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If you have suffered from chronic bad back pain, you might be wondering if there is something you can do to get relief rather than constantly being in pain. Doctors at an integrated pain and spine center might have suggested spinal traction to you before but you are unsure about what it is and if it can help.
The most common forms of back pain relief are anti-inflammatory medications, muscle relaxers, pain medications, and physical therapy.
Spinal traction is still relatively new and might not be the best first thing recommended to you if your doctor doesn’t have much information about it.
This guide will discuss what spinal traction is and how it can provide relief for your back pain.
Spinal traction is a type of treatment that pulls the spinal cord in opposite directions which can help change the position of the parts of the spine that are damaged or hurt. The force is then applied to the skull either with weights or a certain kind of fixation device.
When used, the person needs to be on bed rest or they need to be put in a halo vest.
Many doctors and healthcare providers have been aware of how spinal traction works and what it can do for centuries. It didn’t become a common treatment for spine and back pain until the 18th century though.
When it first started being used, it was mainly for people who needed help when it came to fixing spinal deformities and scoliosis. Some doctors also used it to treat rickets.
However, in the 19th century, things changed and doctors wanted to begin using the treatment for things like impotence and Parkinson’s disease.
Of course, it wasn’t able to successfully treat some of these other diseases and many people from the medical community didn’t trust the treatment and didn’t bother to use it.
However, in the 20th century, more people began to use the treatment because it was used for things like spinal trauma and for patients who had cervical spine surgery. For these things, it worked well and many people in the medical community joined in on wanting to use spinal traction as a way to help those who were having chronic back and spinal pain.
Spinal traction can be used in many different ways. Most people use it as a way to decompress pinched nerves, reduce intervertebral disks that have been herniated, and make the joints and soft tissues in the body more mobile.
However, most people receive treatment for spine instability that they are experiencing in the cervical spinal column. This most often comes as a result of disease or trauma so these patients might have had pain for years and they are looking for a way to relieve some of the pain they are experiencing.
Instability can be a few different things so a doctor will need to give you an official diagnosis of cervical instability.
The most common reasons someone might have cervical instability are:
Which technique you and your doctor decide to use for your spinal injury depends on your physical condition, how well you can tolerate the traction treatment and any disorders you might have that cause the spine to be worse.
Most cervical traction techniques apply pressure and weight in one of three ways, positional, mechanical, or manual.
The traction is sometimes applied intermittently and other times it’s applied as one long force. Your doctor will tell you which one they are planning to use before the treatment begins so you know what to expect.
Cervical traction is also known as manual therapeutic cervical traction. You will lay on the table in a supine position and try to get as comfortable as possible so that the therapist can place their hands under your head to support them.
They will then reposition the neck in several different ways including flexing and extending it. They use a gentle force to not cause neck pain.
Sometimes a manual traction device is also used which is a kind of head halter and then it’s connected to a pulley system that is looped over the door.
If your therapist shows you how to use this system, you can even use it at home.
This technique is a little bit different and cannot be done at home as the therapist has to use all their strength as they are applying force that should be about equal to the weight of the body. Some therapists use pelvic belts with straps while others just position their arms and hands around the person’s thighs as they pull the body in different directions.
This is often done at home as all you need is an inversion table. The device will raise your feet above your head which allows gravity to have a reverse effect on the lumbar region of the spine.
This allows for the spine to decompress and take some pressure off the spine.
One of the main benefits of spinal traction is that it’s a great way to relieve chronic spinal pain without needing to have surgery. It also offers consistent relief for most people so they can go about their day-to-day activities without worrying about pain.
Spinal Traction might look or sound scary, but it’s a common way for those who have constant spinal pain to be able to experience some relief and get back to their normal lives. If you have a spinal or back injury, you should ask your doctor about spinal traction or visit an integrated spine and pain center as they have experienced therapists that can help you do several different treatments.