Air Neck Traction

Air Neck Traction For Health Care Practitioners

Neck traction, in one form or another, is a major component of conservative management for patients exhibiting soft tissue disorders related to cervical dysfunction, both degenerative and trauma induced.

The major goals of neck traction include: Relief of pain, decreased pressure on cervical nerve roots, improved soft tissue extensibility as indicated in pain free range of motion, and reduction in painful, protective muscle activity.

Neck traction may be helpful for capsulitis, cervical facet joint syndrome, and in helping to relax muscular spasms. Traction may also benefit patients with osteoarthritis by promoting increased movement of the cervical spine and decreased pressure on the facet joints. Cervical traction increases joint mobility of the cervical spine for patients with hypomobility. Degenerative disc disease often leads to radiculopathy and cervical pain. Air Neck Traction alleviates pressure on the diseased discs to promote decreased pressure on peripheral nerve roots and enhance nutrient delivery to the disc.

Traction may also be more beneficial when used with other modalities such as cold, heat, ultrasound and other appropriate modalities to reduce pain and exercises where apprpriate.

Neck traction has been shown to be effective to decrease symptoms with many different diagnoses, however, there are several instances where cervical traction is not appropriate and/or contraindicated.

Generally, treatments should be discontinued if symptoms increase or if pain or parasthesia is experienced after traction treatment.

To insure safe application, cervical traction should not be used within the following conditions: Unstable spine, Vertebral fractures, Extruded disc fragmentation, Ruptured cervical disc, Spinal cord compression, Acute strain or sprain, Joint hypermobility, Osteoporosis, Malignancy, Pregnancy and Infection.

Often, home neck treatment involves use of an over the door or fulcrum assisted and weighted device designed to augment the effects of improvements obtained by in the clinic manual and/or mechanical traction. Unfortunately, patients often fail to comply with these types of home traction regimens due to set up and restrictive factors.

Air Neck Traction is a manual traction device which is patient controlled via a hand operated pump bulb similar to a sphygmomanometer. It allows variability of placement of the patient in sitting, supine and ambulatory positions without tying the patient to hardware and potentialy hazardous situations. Additionally, the traction force is spread throughout the mandible and occipital areas for an even distractive force rather than placing the force directly through the mandible and temporomandibular joints. The ease of use, variable positioning and degree of traction force can induce greater specificty of home treatment recommendations and improve relaxation during application resulting in greater patient compliance.

Air Neck Traction can supply a traction force up to 180 pounds. Forces up to 50 pounds are commonly used to achieve intervertebral separation especially for those with diagnoses requiring separation of the intervertebral spaces for therapeutic effect (herniated disc, degenerative disc disease, foraminal stenosis, facet syndrome, etc...). In general, over-the-door traction at home is limited to providing less than 20 pounds of traction. The Air Neck Traction was developed to deliver cervical traction in the home comparable to forces applied in the outpatient setting, even in the sitting position where the weight of the head and muscle activity must be overcome.

Air Neck Traction can be an effective addition in your office and/or home treatment regimen as studies on cervical traction indicate below:

• Elnaggar et al. concluded, "Both of the intermittent and the continuous cervical traction had a significant effect on neck and arm pain reduction, a significant improvement in nerve function, and a significant increase in neck mobility."
• Zylbergold and Piper demonstrated the contribution of intermittent cervical traction to the treatment of cervical disorders in relation to pain and recovery of spinal mobility (flexion and rotation).
• Constantoyannis et al. used daily, vertical, intermittent cervical traction and demonstrated its effectiveness in recent cervical radiculopathy in young patients with a cervical herniated disc larger than 4 mm.
• Shakoor et al. used traction and posture correction exercises in patients with cervical spondylosis which resulted in significant clinical improvement.
• Swezey et al. demonstrated the efficacy of vertical intermittent cervical traction in the sitting position on neck and radicular pain in grade I to III spondylosis (QTF classification), with a 81% reduction in symptoms.
• Saal et al. used neck traction for effective treatment in 24 out of 26 patients with cervical radiculopathy due to herniated disc. One year later, patient satisfaction remained high and most subjects had resumed their previous activities.
• Ola´h et al. found traction to be of great value in cervical radiculopathy. Pain, spinal mobility, function and quality of life parameters were improved at the end of a 15 session treatment protocol and 3 months later.
• Hattori et al. demonstrated that vertical intermittent cervical traction in the sitting position led to pain relief and improved nerve conduction in spondylotic myelopathy and, in particular, cervical radiculopathy. This effect may be related to improvement in the blood supply to nerve structures.
• Lecocq’s literature review stated that cervical traction has several different modes of action, with an increase in the intervertebral disc space and a reduction in intradiscal pressure, with a possible herniated disc suction effect. The herniated disc can also be pushed back by tension in the posterior longitudinal ligament.
• Jellad et al. noted that cervical traction appears to be a major contribution in the rehabilitation of cervical radiculopathy. Neck pain, radicular pain and self-perceived disability were significantly relieved.
• Lee et al. and Nanno concluded that the cervical intermittent traction is effective in relieving pain, decreasing the myoelectric signals and improving blood flow in the affected muscles.
• Voltonen et al. concluded that neck traction relieves muscle spasm and significantly decreases electrical activity in the muscles producing relaxation, which leads to systematic relief of pain.


References

Please see an article on frequently asked questions for using Neck Traction, Cervical Radiculopathy and Testing for Radiculopathy and references for Traction, for additional information.

Codes and descriptions for Air Neck Traction may vary from state to state as determined by regulatory bodies. The codes below are suggestions only, please use your professional discretion.

As far as necessity, we do recommend you personalize the letter. Here is a guideline.

The cervical traction accessory is utilized at home as an orthopedic device to aid in restoring the normal physiological curve to the cervical spine and, through the traction effect, relieve ( _muscle tonicity _spasms _nerve impingement _disc compression _vascular compression). This device affords a wide range of traction while in the supine, sitting or ambulatory positions with therapeutic support and comfort for the cervical spine condition without applying undue force to the mandible. This device is designed to enforce the office treatment regime and assist the healing process.

Additional indications for use of the Air Neck Traction would be a complication of tmj dysfunction or fear by patient thus complicating treatment compliance with halter and weight type traction devices using the mandible to apply force, and/or a failed a trial of over-the-door cervical traction.