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Cervical Traction

Cervical traction is a therapeutic technique used to gently stretch and decompress the cervical spine (neck) to alleviate pressure on spinal nerves and promote disc health. This treatment involves the application of traction forces to the neck, either manually by a healthcare provider or through mechanical devices. Here’s how gentle neck traction can provide relief and promote disc health:

  1. Relief of Compression: Over time, poor posture, repetitive movements, or degenerative changes in the spine can lead to compression of the cervical vertebrae and discs. This compression can put pressure on the spinal nerves exiting the spinal cord, causing pain, tingling, numbness, and weakness in the neck, shoulders, arms, and hands. Cervical traction gently pulls the vertebrae apart, creating space between them and relieving pressure on the spinal nerves.
  2. Disc Decompression: Intervertebral discs act as cushions between the vertebrae, absorbing shock and providing flexibility to the spine. With age or injury, discs can degenerate, bulge, or herniate, leading to pain and dysfunction. Cervical traction helps to decompress the discs by creating a negative pressure within them. This negative pressure can promote the retraction of bulging or herniated disc material, reducing compression on adjacent nerves and improving disc hydration and nutrition.
  3. Improvement of Spinal Alignment: Cervical traction can also help to restore proper alignment of the cervical spine. By gently elongating the neck and encouraging the vertebrae to realign, traction therapy can correct postural imbalances, reduce abnormal spinal curvature (such as forward head posture or cervical lordosis), and alleviate mechanical stress on the spine.
  4. Muscle Relaxation: Traction therapy not only stretches the soft tissues surrounding the cervical spine but also promotes muscle relaxation. By reducing muscle tension and spasms in the neck and shoulder muscles, cervical traction can further alleviate pain and improve range of motion.
  5. Increased Circulation and Healing: The gentle stretching and decompression provided by cervical traction can enhance blood flow to the cervical region. Improved circulation delivers oxygen, nutrients, and immune cells to the affected tissues, promoting healing, reducing inflammation, and accelerating the repair process.

Overall, cervical traction is a valuable therapeutic modality for relieving pressure on spinal nerves, promoting disc health, improving spinal alignment, and alleviating neck pain and related symptoms. It is often used as part of a comprehensive treatment plan for various neck conditions, including cervical disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, cervical radiculopathy (pinched nerve), neck strain, and cervical spondylosis.

  • What can I expect from my appointment?

    If you are presenting to the Clinic for the first time, your initial appointment will involve discussion about the nature of your complaint and your general health. Typically, the practitioner will then assess you, with the goal of identifying the cause of your symptoms, and then plan treatment with aim of improving your condition. Home exercise or self-treatment techniques may be discussed to facilitate a speedy resolution of your complaint(s).

  • How long will my appointment be?

    Appointment length varies depending on the discipline and the practitioner. Initial assessment appointments are typically longer, to allow for history taking, assessment and possibly treatment. Subsequent appointments can often be scheduled for shorter durations, as determined between the patient and the practitioner.

  • What are common chiropractic techniques?

    There are over 200 techniques in the history of chiropractic since 1895. There are three most commonly used chiropractic techniques in Victoria. They all provide benefits such as improving your joint motion, reducing stiffness, and decreasing stress in your nervous system. Diversified technique (95%) of chiropractors utilize this technique by their hand to perform manual adjustments on your spine. Most of the time you will hear a 'pop' or 'cracking' noise(s) from these adjustments. Drop Table technique (90%) of chiropractors utilize this technique by a specific type of table with part of the table can raise up and drop down instantly. Activator (70%) of chiropractors utilize this technique by an instrument look like a clicker and press on the spine multiple times. At Hampton Chiropractic- our chiropractors not only use a combination of these techniques to provide short-term benefits but also trained to address the structural cause of your chronic problems (Postural imbalance) with specific spinal traction therapy so we are not focusing what's happened locally but also globally.

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