What Is
Cervical Traction?
8 Steps to Beating Cervical Radiculopathy
WHAT IS TRACTION PRESENTATION
WHAT IS CERVICAL TRACTION TRANSCRIPT
Welcome back I'm Rich and today as part of my series on cervical radiculopathy I'd like to examine the notion of - what exactly IS cervical traction? Simply put traction is a mechanism or force that will help relieve pressure on your skeletal system. All day long gravity pushes down on our bodies, and traction is a means to oppose those forces by providing mild forces in the opposite direction. By applying cervical traction we're simply providing temporary relief to our upper spine and neck.
Now as you probably know our spines are actually made from alternating boney vertebrae and soft cushions or discs between the vertebrae. Traction may actually help improve the health of those discs by improving circulation and bringing necessary natural fluids to those tissues. Unfortunately, as we age and become inactive these discs can go from being soft, lubricated and elastic (like they should be) to actually drying out and even deteriorating which can then expose the fragile nerves between the bones of the spine and ultimately cause uncomfortable conditions like cervical radiculopathy. The goal of cervical traction is to apply correct, comfortable and safe levels of force that will oppose the downward forces of gravity that are present all day long so that the joints and vertebrae of the spinal column are temporarily relieved of that pressure. By doing so the forces of traction help to generate and bring in helpful, natural fluids to the area and help nourish the slowly failing dics between the boney vertebrae and most importantly, spare the fragile nerves that are delicately intertwined between those boney joints and provide some relief from cervical radiculopathy.
I quickly made a realization (but not until after I spent a lot of money, so I'm hoping you won't run into that same problem, learn from my mistakes!) that any of these cervical traction devices that generated its forces for traction by pushing down and/or against my neck and shoulders was wrong for my situation and would not work for me. My thoughts were that since the nerve impingement I was suffering from was probably at or below the level where the device was exerting its downward force were simply aggravated by those very downward forces. Ironic, but logical. Obviously you'll want to check with your own doctor but bring up this very point when your doctor prescribes cervical traction; and notice I said "prescribe". With a prescription some of these devices, which can be quite costly may be eligible for coverage by your insurance company (and you'll need to contact your insurance company to confirm this - it may be worth the phone call). As a result of all of this experimentation I concluded that traction devices that generated their forces WITHOUT generating downward forces against my neck and shoulders would be the only devices I could use, a thought later validated by the physical therapist I was working with.
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- Rich Leach
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Please keep your posts relevant to the topic: What Is
Cervical Traction. All non-relevant postings and/or spam will be removed.
- February 25, 2011, 2:39 PM
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