Decompression is More Than Traction

Written by Dr. Eric Kaplan, D.C., F.I.A.M.A.

There are big differences between traction and decompression.

One can experience traction without decompression, but not decompression without traction. Traction can be a machine, or just weights attached to your feet hanging over a bed as done in the past at hospitals. Decompression is a progressive event that is obtained by utilizing negative pressure, by vertebrae, on a specific angle, to achieve the "Vacuum Effect" or the event known as decompression.

Traction has been around for hundreds of years. Traction has been in use for many years as a physical-therapy modality. Forms of traction have been around for centuries.