more about Spinal Decompression of Oklahoma, check out their ­website at www.SDOBack.com or call (918) 341-1250.

 For more information, contact

Spinal Decompression of Oklahoma

www.SDOBack.com

About Author Carol Beck-Round

After 30 years in public school education, Carol Round retired and moved from Grand Lake to Claremore, Oklahoma in 2005, where she writes a weekly faith-based column which runs in 14 Oklahoma newspapers as well as several national and international publications. Three volumes of her columns have been compiled into collections: A Matter of Faith, Faith Matters and by FAITH alone. She has also written Journaling with Jesus: How to Draw Closer to God and a companion workbook, The 40-Day Challenge. This past year she has written three children’s books, a series called Nana’s 3 Jars, to teach children about the value of giving, saving and spending money. All of Carol’s books are available through Amazon. In addition to writing her weekly column, authoring books and speaking to women’s groups, she writes for Value News. She also blogs regularly at www.carolaround.com. When she is not writing or speaking, she loves spending time with her three grandchildren, working in her flowerbeds, shooting photos, volunteering at her church or going on mission trips overseas, and hiking. She is also an avid reader and loves working crosswords and trying to solve Sudoku puzzles.