As a chiropractic physician my recommendations are made based on a variety of factors including spinal biomechanics, research evidence and practical considerations such as ease of advice implementation and cost particular products. I would like to disclose that, although I may get a referral fee from some of the items advertised or reviewed, this will never impact the integrity of my reviews or recommendations. I hope you find my recommendations useful; however, if you have a specific spinal problem or condition, and have not yet done so, it is recommended that you contact your qualified health care provider for recommendations that may apply to your particular case.
Peter C. Spathis, DC
The Best Home Cervical Traction Device
Home cervical traction units are becoming more and more popular as a way to help relieve neck pain and some disc related conditions. Some of these units can actually provide a treatment that is similar to more expensive machines used in professional settings. These devices usually work by "pulling" on some part of the head, such as the back of the skull, in an attempt to reduce pressure on spinal joints. This reduction in cervical (neck) spinal joint pressure also lowers the pressure on the fibrocartilage spacers (discs) between each of the vertebrae in the neck and can help reduce disc bulges and herniations. In cases where this is effective, it can help relieve compression or irritation to nerves near these cervical discs and improve or eliminate associated symptoms such as neck and upper back pain, arm pain, numbness, tingling or weakness.
In cases where the spinal discs have degenerated or where there is osteoarthritis that causes the spinal nerves to be compressed by bone (as in "spinal stenosis"), cervical traction can be again helpful by opening up a little more space for the nerve and reducing the degree of compression. Other mechanisms of action include relieving pressure on other joints in the neck ("facet joints") and reducing the pain/spasm/pain cycle as well as improving the flow of nutrients to spinal discs to both speed up the healing process in the case of herniated discs as well as helping maintain disc health and minimizing degeneration over time.
Although spinal traction devices may be of significant benefit to some people, it is important not to "self diagnose" as individual requirements vary and what may be a great management option for one condition may be a bad choice for another. Assuming you have had appropriate testing by a qualified provider and any necessary professional treatment for your particular condition, you have discussed how appropriate a home traction unit would be in your particular case and in was determined that you are a good candidate for such a device, I hope you find my review of the following products helpful.
I believe this type of unit is by far the best product for providing cervical traction at home for the money. This provides cervical traction in the supine position (lying down, facing up) allowing more complete relaxation of postural muscles that can limit the effect of units that provide cervical traction in the upright position. Short of a professional unit that allows preset intermittent traction protocols (at many times the price), I believe this to be one of the best choices available for a home traction unit and the one I would personally pick for this purpose.
This unit is a little bit different in it's approach but still an effective method for certain conditions. Instead of true "axial traction" this works by extending the neck backwards in such a way as to decrease cervical disc pressure and help with conditions such as herniated and degenerated discs as well as potentially improving the natural backwards curvature ("lordosis") of the cervical spine. This unit is also used in the supine position (lying facing up) - the preferred method of cervical traction, as noted above. However, a condition that is not likely to be helped with this unit is spinal stenosis and I would not recommend it for that purpose.
No list of cervical traction units would be complete without including an "over the door" model. These have been around for a long time and, although they have their limitations, they can still be useful for some people. The bad: as noted above, cervical traction in the sitting position is not ideal, the neck muscles to not relax in the same way that they do when lying down and this limits the effectiveness of the unit to some degree which unfortunately cannot be overcome by simply increasing the amount of the pull. I am also not a fan of units that require straps to be under the chin as this can be potentially aggravating for certain dental and TMJ problems. The good: very inexpensive compared to some other options and may be "good enough" to help some people.
