“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.”
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
- 22 years in practice
- $47 new-patient exam
Medically reviewed by Dr. Justin Bergin, DC Updated September 14, 2026
Knee Decompression at ChiroMed
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. Knee decompression sits in that gap. It is a mechanical treatment that gently separates the surfaces of the joint so the tissue being squeezed gets a period of the day 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, which is why patients drive in from across Polk County and from the north end of US-441. 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](/regenerative-medicine/), and whether it belongs in your plan is a decision made at the examination, not on the phone.
This page sits under sports medicine clinic, the ChiroMed sports medicine clinic pillar.
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 wears away entirely until the bones rub together. Decompression works on the mechanical half of that problem. A controlled pull is applied along the length of the leg, held, then released, in a rhythm rather than one long stretch. The intent is to unload the joint, encourage fluid to move through the tissue, and give an irritable knee a genuine rest from compression. **What it is not.** Decompression does not rebuild cartilage you have already lost, and an honest clinic will not tell you otherwise. What it can change is how much load the joint carries, 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.
Background reading from an independent authority: the National Library of Medicine's plain-language overview of osteoarthritis.
Conditions we treat with it
Each of these has its own page, and each one links back up to this service. 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, the absence of risk is the point.
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. What a course costs here depends on what the examination finds.
The one published price
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47
What moves 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 a cash-pay program at ChiroMed. Chiropractic care here bills insurance and our team verifies those benefits before your first visit, but the regenerative and device-based programs are self-pay. 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. Ask the front desk 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.
Why ChiroMed
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, treat the tendon around it with Omniwave shockwave, treat a lower back that is referring pain down the leg with spinal decompression, and treat nerve symptoms with Neuromed electroanalgesia, on one plan, in one building, with one person answerable for the outcome. That is the practice he built across 22 years: chiropractic, decompression, regenerative, metabolic and vitality care under one roof, on a concierge schedule that does not rush you out of the room.
Where you would be treated
The Lakeland office is at 6595 Florida Ave S, Suite 13, in South Lakeland, on S. Florida Avenue near Southgate Shopping Center and Lakeside Village, an easy run from Highland City, Christina, Grasslands, Scott Lake and Dixieland and a few minutes off the Polk Parkway. The Lady Lake office is at 929 US-441 #404, just north of CR 466, which puts it inside a short drive of 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 your kitchen table.
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.
This page links up to its parent hub only: sports medicine clinic.
Compare your options
Real alternatives exist, including ones this practice does not perform. Here is the honest set.
| Criteria | Our approachKnee decompression | What it is | Typically considered when | Invasive? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knee decompression | Yes | 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. |
| Omniwave shockwave | Yes | 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. |
| Cortisone or hyaluronic acid injection | 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. | 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. |
| Radiofrequency ablation | Not performed here. Appropriate when a pain specialist has confirmed which nerves carry the pain and conservative care has not held. | 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. |
| PRP or orthobiologic injection | Not performed here. Appropriate when a medical provider has counselled you honestly on what the evidence does and does not yet show. | 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. |
| Total knee replacement | Not performed here. Genuinely the right call when the joint surface is gone, pain wakes you at night, walking distance has collapsed and conservative care has had a fair trial. | An orthopaedic 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. |
Three of these belong to a surgeon or a pain specialist, and saying so costs us nothing. If your knee needs an operation, the most useful thing a non-surgical clinic can do is tell you early rather than sell you a course of care that was never going to work.
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’re not the right answer, we say so , and connect you with someone who is.
Your first visit
What to expect, step by step
You know the plan and the cost before anything begins.
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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, because 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.
“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!”
“I have had pain in my right upper back quadrant by my shoulder blade for at least a year now and the doctors have been unsuccessful in making the pain go away. I came to Dr. Bergin looking for some help. Within 3 to 4 weeks. My pain in that area is completely gone.”
“Dr. Bergin is phenomenal. Chronic lower back issues led a different doctor to mention back surgery to me. That was not an option I wanted to entertain. After a consult with Dr. B, he was confident that he could help resolve my back issues. I’ve been seeing him weekly to resolve the issue, and I am so pleased with the results so far! More mobility, less pain, and a great customer experience.”
“I bless the day that Dr. Bergin started working on me. I have had long standing pain for so long. After just a few visits my pain left and I feel so good. He is very patient oriented and caring. I regard him highly.”
“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.”
Get in touch
Book your knee decompression evaluation
Tell us what the problem is and which office is closer. A member of the ChiroMed team follows up within one business day.
- 1
Send the form
Two minutes. Tell us what hurts and which office is closer.
- 2
We call you back
A real person, within one business day, 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.
the clinic teamWhat type of doctor is best for knee pain?
It depends on the problem. An orthopaedic 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 when the knee hurts under load and nobody has yet checked the hip or lower back.
the clinic teamDoes 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.
the clinic teamCan 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.
the clinic teamHow 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.
the clinic teamSame-week appointments
Find out whether knee decompression is the right tool.
One examination tells you which discipline the problem actually needs.
- 4.8 out of 5 on Google
- $47 consultation, exam and report
- 22 years in practice
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47