Traction table

Method and apparatus including a spinal extension traction table is provided for directing the spine of a person toward optimum shape and alignment, which table has a support surface for supporting the buttocks of a person and an inclined surface for supporting his back thereon, so that his head extends thereover and inclines backwardly. A forehead sling is mounted on an upper portion of the traction table with pull means connected thereto so as to pull the sling against the forehead of the person, to apply compressive forces thereto at an acute angle with at least one upper spine of the person so as to apply extension traction to his spine. In another embodiment, a lateral (posterior to anterior) force is applied to a lower portion of the person's spine toward aligning the cervical spine over the lumbar spine, with the thoracic (or dorsal) spine forming a desired curve therebetween, when the person stands or walks. Preferably the lateral force is provided by a fulcrum cushion. Desirably the support surface of the traction table is sized to permit the lower legs and feet of the person to extend toward a floor surface, to apply counterweight tension to the forehead compressive forces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to method and apparatus for correcting a person's 
spine, particularly for directing a person's spine toward a desired shape. 
2. The Prior Art 
Previously for back and neck problems, chiropractors and other 
practitioners have applied flexion traction to the cervical spine i.e. 
have tractioned or stretched the upper or neck portion of a patient's 
spine, including stretching ligaments or muscles thereat. The patient 
could be sitting, standing or lying down and subjected to a pulling or 
stretching force e.g. as by a harness around the patient's chin and the 
pulling force applied thereto. See for examples, U.S. Pat. No. 2,640,480 
(1953) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,816 (1982) mentioned below. This approach 
however, merely stretches and flattens the spinal curve, as seen in a side 
x-ray view of the patient i.e. flattens and/or distorts the desired spinal 
curve that nature intended. Thus at the present time there is believed no 
traction method or apparatus aimed at restoring this spine to an improved 
or optimum shape and position and/or side view curve and there is a need 
and market therefor. 
Accordingly, there has now been discovered a method and apparatus for 
improving or correcting spinal difficulties of a person, in which a 
person's spinal curve is directed toward a position and/or shape that 
nature intended, to support man's carriage e.g. in the upright position. 
Broadly the present invention provides method and apparatus for directing a 
person's spine toward an improved and/or optimum shape comprising, 
reclining said person, so that at least his upper back is supported on an 
inclined surface with his head inclined further backwardly and applying 
compressive forces to the forehead of said person at an acute angle with 
the upper spine of said person, to apply extension traction and spine 
curvature forces to at least the upper spine of said person. 
Also the method and apparatus of the invention further provide for applying 
a lateral (posterior to anterior) force to a lower portion of the spine, 
e.g. by positioning a fulcrum cushion between a lower portion of said back 
and such inclined surface with or without application of the above 
compressive forces, to further direct the spine of such person toward 
improved curvature thereof. 
By "an optimum spinal shape" as used herein, is meant any one of the spinal 
configurations as defined in D. D. Harrison's "Chiropractic Physics of 
Spinal Correction", C.P.B., Vol. 4 (1988). 
By '37 lateral force" as used herein, is meant a posterior to anterior 
force (applied to a person's spine).

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring in more detail to the drawings, according to the prior art, to 
relieve the aches and pains of a person in his neck region, the person 10 
is placed in a chair 12 with his neck and cervical spine stretched by chin 
sling 14, cord 15 and weight 17 over door 19, as shown in FIG. 1. This 
crude tensioning method does not position the spine in the optimum 
position, e.g. shown in FIG. 4, and does not give significant relief to 
the person. Other examples of neck and spine tensioning or stretching are 
shown in the prior art e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 2,640,480 (1953) and U.S. 
Pat. No. 4,356,816 (1982). In neither reference is attention paid to 
shaping the spine into the optimum position i.e. along the lines nature 
intended. 
To correct this problem, the present invention provides a spinal traction 
table in which the table 16, having legs 17 and 19, as shown in FIG. 2, 
has a support surface, e.g. a seat 18 and inclined surface or ramp 20, on 
which is placed a removable fulcrum cushion 22 and a forehead sling 24, 
mounted between two table leg uprights 26 and 28, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 
3. The forehead sling 24 is connected by lines 32, 34, 36 and 38 to 
relatively rigid yoke 40, which is in turn connected by pull cord 42, 
through tension spring 43, through pulley 44 and through jam cleat 46, to 
control the tension applied to the pull cord 42 and the pressure applied 
by the forehead sling 24 to the person's forehead, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 
3. 
With the person (or patient) 50 in position on the table 16, the lower back 
fulcrum cushion 22 and the forehead sling 24 are adjusted, as to size and 
position for the cushion 22 and as to pressure applied by the sling 24, to 
correct the patient's spine 52 toward the optimum position, as shown in 
FIG. 4, which after repeated treatments can serve to correct various 
spinal problems. That is, the traction table of the invention, upon 
repeated treatments, can reshape the person's spine by restoring para 
spinal soft tissues (e.g. muscles and ligaments) to optimum condition and 
position, to thus restore proper shape, function and health to the spine. 
An outline of the cushion 22 is shown in FIG. 4, to show where its 
corrective shaping force is applied to the lower spine of the person. As 
indicated in FIG. 4, the idea is to have the cervical portion of the spine 
aligned with the lumbar portion of the spine with the thoracic (dorsal) or 
middle spine portion curving at a desired angle, as indicated in FIG. 4. 
From the frontal view shown in FIG. 5, the spine 52 should appear 
straight, but not from the side view, as shown in FIG. 4. 
Thus, for example, if it is desired to correct the malformed spine 60 shown 
in FIG. 6, which is misshappen at cervical spine 62, thoracic spine 64 and 
lumbar spine 66, one commences treatment by placing the person 68 (who 
likely will not have all of the above disorders) on traction table 70, as 
shown in FIG. 7. The traction table 70 has flat support surface 72, 
inclined surface or ramp 74, leg supports 76 and 78 and forehead 
compression sling 80, as shown in FIG. 7. Initially the person 68, having 
spine 65, is positioned on his back on the table 70, with his back 
supported by the inclined surface portion 74, with head and neck inclined 
backwardly, as discussed previously and with compressive force applied to 
the forehead by sling 80 through a jam cleat 82, mounted on the table 70 
as shown in FIG. 7. 
After one or more treatments sessions to apply corrective forces to the 
cervical spine, a fulcrum cushion 84 can be placed between the person's 
back (e.g. at a subsequent treatment session) to apply corrective 
(posterior to anterior) alignment forces to the thoracic spine of the 
person 68 as shown in FIG. 8. 
Subsequently that fulcrum cushion or another, e.g. of a shape selected by a 
chiropractor, at e.g. a subsequent treatment session, can be inserted 
between the inclined surface of the traction table 70 and a lower portion 
of the back of the person 68, as shown in FIG. 9, to apply corrective 
shaping forces to the lumbar spine of the person 68, per FIGS. 9 and 6. 
In another embodiment of the invention, extended traction table 82 has 
level support surface 83 and inclined surface 85 supported by table legs 
84 and 86, as shown in FIG. 14. The person 80 lies on the table 82, with 
his back on the inclined surface 85 and his head back. A forehead sling 
91, supported by the uprights 88 of the table legs 86, applies compressive 
(extension) forces to the person's forehead by tensioning pull cord 92 
attached to such sling 91, as shown in FIG. 14. Here the lower legs and 
feet are also on the support surface 83 of the table 82. However, a 
fulcrum cushion can be placed between the person's back and the inclined 
surface 85, if desired, within the scope of the present invention. 
Thus according to the method of the above invention, by applying via the 
forehead, compressive extension forces to the cervical spine and by 
reshaping the thoracic and lumbar spines with fulcrum cushions as 
discussed above, one can reshape a malformed spine toward an ideal or 
optimum spine shape such as the spine 84, shown in FIG. 10. Ideally, the 
centers of mass of the head, thoracic cage and pelvis are aligned on a 
vertical axis. That is, in an optimum spine shape, when a person is 
standing or walking, the center of mass 110 of his head 100 is aligned on 
the vertical axis 111 with the fifth cervical vertebrae 112 and with the 
third lumbar vertebrae 114 and also with the anterior tip 115 of the 
sacrum 116, with the thoracic spine 118 curving rearwardly of such 
vertical axis 111, as shown in FIG. 10. The sacrum is attached to the 
femur heads below, e.g. femur head 120, shown in FIG. 10. 
The spinal traction table of the present invention is desirably sized to 
permit the person's legs to bend at the knee and extend toward the floor, 
which lower legs thus act as a counterweight to the compressive extension 
forces applied to the person's forehead which tends to pull the person's 
back upwardly along the inclined surface. However, as previously 
indicated, the spinal traction table on the invention can extend a 
sufficient length to hold the person's legs and feet off the floor and at 
various angles as desired within the scope of the present invention. 
The fulcrum cushion can be hard, firm, soft or in-between, within the scope 
of the invention. Preferably, however, the cushion is firm enough to apply 
sufficient lateral (posterior to anterior) pressure for spinal reshaping 
purposes according to the needs of the person treated. For example, a 
125-pound woman might require a firm fulcrum cushion for spinal-shape 
corrective purposes, whereas a heavier person, e.g. a 250-pound man, might 
require a very firm fulcrum cushion for spinal-shape corrective purposes. 
Alternatively, a person may wish to begin treatment with a relatively soft 
or firm fulcrum cushion and progress to a firmer one, as his back becomes 
accustomed to the lateral spine shaping forces of the fulcrum cushion, 
within the scope of the invention. 
The fulcrum cushions can take various shapes (and degrees of firmness) 
depending upon the amount of force desired to be applied to a point on the 
person's back i.e. between the back and the inclined surface. Likewise the 
location of the cushion will be governed by the same considerations. Thus 
a fulcrum cushion 88 can be positioned on the inclined surface 90 in the 
lower and upper positions shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, while a cushion 92 of 
flat profile could alternatively be placed on the inclined surface 90 as 
shown in FIG. 13. Thus various shaped cushions in various locations on the 
inclined surface are used to impart the desired corrective force to a 
portion of the spine within the scope of the present invention. 
The inclined surface of the traction table of the invention is adjustable 
and can be positioned at various angles with the level surface thereof, as 
desired within the scope of the invention. 
The forehead sling or harness can likewise be supported on (or near) the 
spinal traction table of the invention by any desired method, provided it 
fits around the person's forehead for adjustment to any desired 
compressive force against forehead and cervical spine, as desired within 
the scope of the present invention. As indicated above, the forehead 
harness can be connected to a pull cord which passes through a jam cleat 
for adjustable and releasable tensioning purposes. Also, as shown e.g. in 
FIGS. 2 and 7, the pull cord passes proximate the inclined surface of the 
table so as to apply compressive force to the forehead of a person at an 
acute angle with at least the upper spine of the person. 
Thus the method and apparatus of the present invention apply extension 
traction to the spine of a person to restore optimum curves thereof and 
realigns the center of masses of the spine one over the other, as 
indicated in FIG. 4. Or at least, the invention applies corrective forces 
to the spine in that direction. In other words, the method and apparatus 
of the invention apply corrective forces to (a) toward restoring the 
optimum lordosis of the cervical and lumbar spine, (b) toward restoring 
the optimum kyphosis in the thoracic spine, and (c) seeks to align the 
head, thoraces and pelvis to balance one over the other when a person is 
standing or walking, as nature intended, for improved health and 
well-being of person. 
Thus the method and apparatus of the invention apply sling compression 
forces to the forehead and cervical spine at an acute angle thereto, 
toward correcting the curve of the cervical spine. In addition, if 
desired, the invention also can employ a fulcrum cushion between the 
inclined surface and the back of a person, to apply corrective shaping 
forces to other parts of the spine. Further the invention can direct the 
lower legs toward the floor in counterweight tension to the upper back 
forces thus applied.