Local doctors treat Sciatica, disc problems without surgery

Andover - Jaime Martinez went to see chiropractors, doctors Andrew and Michael Grano, to see what their new DRX9000 Spinal Decompression System was all about. “I came here very skeptical,” she said, “Now I am a believer.” Martinez said she started with a pain level of about nine out of 10 and had a serious limp for three years. “After a few visits, I started feeling relief.” Now she’s at a pain level of zero and says the limp is history. “I can now dance, hike, ride my motorcycdle, etc. Without any pain.” The Granos have brought an innovative technology to Sussex County that is enabling them treat herniated and bulging discs, sciatica and serious lower back pain without surgery. The DRX9000™ True Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression System provides a primary treatment modality for the management of pain and disability for patients suffering with incapacitating low back pain and sciatica. It is designed to apply spinal decompressive forces to compressive and degenerative injuries of the spine. Surgeons perform an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 back surgeries per year, yet it is estimated that between 20 and 40 percent of these operations are unsuccessful. A new machine called the DRX900 seems to be changing that. Doctors Grano and Grano had heard of the DRX900, an FDA approved device that was supposed to save thousands from chronic back pain suffering and surgery, then “Our aunt had used it for a herniated disc down in Fairfield,” Andrew Grano said, “She raved about it, so we started really looking into it.” Research showed the Granos that there were “lots of imitations out there.” The DRX9000 is the only piece of equipment of it’s kind that’s approved by the FDA. “More than 10 years ago, NASA began to notice an unexpected result of space travel - Astronauts that left with back pain would return without it. “After investigating this new phenomenon here’s what they found: During the anti-gravity state of the mission there were de-compressive forces on the intervertebral discs and back pain was relieved,” said Andrew Grano. “When you travel through space,“ the Granos explained, “The effects of gravity are removed. All the pressure is taken off your spine and discs. Even better - and this is the key -- a negative pressure is created. This negative pressure actually sucks the herniated material back into the disc and allows it to heal. Thanks to the DRX9000™ , disc herniation sufferers finally have a non-surgical solution.” “You get what you pay for and [the DRX9000it’s the best, “ Andrew Grano said. Though it cost them $100,000, they were prepared to make the financial commitment and took out personal loans to purchase the machine. Because of the nature of the procedures performed with the machine, they needed to form a second business, so they enlarged Grano Chiropractic, adding Advanced Spine & Disc Care of Sussex County. Andrew Grano graduated from Pope John in 1990, and went on to earn a biology degree from Lycoming College then attended Chiropractic school at Sherman College of Chiropractic in South Carolina. Four years later, his brother, Michael, graduated from Pope John and went on to Villanova then to New York Chiropractic College. By the time the younger Grano graduated from chiropractic school, his older brother had already established a business and the family partnership was a natural with offices in Newton, Sparta and Hamburg. The Granos grew up in Sparta and both wrestled for Pope John High School. “It was our athletic background that led us to become chiropractors,” they said. The main conditions the DRX 9000 has documented success with are back pain, sciatica, herniated and/or bulging discs (single or multiple), degenerative disc disease, facet syndromes and a relapse or failure following back surgery. The machine is made by Axiom Worldwide and the doctors stress that these units are “the only ones that have been proven clinically successful and approved by the FDA.” Advanced Spine & Disc Care of Sussex County is offering a now obligation free consultation through which potential patients can see if they qualify for treatment. Typically, use of the DRX9000 is not covered by insurance. “I like to relate it to laser eye surgery and braces,” Dr. Andrew Grano said, “It’s something very effective that works and it’s used by chiropractors, orthopedic doctors and neurologists all over the country. Problem is, the insurance companies don’t yet realize its benefits.” Consequently, Advanced Spine & Disc Care of Sussex County offers payment plans for its patients. The DRX9000’s success is based on approximately 20 half-hour treatments four times a week for five weeks, the doctors said, “And people usually see results and improvements in how they feel after the first treatment.” Treatments are done in a relaxed environment where patients can either watch a DVD or sleep. There is a very strict protocol to qualify for use of the machine: hence the thorough qualifying consultation. The doctors need a history of any injuries and MRIs to indicate if there is any disc fusion, herniaton or aneurisms or cancer. Once there’s a green light, though, like the Grano’s aunt, long sought-after relief can be just a treatment away without surgery. People like Ed Burgio, of Lafayette, have seen immediate results. “This decompression therapy relieved my pain almost as soon as the session started,” he said, “All aspects of my life from walking to sitting to sleeping have changed for the better. Sleeping went from two to three hours a night to seven to eight hours a night. That is great.” This new technology saved Newton’s Terrie DeFabritis from surgery. “My only option was to fuse four vertebrae. I did not want surgery and it wasn’t a feasible option for me being a single mom and with my schedule. Since treatments, everything has improved! I have already recommended this treatment to others.” Patients can make an appointment to “qualify” for the procedure at any one of the doctors’ three offices in Hamburg, Oak Ridge or Andover, then the treatments are administered at the Andover office.