The TriMed Protocol
One plan. Every therapy your recovery needs. The right order, at the right time — designed by Dr. Cantor.
Why a protocol — and not just a machine
Anyone can buy equipment. Results come from what’s built around it.
Chronic back pain, neck pain, and sciatica are almost never one problem. A compressed disc is also an inflamed disc. Weakened muscles surround it. Restricted joints compensate above and below it. Poor tissue healing keeps the cycle going. Treat only one piece and the others pull you right back to where you started — which is exactly why so many patients arrive here saying “I’ve tried everything” when what they’ve really tried is one thing at a time.
The TriMed Protocol treats the whole problem. It’s built around non-surgical spinal decompression — and complemented by seven supporting therapies, each with a specific job, delivered in a deliberate sequence.
1. DRX9000 Spinal Decompression — the centerpiece
The foundation of the protocol. The DRX9000 applies computer-controlled spinal decompression to a specific spinal segment, gently reducing pressure inside the disc. That pressure change is what creates the conditions for a bulging or herniated disc to retract and rehydrate — addressing the structural problem that drives most disc-related back pain, neck pain, and sciatica.
Dr. Cantor is DRX9000-certified and an Excite Medical preferred provider, and has documented measurable disc-height improvement in treated patients. Spinal Decompression is where the protocol begins — but on its own, it’s not where recovery ends. The disc it relieves still sits in a body that needs healing, strength, and support. That’s what the rest of the protocol is for.
2. Class IV Laser Therapy
A high-powered therapeutic laser that delivers energy deep into injured tissue, where it stimulates cellular activity, increases circulation, and reduces inflammation. In the protocol, laser is typically used early and often: calming the inflamed tissue around a compressed nerve so the structural work of spinal decompression isn’t fighting a fire at the same time.
3. Red Light Therapy
Lower-intensity light in wavelengths shown to support cellular energy production and tissue repair. Where Class IV laser targets deep, specific structures, red light supports broader tissue recovery and is often used across a treatment phase to promote healing between spinal decompression sessions.
4. Shockwave Therapy
Acoustic pressure waves directed into chronically damaged soft tissue — the stubborn, scarred, poorly-healing areas that often accompany long-standing spine problems. Shockwave restarts a stalled healing response and breaks up adhesions that restrict normal movement. In the sequence, it’s aimed at the soft-tissue problems that spinal decompression alone was never designed to touch.
5. Therapeutic Ultrasound
Sound-wave therapy that warms and treats deeper soft tissue, improving circulation and easing muscle guarding around the spine. Often used to prepare tissue before hands-on work — loosening what’s tight so manual therapy can accomplish more.
6. Manual Therapy & Adjustments
Hands-on care from the TriMed team: joint mobilization, soft-tissue work, and chiropractic adjustments when your case indicates them. Spinal Decompression changes the disc; manual therapy restores how the segments above and below it move. This is the part of the protocol no machine replaces.
7. Targeted Nutrition & Supplementation
Discs and soft tissue heal with raw materials the body has to actually have on hand. Based on your case, Dr. Cantor provides specific nutrition guidance and supplement recommendations that support tissue repair and help manage inflammation from the inside — so the healing the other therapies stimulate has what it needs to finish the job.
8. Guided Home Exercise
Your spine spends one hour in our office and the rest of the week with you. Every protocol includes specific, progressive home exercises — prescribed at the right phase of care, not photocopied from a binder. Early on, that may mean gentle positioning and walking targets; later, core and postural strengthening that protects the correction we’ve achieved. Patients who do their homework keep their results. We make sure you know exactly what yours is.
Documented with imaging — not guesswork
Your progress isn’t measured by how you feel on a good day. Where clinically appropriate, we take X-rays and review imaging before care begins and again after a course of treatment — so changes like disc height and spinal alignment are documented objectively, side by side. You see the before and after. Very few practices measure their own results this way; we consider it part of the protocol.
The order matters
Eight therapies aren’t a protocol — eight therapies in the right sequence are. Inflammation is calmed before structure is corrected. Tissue is prepared before it’s worked. Strength is built after pressure is relieved, not while the nerve is still screaming. Every case is staged differently, which is why every plan at TriMed starts the same way: Dr. Cantor reviews your history, your exam, and your imaging — and builds your sequence from there.
No two protocols are identical, because no two spines are.
TriMed Protocol FAQs
What is the TriMed Protocol?
The TriMed Protocol is our complete treatment system for back pain, neck pain, and sciatica — built around DRX9000 non-surgical spinal decompression and complemented by supporting therapies including Class IV laser, red light therapy, shockwave, therapeutic ultrasound, manual therapy and adjustments, targeted nutrition and supplementation, and guided home exercise. Rather than a menu of services, it’s a coordinated, sequential plan — each therapy has a specific job at a specific phase of care.
Does every patient receive every therapy?
No — and that’s the point of a protocol. Your plan is built from your history, examination, and imaging. Some cases call for the full sequence; others need spinal decompression with just a few supporting therapies. What every patient gets is the same method: the right therapies, in the right order, at the right time, with one physician directing the plan from start to finish.
How is the sequence decided?
By your case, not by a template. Dr. Cantor reviews your exam findings and imaging, then stages care in the order healing actually requires — for example, calming inflammation before correcting structure, and building strength only after pressure on the nerve has been relieved. Your plan comes with a defined timeline, and it’s adjusted as your progress is measured, including before-and-after imaging where clinically appropriate.
Is the TriMed Protocol covered by insurance?
Coverage varies by plan and by therapy — some components are commonly covered, others are typically self-pay. Our team verifies your benefits before care begins and explains exactly what’s covered and what isn’t, so there are no surprises. If your condition stems from a car accident, Florida PIP rules may apply, and time limits matter.
Conditions the Protocol treats
Already have an MRI? Bring it.
Dr. Cantor personally reviews your imaging and gives you a straight answer on whether the protocol can help — and if you’re not a candidate, we’ll tell you that too.
TriMed Spine & Joint · 307 Via De Palmas, Boca Raton, FL · 561-750-5416