“I have had sich a great experience seeing Dr. Bergin. When other offices have told me I just had muscle damage or the only thing they could do for me was give shots, he said he had others ways to manage my pain and numbness, along with improving mobility. And he was right! I feel so much better! With such friendly staff and welcoming office environment, it makes for an amazing experience. I'll definitely continue seeing him!”
Service
Knee Decompression
in Lakeland and The Villages, FL
Non-surgical knee care for people who have been told the next step is a replacement. Dr. Justin Bergin, DC has been in practice 22 years, and both offices run the same knee program.
- 22 years in practice
- Doctor of Chiropractic led
- Non-surgical
- $47 new-patient exam
Medically reviewed by Dr. Justin Bergin, DC Updated September 18, 2026
Knee Decompression at ChiroMed
Has someone already said the word replacement?
You have been told the knee is bone on bone. You have had one injection, then another, and then a suggestion that it is time to talk about a replacement.
What nobody offered you was anything in between.
What sits in the gap before surgery?
Knee decompression sits in that gap. It gently separates the surfaces of the joint, so the tissue being squeezed gets a period when it is not carrying your body weight.
It is also uncommon. No other clinic in Lakeland or the Lady Lake area currently offers it, and patients drive in from across Polk County and from the north end of US-441.
Who decides whether it belongs in your plan?
Dr. Justin Bergin, DC has spent 22 years asking why a joint hurts instead of how fast it can be numbed.
Knee decompression is one part of the joint and regenerative recovery programs we run. Whether it belongs in your plan is decided at the examination, not on the phone.
It is one of the treatments offered through our sports medicine clinic.
What knee decompression actually does
Knee decompression is a non-surgical treatment that applies controlled traction to gently separate the surfaces of the knee joint. Easing that compression takes load off irritated tissue and lets the joint move with less pain. There is no incision, no injection and no anesthesia.
A knee that hurts under load is usually a knee that is being squeezed. Cartilage thins, the space inside the joint narrows, and every step drives the bone ends closer together.
That is the process described in the National Library of Medicine's osteoarthritis overview. The smooth cartilage that pads the bones breaks down and roughens, and in advanced cases it wears away entirely and the bones rub together.
Decompression works on the mechanical half of that problem. It changes how much load the joint carries, which is a different job from changing what the joint is built of.
What it can change is how the knee feels through a normal day, and how far you can walk before pain stops you.
Where a knee is irritable but structurally sound, that is often enough to change the conversation about surgery.
How it works
The pull
A measured pull is applied along the length of the leg while you lie down. You stay clothed and the equipment does the work.
The release
The pull is held, then released, in a rhythm rather than one long stretch. The joint gets repeated spells without your body weight pressing through it.
The exchange
Unloading is also meant to encourage fluid to move through the tissue, and to give an irritable knee a genuine rest from compression.
Who knee decompression helps
- Knee pain driven by compression inside the joint
- An arthritic knee that is irritable but structurally sound
- Pain that is worse under load and eases with rest
- Injections that helped for a while and then stopped helping
Who it does not help
- Knee pain referred down from the hip
- Knee pain referred down from the lower back
- Pain sitting in the tendon or ligament rather than inside the joint
- A joint surface that has already worn away
- Instability from a ligament tear that needs surgical repair
Background reading from an independent authority: the National Library of Medicine's plain-language overview of osteoarthritis.
Conditions we treat with it
You can read more about each one. The examination decides which of them applies to you.
Why patients choose it
Nothing enters the body
No needle, no incision, no anesthetic and no recovery day. You stay clothed, you get off the table, and you drive yourself home. For someone who has already been through injections that wore off, that matters.
It treats load, not just the pain signal
An injection quiets inflammation for a while. Decompression addresses the mechanical reason the joint became inflamed in the first place. Those are different jobs, and one of them tends to hold longer than the other.
The doctor who examined you runs the plan
Dr. Justin Bergin, DC performs the examination, explains the findings, and stays accountable for whether the knee is improving. Nobody hands you to a technician with a package to fill.
The knee is not treated in isolation
Hips and lower backs refer pain into knees. A spine clinic notices that. Most knee clinics are not looking for it.
Cost, insurance and financing
Nobody can price a knee program over the phone, and a clinic that does is pricing a package rather than your knee. The cost here depends on what the examination finds.
The one published price
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47
What affects the cost
- Whether decompression is the whole plan or one part of a wider knee program
- Whether the hip or lower back is feeding the problem and needs treating too
- Whether imaging is needed to decide, or you already have recent films
- How long a course the findings support, which is set after the examination and never before it
What a course includes
- The consultation with Dr. Justin Bergin, DC
- The examination, and X-rays if they change the plan
- The written report of findings and the recommended course
- Reassessment as the course progresses
Payment:
Knee decompression is self-pay. If chiropractic care is part of your plan, that part can be billed to insurance, and our team verifies those benefits before your first visit.
Medicare coverage varies by plan and by service, and our front desk will tell you exactly what applies before you commit to anything.
Payment plans are available for self-pay care, and the front desk tells you which plan fits your course of care.
Either way the first step is the same: Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47.
The equipment this uses
Why ChiroMed
Does being the only clinic with it matter?
Being the only clinic in either market that offers knee decompression matters less than what surrounds it.
Dr. Justin Bergin, DC can unload the joint mechanically and treat the tendon around it with Omniwave shockwave.
What if the knee is not where the problem starts?
He can treat a lower back that is referring pain down the leg with spinal decompression, and treat nerve symptoms with Neuromed electroanalgesia.
That happens on one plan, in one building, with one person answerable for the outcome.
How long have those parts been under one roof?
He built that practice across 22 years: chiropractic, decompression, regenerative, metabolic and vitality care under one roof.
The schedule is concierge, so you are not rushed out of the room.
Where you would be treated
Where is the Lakeland office, and who is it close to?
The Lakeland office is at 6595 Florida Ave S, Suite 13, in South Lakeland. It is on S. Florida Avenue near Southgate Shopping Center and Lakeside Village.
That is an easy run from Highland City, Christina, Grasslands, Scott Lake and Dixieland, and a few minutes off the Polk Parkway.
Is the Lady Lake office closer to you?
The Lady Lake office is at 929 US-441 #404, just north of CR 466. That puts it a short drive from The Villages, Summerfield, Wildwood, Fruitland Park, Oxford and Leesburg.
Both offices run the same knee program, so you are seen at whichever address is closer to home.
In Lakeland that is 6595 Florida Ave S, Suite 13, Lakeland, serving Polk County. In the Villages market the office is at 929 US-441 #404, Lady Lake, serving Lake County, Sumter County, Marion County. Dr. Justin Bergin, DC performs the examination personally at both, 22 years into practice.
More on sports medicine clinic.
Available at our 2 locations
Treatment at our Lakeland office, and also at:
From the ChiroMed Journal
Longer reading on this subject, written by the practice rather than bought in.
- Alpha-2-Macroglobulin and Joint Protection: What the Research Actually Shows
A2M is a blood protein that blocks cartilage-degrading enzymes. What the lab work supports, what one randomized knee trial found, and where the limits are.
Knee Decompression in recent research
These sources are independent of this practice and none of them endorses it. They are listed so the reasoning behind the care can be checked rather than taken on trust.
- Osteoarthritis: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Steps to Take
The NIH summary of what is actually recommended for osteoarthritis, led by exercise and weight management, which is the frame any knee program sits inside.
- Exercise for osteoarthritis of the knee
Finds low to moderate certainty that exercise improves knee pain and function short term, which is why loading work runs alongside any table time here.
- Physical modalities for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a network meta-analysis
Compares physical modalities including laser and shockwave for knee osteoarthritis and finds heterogeneous results, so no single modality is the settled answer.
Compare your options
Real alternatives exist, including ones this practice does not perform. Here is the honest set.
| Option | What it is | Typically considered when | Invasive? | Offered at ChiroMed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knee decompression Our approach | Controlled mechanical traction that separates the surfaces of the knee joint and unloads compressed tissue. | The knee hurts under load, imaging does not show a destroyed joint surface, and you want to try mechanics before medication. | No. No incision, no injection, no anesthesia. | Yes |
| Omniwave shockwave | Acoustic pressure waves delivered through the skin into tendon, ligament and soft tissue around the joint. | Pain sits in the tendon or ligament around the knee rather than inside the joint itself. | No. Delivered through the skin at the surface. | Yes |
| Cortisone or hyaluronic acid injection | A steroid or a lubricating gel placed into the joint space by a medical provider. | Pain is severe and fast relief matters more than the mechanics underneath it. | Minimally. A needle enters the joint. | Not performed here. Appropriate when a flare has to be quieted quickly, or when a specialist wants to test whether the joint itself is the pain source. |
| Radiofrequency ablation | Heat delivered through a needle to interrupt the small nerves that carry pain signals away from the knee. | Injections gave short relief and a longer block is wanted before surgery is discussed. | Minimally. A needle is placed under imaging guidance. | Not performed here. Appropriate when a pain specialist has confirmed which nerves carry the pain and conservative care has not held. |
| PRP or orthobiologic injection | Blood-derived or cell-derived material injected into the joint by a medical provider. | A patient wants a biologic option and has been told what is known and what is not. | Minimally. An injection into the joint. | Not performed here. Appropriate when a medical provider has counselled you honestly on what the evidence does and does not yet show. |
| Total knee replacement | An orthopedic operation that replaces the worn joint surfaces with an implant. | Imaging shows end-stage disease and quality of life has dropped far enough to justify the recovery. | Yes. Major surgery followed by a structured rehabilitation period. | Not performed here. Genuinely the right call when the joint surface is gone and pain wakes you at night. Also right when walking distance has collapsed and conservative care has had a fair trial. |
Three of these belong to a surgeon or a pain specialist. If your knee needs an operation, we will tell you early. Selling you a course of care that was never going to work helps nobody.
Is knee decompression right for someone like you?
Candidacy is decided at the examination, not on a web page. These are the general lines.
Likely a good candidate if
- Knee pain that is worse under load, on stairs or after standing, and eases with rest
- Imaging shows joint space narrowing or osteoarthritic change, but the joint surface is not destroyed
- Injections helped for a while and then stopped helping
- A replacement has been suggested and you want conservative care to have a fair trial first
- You can get on and off a treatment table and tolerate a gentle sustained pull on the leg
We will point you elsewhere if
- End-stage bone on bone disease where the joint surface is already gone
- An active infection in or around the knee
- A recent fracture, or a knee still healing from one
- Instability from a ligament tear that needs surgical repair
- A joint replacement already in place, or unexplained swelling that has not been worked up
When we are not the right answer, we say so, and connect you with someone who is.
Your first visit
What to expect, step by step
The first visit is an examination of the knee and of the hip and back above it. Dr. Justin Bergin, DC checks how the joint moves and loads, and looks for pain that is actually coming from somewhere else.
He explains what he found and whether knee decompression fits. The plan is set at your report of findings.
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01History and examination
How the knee behaves under load, what makes it worse, what it stops you doing. Dr. Bergin watches you walk, tests the joint, and screens the hip and lower back. A knee is often where a problem lands rather than where it starts.
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02Imaging where it changes the decision
X-rays are taken when they will change what we recommend, not as a formality. If you already have recent films, bring them and we will read them with you.
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03Report of findings
You sit down and hear what was found, whether knee decompression suits your knee, what else belongs alongside it, and what the course will cost. Nothing begins before that conversation.
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04Sessions and reassessment
You lie down, the leg is positioned, and the pull is applied and released in a rhythm while you rest. Progress is measured against what you could not do at the start: the stairs, the walk, the night. The plan is adjusted, or stopped, on that evidence.
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An adjustment that is not aimed at a specific finding is just noise. We treat what the exam and the X-ray tell us to treat.
“Dr. Bergin was instrumental in relieving my back pain which I had for many years. The techniques he used on relieving my back pain were impressive. I been going to chiropractors for years and Dr. Bergin is the best. Thank You Dr. Bergin :)”
“Took a good amount of time going over my preliminary results and going over potential care plan. Great adjustment and doesn’t sugarcoat when discussing. Would recommend”
“The environment is incredible at this office with the staff and also both doctors are extremely friendly and great at what they do”
“Amazing, Super friendly and talented Staff and Doctors! My back was a hot mess after a semi hit my car on my first day moving to Florida. But after going through the treatment program I was able to get my neck, my back and my life in alignment. It was a total transformation. Thank You New City Chiropractic!”
“Hands down the best chiropractic office out there! They are super friendly and make me feel comfortable to tell then what’s wrong. They always ensure the best treatment for their patients!”
“I absolutely love this place , it is like going to visit family. They are always so pleasant , happy , and professional. I always enjoy seeing the ladies , they always put a smile on my face and even if I am having a bad day. The doctors are always so friendly and concerned with my well being. I actually look forward to going there and miss them on the days that I don't go.”
“I only wish it was closer. You are welcome it's definitely a compliment and I have read the great comments people made about the facility and staff! Amen Open one in Auburndale please!!”
“HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend coming here if you have any pains in your back or neck!! These guys are AMAZING at what they do!! Just a few months into coming here, I feel a change in the way I walk, the way my head sits on my shoulders, and I just feel GREAT; ALL THE TIME!! Crazy what some little adjustments did for me!!”
“This is an awesome chiropractic!! They are all nice and kind! Ever Since I have been adjusting my back, I don't need to take medicine before I go to bed. Also, I have been sleeping without waking up in the middle of the night because of the pain!! I really recommend the chiropractic 😊”
“Dr. Bergin at Chiromed Wellness Centers is the best chiropractor in town. I no longer have to take pain meds. If you still have pain, you’re not seeing to best chiropractor.”
“Love this place!! Cynthia and Angie are amazing! So nice and helpful!! The chiropractor’s are also amazing!! Just a great place overall! I highly recommended it!!”
“Look them up I waited so long to see a chiropractor and I found this place and am so happy that I did . Love the Drs they are so helpful and make feel like family.”
“The staff is super friendly and they walked me through the whole process. I’ve been going for a few weeks now and I’m already feeling results! The treatment the offer is very hands on and informative. I’ve never had manual adjustments until coming to this office and the staff makes you feel comfortable and takes care of your needs. Highly recommend !”
“The best Chiropractic center in South lakeland! love it here the Doctors are very urged to help with any of your needs, the beautiful assistants are nice and helpful they really make you feel welcomed. Most highly recommended Chiropractic Center. :)”
“Muy profesional la atención es formidable todos los empleados son muy amigables.Y muy efectiva sus terapias..Los recomiendo 100x100%”
“My pain has decreased dramatically, I’m no longer stretching and moving my neck in every angle trying to find relief. Every part of my body I can feel is finally getting closer to symmetry! All I can say is you should give new city a try!”
“I love this place!! They're very caring for their patients and strive to help you feel better. I strongly recommend giving them a try. I promise you won't regret it”
“The staff is very knowledgeable and organized, they get to know you and are flexible about fitting your treatment in to your life. They use proven methods to treat the root of your issues and the results are incredible. I was in a lot of pain after a car crash and within a few weeks I was able to go back to my normal routine with no discomfort.”
“I have seen and feel the change in my body since I started, I use to have major pain in my knees and neck ache. I'm an athlete and constantly need more adjustments, and every time I come I always without a doubt feel welcomed and important.”
Get in touch
Find out whether your knee is a candidate
One examination, one honest answer, and a written plan before anything begins.
- 1
Send the form
Two minutes. Tell us what hurts and which office is closer.
- 2
We call you back
A real person, during office hours, to find a time that works.
- 3
Exam and answers
History, orthopedic and neurological testing, imaging on site when it changes the plan.
- $47 consultation, exam, X-rays if needed and report of findings
- Payment plans available on the self-pay programs
- 4.8 out of 5 from 225 Google reviews
- Choose Lakeland or The Villages on the form
Knee Decompression questions
Tap a message for the honest answer. Call Lakeland (863) 940-3444
What is knee decompression, and how is it different from a knee replacement?
Knee decompression uses controlled traction to separate the joint surfaces and take load off compressed tissue. A replacement is an operation that removes the worn surfaces and fits an implant.
One is a course of outpatient sessions with nothing entering the body. The other is major surgery.
Decompression suits knees that are irritable but structurally sound.
What type of doctor is best for knee pain?
It depends on the problem. An orthopedic surgeon handles torn ligaments, locked knees and end-stage joint disease. A pain specialist handles injections and nerve procedures.
A Doctor of Chiropractic working in non-surgical joint care is a sensible first stop. That is especially true when the knee hurts under load and nobody has checked the hip or lower back.
Does Medicare cover non-surgical knee treatment?
Coverage varies by plan and by service, and nobody should answer that for you over the phone.
Some chiropractic services are billable. Cash-pay device and regenerative programs generally are not.
Bring your card to the first visit and our front desk will tell you exactly what applies before you commit to anything.
Can knee pain come from my back or hip?
Yes, and it is missed constantly. The nerves supplying the knee leave the lower spine, and a hip that has lost rotation changes how the knee tracks with every step.
If nothing on the knee examination reproduces your pain, the source is usually above it. Both are screened here as part of the knee examination.
How much does knee decompression cost?
There is no honest single number, because the course is set by what the examination finds rather than sold in advance.
What moves it is whether decompression is the whole plan, whether the hip or lower back needs treating, and whether imaging is required.
The one fixed figure is the $47 new patient exam and report of findings.
Same-week appointments
Tired of Living in Pain Without Real Answers?
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47.
- 4.8 out of 5 on Google
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47