Ancient Egypt cures sore backs in Scotland

Published on Sunday 15 November 2009 21:48

A SCOTTISH clinic is the first in the UK to deploy a modern twist on an old therapy to treat patients with chronic back pain, it emerged yesterday.

The technique, known as intervertebral differential dynamics (IDD) therapy, is said to employ basic principles of traction that can be traced to ancient Egypt.

But unlike traditional "stretching" techniques that rely on weights, pulleys and a therapist's own muscles, IDD uses a computer-controlled machine to manipulate the spine.

The machine is being used at the private Buckingham Clinic in Glasgow, which said many patients had already benefited from the technique.

IDD was first introduced at the Buckingham Clinic in 2008 and has proved so popular that earlier this year a second machine was installed.

IDD therapy is delivered by the Accu-SPINA machine – a bed linked to a computer into which the patient is strapped and which applies a carefully targeted form of physiotherapy.

After identifying problem areas with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, individual sections of the spine are repeatedly mobilised and decompressed while the patient remains fully clothed. Sessions last 25 to 30 minutes.

James Sneddon, an osteopath at the clinic, said: "Interestingly, most patients say they actually enjoy the treatment, quite a change from some of our treatments.

"Many say how delighted they are with the improvement after what is often years of pain."

Back pain is the leading cause of disability and lost working days in Europe, and is estimated to cost the UK 1.6 billion a year.

While in most cases the condition resolves itself, in some patients it can become chronic and debilitating.

Many different approaches are used to treat back pain. In trials, spinal decompression as employed by IDD has led to a marked improvement in 86 per cent of patients.

One study published in the European Musculoskeletal Review showed a 92 per cent success rate for 129 IDD patients categorised as surgery candidates.

Steadfast Corporation, the US supplier of the Accu-SPINA machines, hopes to see IDD introduced at other UK clinics.

European director Stephen Small said: "IDD therapy is no miracle cure-all for back pain. However, from the evidence and what we see in clinics around the world on a daily basis, back pain programmes incorporating IDD therapy enable many patients to enjoy the sort of improvements which are simply not possible with standard conservative treatments alone."

However, experts yesterday expressed scepticism over the IDD method.

Physiotherapist Kirsten Lord, managing director of the Edinburgh Physiotherapy Centre, said:

"Every single person is different and every person requires a different combination of treatment approaches.

"Something that helps one person is not going to help another. It is about finding all the issues that are affecting that individual sufferer and addressing those issues by clear and concise application of techniques and then a reassessment after those techniques."