Flexion Distraction Technique

A randomized clinical trial compared flexion–distraction with active exercise for chronic low back pain. Those with chronic Low Back Pain improved the most. Especially effective in Moderate to Severe cases with subjects that had shooting pain down their legs (radiculopathy). Subjects randomly allocated to Flexion Distraction had significantly greater relief of pain than those who did Physical Therapy alone.

Clinically meaningful improvement in disability was seen in over two-thirds of the patients, and the improvement appeared to be maintained over an average of 16.5 months after cessation of treatment–a viable alternative to surgery for patients with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis (LSS). As the efficacy of surgery does not appear to decrease if it is delayed in favor of a non-surgical trial [36], most patients with LSS should be treated non-surgically for a period of time before considering operation.

Improvements measured:

• Reduces intradiscal pressure by increasing space between bones
• Neurophysiological effects: facilitation of afferent input from mechanoreceptors
• Improves proprioception
• Decreases pain response of nerves

Flexion-distraction techniques showed significant decreases low back pain by stimulating “the mechanical receptor that suppresses the transmission of pain stimuli at the level of the spinal cord and brain stem to produce pain-reducing effects.”

Improvements measured:

• Significant decrease in low back pain
• increased blood flows can remove inflammatory exudate
• Increased water content in the joint and disc itself
• Increased nutrition supply
• The space in the spinal cavity widens, and the paraspinal muscles and ligaments are extended to reduce secondary myofascial pain