“Why Am I Not Getting Better With Repeated Traction Or Decompression Therapy For Back Pain? I Feel Better, But It Doesn’t Last.”

Some patients may experience back pain returning despite going for repeated traction (decompression therapy). That doesn’t mean that traction is an ineffective treatment and a waste of time.

Although traction helps in relieving your back pain, traction does not cure the underlying cause(s). Thus, the pain comes back after a while. To recover from back ache, or at least significantly reduce it, it is best to work with your physiotherapist. They will find out the underlying cause of your back pain and eliminate it.

In the meantime, it is also a good idea to include other types of physiotherapy treatments into your plan to manage the ache more effectively and experience more lasting relief.

What Are The Causes?

Back pain can be a symptom to many underlying causes. It can be due to  excessive intradiscal pressure on the spine, herniated disc(s), spinal fracture, cancer on the spine, severe osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis,  after-effects from post back surgeries and many others. It may just be a muscle strain, muscle stiffness and tightness can be the result of poor posture, sports injuries, the nature of your lifestyle, and many others.

Managing Back Pain More Effectively

Traction should not be viewed as a cure for back pain. It should also not be seen as the only solution for effective, long lasting pain relief. Ideally, you should treat traction therapy as part of your overall plan to treat the affected area.

Other physiotherapy treatments such as EPA (Electrophysical Agents), manual therapy and exercises needs to be part of your treatment regime to treat it effectively. EPA include treatments such as TENS, IFS, ultrasound as well as hot and cold therapy while manual therapy includes joint mobilization, joint manipulation, massages and myofascial therapy.

Your physiotherapist may also prescribe resistance and rehabilitation exercises to you as part of the session. This will help increase your strength and flexibility so that your body is less likely to suffer from reoccurring injuries.

Work with your physiotherapist, and do not be disheartened. We wish you all the best to a speedy recovery.

Experiencing back pain? Click here to find out more about physiotherapy for back pain relief and how Core Concepts can help