Pain treatment goes beyond the back

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Herniated and degenerative discs can cause excruciating back and neck pain. Medication can help mask the pain, but doesn't fix the problem.

"We can actually help stabilize the patient and, if not get them completely off medication, reduce them," Dr. Richard Busch of Busch Chiropractic said. "There is a need for medication, but it doesn't address where the problem is coming from."

Busch's approach to pain goes beyond the back.

"We're not only looking at what symptoms there are, we're looking at the entire patient," he said.

The DRS protocol is part of Dr. Busch's holistic approach. It's non-invasive and allows the body to actually heal itself.

"We're pulling the disc level apart, creating a pressure gradient between the inside and the outside of the disc. That allows oxygen, water and nutrients surrounding the disc back into the disc to have what it needs to heal," Busch said.

Part of the protocol, which Busch developed over the last 15 years, is looking at a patient's physical, spiritual and psychological well-being too.

"We don't just medicate the stress and not deal with back pain from a completely different stand point because, very often, they're one and the same or closely related," he said. "Using a little bit of everything is, I think, one reason we've had such long-term success in what we're doing."

Many of Dr. Busch's patients have tried other treatments or had surgery without success. He hopes to help people avoid more drastic measures.

"You can always have surgery later, but you can never have it undone. If we can do things more holistically, from a natural standpoint, you can use other stuff later if we need it. But, for the most part, we can avoid a lot of problems now," Busch said.

Watch the extra videos in this story to learn more about how a disc becomes herniated and how the DRS protocol works.