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JORDAN PYSZ / iFoundMyDoctor.com
Forrest no longer plays golf, but he still enjoys dancing with his wife, Sandy. After spinal decompression, he is doing so pain-free.
Most amateur golfers can only dream of hitting a hole-in-one. Forrest Fernung is not in that majority. Though the odds of an amateur acing a hole are about 12,500-1, Forrest achieved this feat four times.
“I wasn’t too bad back in the day,” says Forrest, 84. “I was an 8 or 9 handicap, regularly shooting in the mid- to upper 70s. But the longer I played, the worse I got because you just can’t hit the ball as far as you get older.
“But I did have those holes-in-one. I hit them all right around where I live now in Bonita Springs. We have three golf courses here, and I used to play them regularly, about three times a week. It’s been about five years since I last played, though.”
It wasn’t just the decreasing length of his shots that prompted Forrest to give up the game. A back problem played into the decision as well, a back problem that forced him to seek chiropractic care after almost every round of golf.
“I used to play on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays,” he relates. “I’d play on Monday and go to the chiropractor on Tuesday. Then I’d play again on Wednesday and go to the chiropractor on Thursdays.
“I did that for years because my back would always go out on me, and the chiropractor would get everything back into place. Then, one day, my chiropractor said he had something he wanted me to try. I agreed, and that changed everything.”
Drug-free, Nonsurgical
Forrest goes to Edward J. O’Neill, DC, a board-certified doctor of chiropractic at Bonita Chiropractic Center. The treatment is called spinal decompression.
A drug-free, noninvasive, nonsurgical option, spinal decompression can be used to treat bulging, herniated or protruding spinal discs, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, and postsurgical neck and back pain.
At Bonita Chiropractic Center, Dr. O’Neill offers this treatment using two advanced spinal decompression devices. One is the SpineMED® decompression table. The other is VAX-D®, or vertebral axial decompression.
Both use technology that gently stretches the spine and decompresses bulging or degenerated discs. They work by reducing the pressure in the spine, which allows fluids and nutrients to reenter the discs. This leads to a reduction in swelling, which lessens pressure on the nerves causing pain.
Dr. O’Neill notes that these devices can also be used to treat sciatica, pinched nerves (radiculopathy) and facet arthritis (syndrome), and they have proven to be more than 86 percent effective in alleviating back and neck pain.
Sessions last 25 to 30 minutes and begin with the patient relaxing comfortably on a computer-controlled table and secured by a pelvic belt or patented cervical collar, depending on the area being treated.
A computer program enables the table to make subtle movements that create a powerful vacuum, which gently draws the disc back to its proper orientation.
The repositioning of the disc allows for the reentry of the nutrient-rich fluids.
The SpineMED neck treatment typically consists of 20 sessions three to five times per week over four to six weeks. The VAX-D low back treatment usually requires 20 treatments over a four- to eight-week span.
“We’re not just relieving symptoms here,” Dr. O’Neill stresses. “These treatments are designed to correct the underlying issue causing pain, and they do so in a way that is effective and safe and avoids all the risks associated with surgery.”
-Dr. O’Neill
“Worked Out Great”
Forrest first tried spinal decompression therapy several years ago. He temporarily gave up his regular golf rounds during the treatment period to increase his chances of obtaining a positive response.
“Those treatments straightened everything right out,” Forrest enthuses. “After completing the recommended course of treatments, I went back to playing golf every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, and I didn’t have any serious problems with my back afterward.
“Now, there were a couple of times when I would start to ache a little bit, but when I did, I just went back in for a little maintenance treatment. But that only happened once or twice a year, and now that I don’t play golf anymore, I don’t have to go back at all.”
Although Forrest has given up his golf game, he has not quit another favorite activity: dancing.
Forrest and his wife enjoy dancing to music from the ’50s and early ’60s, and while they don’t do that regularly anymore, Forrest dances pain-free whenever he does.
“Spinal decompression worked out great for me,” Forrest confirms. “I don’t have any problems with my back right now, but I know that if I did, I could go right back to that same machine that I tried the first time, and it would fix me up again.
“That’s why I’ve already recommended spinal decompression to some people I know who have back problems and why I will continue to recommend it to anybody who has lower back problems, upper back problems, even neck problems.
“And I absolutely recommend Dr. O’Neill. I have known him for a long time, and I really like him. I’ve even sent my daughter and my wife to him, and they’re better too because of what he’s done for them. He just does great work.”
Live Pain Free – No Surgery Required
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