Air Neck Traction

Neck Traction

Neck traction devices may improve the blood supply to neck muscles, tendons, and ligaments and promote relaxation by relieving pressure, stiffness and stress in the neck, head, and shoulders. Tight muscles can restrict blood flow causing a release of inflammatory chemicals which create further irritation, tension and pain.

Neck traction helps alleviate tension in your neck and shoulders that can restrict blood circulation and nerve flow. When nerves become pinched or irritated, you can experience headaches, neck pain and numbness or tingling down one or both arms. Nerves can be irritated by tight muscles along the neck, shoulders and upper back, herniated discs and arthritis.

The illustration above shows traditional forms of neck traction commonly used today. Traction is applied with weights and water bags through a head halter that places much of the force through the chin. These devices may cause undue pressure on the jaw and temporomandibular joints and aggravate problems in people who have TMJ dysfunction. Additionally, the devices require a lengthy set up procedure, a constrained and stationary treatment position. Additionally, negative consequences may occur if someone should open a door or the water bag leaks.

The traditional home methods of traction have been widely used for neck pain relief, muscle spasms and nerve compression by stretching soft tissues and separating joint surfaces. In order to achieve separation of joint surfaces, forces up to 50 pounds or more are commonly used in the clinical or outpatient setting. Unfortunately, traditional methods of home neck traction cannot duplicate the force necessary to achieve separation as they commonly use forces of 20 pounds or less.

With an Air Neck Traction device, you now have the power to relieve pain not only from muscles spasms, but to achieve separation of joints necessary to relieve pressure from irritated joints and compressed discs - all in the comfort of your own home with no bulky weights, painful chin halters, complicated hardware or messy water bags!

"It is believed that traction is particularly useful in conditions that involve compression of the nerve root. Traction seems to provide this benefit by enlarging intervertebral foramina, separating apophyseal joints, stretching muscles and ligaments, tightening the posterior longitudinal ligament to exert a centripetal force on the adjacent annulus fibrosis and enlarging the intervertebral space, diminishing disc protrusion, reducing cervical disc space pressure, separating intervertebral joints, stretching a tight or painful capsule, releasing entrapped synovial membrane, freeing adherent nerve roots, producing central vacuum to reduce herniated disc, producing posterior longitudinal ligament tension to reduce herniated disc, and relaxing muscle spasms." From: Cervical radiculopathies: conservative approaches to management, Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am 13 (2002) 589–608