Enduring pain or enjoying life? Let Crossroads Chiropractic help maintain optimal spine health

While much of what we do is motivated by the desire to avoid pain, or the desire to gain pleasure, it's good to find something that does both.

When patients first visit Dr. Richard Mulcahy at Crossroads Chiropractic, it's almost always with a very strong motivation to get rid of pain, but the doctor looks beyond that. "I find out what passions they have," he said. "I ask, 'What would you love to do this summer that you haven't been able to do in a long time because of your back?'…" When they understand that it really may be possible to regain some of those activities, they get really excited."

Although he does business as Crossroads Chiropractic, Mulcahy admits it would be more accurate to call it a spinal rejuvenation clinic. "Dr. Mulcahy has been a practicing chiropractor for almost two decades, and in those years of experience, he's learned a thing or two about getting and keeping people healthy.

But it was in the practice of spinal decompression that he really found his niche, practicing a non-surgical method of reducing herniated discs, where the other options are living with the pain, or surgery. In his opinion, "Chiropractic is great, but spinal decompression is much better. Traditional treatment can help, but only to a point, and only for a limited amount of time." It also got him back to what he enjoyed. "I got into practice to help heal people," he said. "I really enjoy spinal decompression because there's so much improvement and a noticeable decrease in pain in such a short amount of time."

Using a model of the spine, Mulcahy clearly explains to patients the cause and effect of a herniated disc. A patient can see what needs to happen in their spine for pain relief, and also understand how spinal decompression not only relieves the pain, but helps to heal the disc from the inside out.

"During the decompression process, we're stretching the spine," he said, "and at a certain point there's a vacuum created in the joint that force feeds fluid into a dried out disc. This allows cells to regenerate." It's the regeneration of the cells that helps to restore the disc to a healthy state, allowing the spine to move freely without causing pain.

The process of spinal decompression seems deceptively simple. While it can appear as little more than lying on a table that stretches the spine to allow space between the vertebrae, effective use for long-term benefits is more involved. The details of an individual's treatment are prescribed after an extensive evaluation.

Typical treatment includes three visits a week, for six weeks. During a normal 20-minute session, the device alternately pulls and releases, painlessly allowing the tissue to stretch. Further healing of the tissue occurs during the days between decompression sessions.

During each session, the patient is monitored for progress, and adjustments are made at each step. This is where Mulcahy feels his years of practice as a chiropractor, and his extensive training in the specialty of spinal decompression are invaluable. With an 85 percent success rate for the procedure, it's something that frequently sells itself by word of mouth. And while he doesn't accept insurance, the cost of his treatment is a mere fraction of the cost of surgery with avoiding 100 percent of its risks.

The six week decompression process is followed by a period of core strengthening.

"Just getting out of pain, and healing the injured area is one thing," said Dr. Mulcahy. "But to keep that healing area protected, we need to reinforce it through strengthening the muscles that support the spine."

Besides the spinal decompression, Dr. Mulcahy practices the use of cold laser healing. He describes it as a process called photobiostimulation. "What we have is a laser with enough photon energy to permeate into the tissue up to four inches, and treat deep injury well by causing a rapid increase in protein synthesis. We're able to speed heal an injury three to five times faster by bombarding it with laser treatment, and it does it without heat." Laser healing has been used for decades in Europe, but was only recently approved here for use as a healing device.

Crossroads Chiropractic is located at 788 East Jackson St. in Millersburg. Mulcahy can be reached at 330-410-3749. From April 18-29, patients can get a complete spinal decompression qualifying examination for $39. See the Crossroads

This article was underwritten by Crossroads Chiropractic.