• ChowDaniel H KDHKDepartment of Health & Physical Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, N.T., Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Electronic address: danielchow@eduhk.hk., Ernest M K Yuen, L Xiao, and LeungMason C PMCPDepartment of Health & Physical Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, N.T., Hong Kong Special Administrative Region..
• Department of Health & Physical Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, N.T., Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Electronic address: danielchow@eduhk.hk.
• Musculoskelet Sci Pract. 2017 Jun 1; 29: 78-83.

BackgroundAlthough traction has long been used for treating patients with low back pain (LBP), its effects are still inconclusive mainly because of limited high-quality evidence.ObjectiveTo provide evidence of the mechanism of traction on lumbar intervertebral discs.DesignA quantitative approach with a repeated measurement protocol.MethodNine participants (mean age = 22.1 ± 0.8 years) without any LBP history were recruited. Magnetic Resonance Images of the lumbar spine of each participant were recorded before and after 30 min of horizontal lying and directly after 30 min of horizontal traction of 42% body weight. The average, anterior, central, and posterior disc height and tilt angle of each lumbar disc and lumbar lordosis were measured.ResultsA significant increase in the average disc height for all lumbar discs, a significant reduction of lumbar lordosis and changes in tilt angle were observed after the application of 30 min of resting followed by 30 min of traction. A significant increase in the average disc height was observed only in lower lumbar discs after 30 min of traction. The increase in the posterior disc height was more apparent than that in the anterior disc height.ConclusionsHorizontal traction was evidently effective in increasing the disc height of lower lumbar levels, particularly in the posterior regions of the discs. Further evidence of the effects of traction of different modes, magnitudes, and durations on the change in disc height is required for proper control of traction applied to specific disc levels.Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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