The traction chair is a reclining chair with a program that gently stretches your spine while you sit back and relax. Gentle, repeated stretching takes pressure off the spine and relaxes muscles that have been tight and guarding since the injury.
Your physician orders this treatment and sets how strong it is. You only get it if it is ordered for you.
What is traction chair?
The traction chair is a reclining chair with a program that gently stretches your spine while you sit back and relax.
How does it help?
Gentle, repeated stretching takes pressure off the spine and relaxes muscles that have been tight and guarding since the injury.
What does it feel like?
A slow stretch and release along your back. It starts at the lowest strength and goes up one step at a time, never past what your physician ordered. Your technician checks on you at 2 minutes and again halfway through.
Who should not have it?
- A fracture that has not been cleared by your physician
- Osteoporosis
- Rheumatoid arthritis in the neck
- Numbness or weakness that is getting worse
- Pregnancy
- Recent spine surgery
Before every visit, your technician asks safety questions out loud. If anything has changed, the physician decides before the treatment starts. You can ask to stop at any time.
How long does it take?
About 15 minutes.
What to remember
- It starts low and goes up one step at a time.
- A gentle stretch, never pain.
- Tell us right away about new numbness or tingling.
Show us you have it: Tell us what you will say if the stretch hurts. We go over it again at your next visit, and you can ask us to explain anything a second time.
Read more: options before back surgery.
Other treatments in the program
- Heat and cold therapy
- Vibration therapy
- Neck decompression
- Laser therapy
- Shockwave therapy
- TENS (gentle electrical stimulation)
This is part of our physician-directed physiotherapy program, where a physician orders and supervises every treatment and no treatment starts unless a physician is available right away.
Medically reviewed by Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP. Board Certified in Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine, Interventional Pain Management, Addiction Medicine, and Obesity Medicine. Last reviewed October 18, 2026.