Updated
Spinal decompression at Source Chiropractic in Clarksville is a non-surgical therapy for disc problems in the low back and neck. You lie on a table while a controlled, gentle pulling force is applied to your spine, which is why research calls it traction. There are no incisions and no injections.
Do chiropractors do spinal decompression?
Some do, and we're one of them. At our Clarksville office it's done on the DOC Decompression Table, and it's one of the treatments a chiropractor here may recommend after examining you. For leg pain, for example, a plan may include decompression alongside adjustments, rehab exercises, class IV laser therapy and dry needling, depending on what we find.
Disc problems we use spinal decompression for
We use decompression on the lower back (lumbar) and on the neck (cervical), for disc-related findings such as:
- Herniated discs
- Bulging discs
- Degenerative disc disease
- Sciatica
- Pinched nerve
In the neck, we may use it for disc degeneration and for herniated or bulging discs. Your exam tells us whether decompression fits your problem, and our neck pain guide covers where neck pain can start.
What a decompression session is like
For the low back, you lie face up on the table with two straps positioned around your waist and chest, and what Dr. Jeff Morrey describes as a gentle stretch is applied to your low back. A session lasts 25 minutes. He says patients watch a TV program during it or, usually, fall asleep.
For the neck, Dr. Cindy Morrey describes the setup this way: your head and neck are fitted into a cradle that supports a gentle decompressive pull to a targeted area of the neck.
How many sessions, and how often?
Decompression is usually done 2 to 3 times a week, and we re-evaluate the plan every 6 visits, so you'll know how it's going. How many sessions you'd need is set after we've examined you and gone over what we found, based on your condition and goals.
What the research on decompression shows
The research that fits how we use decompression looks at disc problems with leg or arm pain from an irritated nerve, and several trials there found a benefit:
- Leg pain from a herniated disc. A 2025 trial of 424 hospital patients whose leg pain hadn't settled found that adding lumbar traction to medical treatment, which included epidural injections, meant more people had at least a 25% improvement in leg pain at one month: 62% against 51%.
- Computerized decompression. A 2022 trial of 60 people with leg pain from the low back found that adding non-surgical decompression to physical therapy improved pain and disability more at four weeks than physical therapy alone.
- Lying face up, as on our table. A 2021 review found that traction given lying face up and added to physical therapy reduced pain and disability for up to three months in people with leg pain from a nerve root, in lower-quality studies.
- Arm symptoms from the neck. In a trial of 86 people, adding mechanical traction to exercise was followed by lower neck disability at six and twelve months than exercise alone, with the twelve-month difference the less certain of the two.
Not every trial agrees. In one of 120 people with leg pain, adding traction to an exercise program made no extra difference, though both groups improved. A Cochrane review of traction for low back pain, with or without sciatica, found little or no difference, with studies searched through 2012, and England's NICE guideline recommends against offering traction for low back pain, with or without sciatica. The trials above are what we weigh against that, case by case, at your exam. Most of these trials are small or unblinded, so they describe the therapy rather than predict your own result.
Who shouldn't have spinal decompression?
We don't put you on the decompression table if you're pregnant, if you've had a spinal fusion or have hardware in your spine, if you have osteoporosis, or if you have a recent fracture. The same goes for neck decompression. Beyond those, we go through your paperwork for any reason treatment may not be a good idea, and we want to hear about new symptoms, past surgery, injuries and medical conditions before a first session. If decompression doesn't suit you, we'll go through the other options with you.
What does spinal decompression cost? Does insurance cover it?
What a course costs depends on the plan, which is set after the exam, so ask for the total before you commit to more sessions. New patients can read about our new patient special for the first visit. We accept HSA and FSA accounts, and superbills can be provided to any patient who wants to file with their insurer. Whether your plan pays for decompression is a question for your insurance company.
Safety and other options
Decompression is non-surgical, but some people in traction studies had more pain, worsening nerve symptoms or later surgery, so tell us right away about any pain, numbness or weakness that's getting worse.
Other options for disc and back pain include guided exercise, which a Cochrane review found probably improves chronic low back pain, physical therapy, and a medical or surgical opinion for some disc problems. We'll go over which options fit you at your exam, and if it isn't a muscle-and-joint problem, we'll refer you for the right medical evaluation.
Go to an emergency room immediately for new difficulty passing urine or loss of bladder or bowel control, numbness around the genitals or anus, or severe or worsening weakness or numbness in both legs. These can signal a serious spinal problem, and the NHS lists them as emergency signs. Don't wait for decompression or a routine appointment with us.
Care at Source Chiropractic is delivered by Dr. Jeff Morrey, D.C. and Dr. Cindy Morrey, D.C.
If we are not able to help you with your problem or are unable to reduce your pain levels, we will make sure to give you a recommendation to another experienced provider.
Told you have a disc problem and wondering if decompression makes sense? That's what a first exam is for. Contact us to book, and our article on the questions worth asking about spinal decompression has a short checklist to bring.
Research, with context.
Selected published sources behind what we've written, each with what it found and what it can't tell us. We give you both halves because no paper can diagnose you or predict how your own care will go.
Lumbar Tractions in Radicular Pain Caused by Herniated Disc: Randomised, Open-Label, Superiority, and Controlled Trial on 424 Participants
424 patients at a hospital rheumatology unit with leg pain from a herniated disc that had not settled with outpatient treatment; all received medical treatment including at least two epidural injections, and half also received lumbar traction.
What it foundAt one month, 62% of the traction group and 51% of the medical-treatment group had at least a 25% improvement in leg pain (388 of the 424 were analysed). At three months the leg-pain difference (63% against 54%) was not statistically significant, and back pain improved in the same share of both groups (51%) at one month.
What it can't tell usNobody was blinded, the main result was measured at one month, and the patients were hospital referrals already having injections, so it doesn't show what traction does on its own or for milder leg pain.
Publication details & citation
Bernhard et al. Lumbar Tractions in Radicular Pain Caused by Herniated Disc: Randomised, Open-Label, Superiority, and Controlled Trial on 424 Participants. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2025. DOI: 10.3390/jcm14155192.
Read the publication recordEffects of non-surgical decompression therapy in addition to routine physical therapy on pain, range of motion, endurance, functional disability and quality of life versus routine physical therapy alone in patients with lumbar radiculopathy; a randomized controlled trial
60 people with lumbar radiculopathy, all given routine physical therapy, half also given non-surgical decompression on a computerized table, 12 sessions over four weeks.
What it foundThe decompression group improved more in pain, disability, back range of motion, back muscle endurance and two quality-of-life measures at four weeks.
What it can't tell usIt was one small trial with no sham treatment, and its outcomes were reported at the end of the four weeks of treatment, so it can't say how long any difference lasts.
Publication details & citation
Amjad et al. Effects of non-surgical decompression therapy in addition to routine physical therapy on pain, range of motion, endurance, functional disability and quality of life versus routine physical therapy alone in patients with lumbar radiculopathy; a randomized controlled trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. 2022. DOI: 10.1186/s12891-022-05196-x.
Read the publication recordEffectiveness of Mechanical Traction for Lumbar Radiculopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Eight randomized trials in adults with lumbar radiculopathy (leg pain from an irritated nerve root), five of them pooled.
What it foundTraction given lying face up and added to physical therapy reduced pain and disability in the short term, up to three months. Traction given lying face down showed no significant effect in the higher-quality studies.
What it can't tell usThe face-up result came from low-quality studies, and it reaches only three months. It's evidence about traction added to physical therapy, not traction on its own.
Publication details & citation
Vanti et al. Effectiveness of Mechanical Traction for Lumbar Radiculopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Physical Therapy. 2021. DOI: 10.1093/ptj/pzaa231.
Read the publication recordExercise only, exercise with mechanical traction, or exercise with over-door traction for patients with cervical radiculopathy, with or without consideration of status on a previously described subgrouping rule: a randomized clinical trial
86 people with neck pain and signs of cervical radiculopathy (arm symptoms from a neck nerve root), given four weeks of exercise alone, exercise with mechanical traction, or exercise with over-door traction.
What it foundAdding mechanical traction to exercise was followed by lower neck disability at six and twelve months than exercise alone, and lower than over-door traction at six months.
What it can't tell usIt's a single trial of 86 people with arm symptoms from the neck, and the twelve-month difference was less certain than the six-month one. It doesn't speak for neck pain without arm symptoms, or for traction without exercise.
Publication details & citation
Fritz et al. Exercise only, exercise with mechanical traction, or exercise with over-door traction for patients with cervical radiculopathy, with or without consideration of status on a previously described subgrouping rule: a randomized clinical trial. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2014. DOI: 10.2519/jospt.2014.5065.
Read the publication recordThe Effectiveness of Mechanical Traction Among Subgroups of Patients With Low Back Pain and Leg Pain: A Randomized Trial
120 people with low-back pain and signs of lumbar nerve root compression, treated with extension-oriented exercise with or without mechanical traction, up to 12 visits over six weeks.
What it foundBoth groups improved, and adding traction made no difference to pain or disability at six weeks, six months or one year, including in the subgroup expected to respond.
What it can't tell usIt tested traction added to one exercise approach in physical therapy clinics, so it doesn't show how traction compares with no treatment at all.
Publication details & citation
Thackeray et al. The Effectiveness of Mechanical Traction Among Subgroups of Patients With Low Back Pain and Leg Pain: A Randomized Trial. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2016. DOI: 10.2519/jospt.2016.6238.
Read the publication recordNo effect of traction in patients with low back pain: a single centre, single blind, randomized controlled trial of Intervertebral Differential Dynamics Therapy
60 people with chronic low-back pain thought to come from the disc, in a graded activity program, given 20 sessions of IDD Therapy traction or a sham traction weight.
What it foundBoth groups improved in back pain, leg pain, disability and quality of life at 14 weeks, and active traction did no better than the sham on any of them.
What it can't tell usIt studied chronic low back pain, not sciatica, so it says nothing about leg pain from an irritated nerve root. It tested one protocol on one machine, and nothing in it backs claims of disc regeneration.
Publication details & citation
Schimmel et al. No effect of traction in patients with low back pain: a single centre, single blind, randomized controlled trial of Intervertebral Differential Dynamics Therapy. European Spine Journal. 2009. DOI: 10.1007/s00586-009-1044-3.
Read the publication recordTraction for low-back pain with or without sciatica
32 randomized trials involving 2,762 people with low-back pain, with or without sciatica, using manual or machine traction.
What it foundTraction, alone or added to other treatment, made little or no difference to pain, function or overall improvement. Seven trials reported adverse effects, including increased pain, worsening nerve signs and later surgery.
What it can't tell usThe evidence was searched through 2012, the trials were small and many had moderate to high risk of bias, and the review didn't test any one branded table.
Publication details & citation
Wegner et al. Traction for low-back pain with or without sciatica. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2013. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003010.pub5.
Read the publication recordExercise therapy for chronic low back pain
249 trials of exercise therapy in adults with chronic nonspecific low-back pain.
What it foundExercise probably improves pain compared with no treatment, usual care or placebo. Average improvements in function were smaller.
What it can't tell usThe programs, and what they were compared with, varied. The review doesn't point to one best exercise for everyone, and it doesn't apply to a new fracture, an infection or a neurological problem that's getting worse.
Publication details & citation
Hayden et al. Exercise therapy for chronic low back pain. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2021. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009790.pub2.
Read the publication record
Our editorial policy explains how to read these sources and what our clinical-review labels mean.