Sit and Decompress Back Stretcher 3 Minutes A Day Lumbar Traction Spinal Decompression - Inversion Table Alternative (Medium Harness No Bar)

I took a while to decide purchasing Sit and Decompress given some of the mixed reviews. However, the idea behind it made perfect sense to me so I bought it anyway. Inversion was not an option since I have high blood pressure and other options look less attractive (either because of price or because they seemed to induce less traction). I have been using it for a week and it has eliminated the constant back pain in my lower back (I have three herniated disks and lately the pain had become chronic). It actually made a huge difference in the second or third day (even though from the beginning I started feeling the stretch in my back and a difference using it twice a day for about 8 to 10 minutes). To be clear, I still have some back pain when sitting for too long at work. However, that is nowhere close to what I had (after sitting for a while, it was embarrassing to walk around since it was evident I was under pain). I am also running again and planning to return to my soccer team (I am a 53 year old still playing in a league but I had missed my last two games because of this). Like many others indicated, the brace is a bit uncomfortable since you are essentially putting most of your own weight on the rib cage. However, in my case, I did not have much problem (for my body the lower strap adjusts about an inch tighter than the upper strap so I guess I have somewhat of a V shape but not too much, at least not in the mirror). I take this over the back pain anytime. I just used a cotton shirt. I have not tried towels because I did not have much problem to withstand it for 10 minutes. Durability may be an issue as the straps are adjusted with plastic rings. However, so far they have worked great. I have the same concern with the sawing of the straps. I do not know how long they will last. However, for those with chronic back pain like I was having, I consider it a good investment even if you have to buy another one in a few months (consider that you do not have to take anti inflammatory medication, what those pills may do to your stomach, that you are a lot more efficient at work and able to enjoy other activities when you are not in constant pain, and that you may end up not going to visit the doctor because of this). I was having more recurrent episodes where you almost cannot move for a simple bad movement. Although a week is too early to tell, it does feel like this would reduce those episodes dramatically. Finally, I got a chin bar from amazon. It is pretty good and I feel extremely safe using it (I had never used one before and I was uneasy about how safe it was to hang yourself from it. The only thing is that the foam can leave some marks on your door trim (I saw other reviews for the same chin bar indicating this). To avoid that, I just used the white foam from the packaging of the chin bar wrapped around the two handles that touch the door (if fits perfectly). In summary, if you are on the fence, I would give it a try. At least for me, it has made things much better in just a week. I take the opportunity to congratulate Dr. Dorsey for an excellent idea! Update: two weeks and still working great. I really do not understand the complaints about setting it up. After the initial setup, it takes me less than a minute to put it on the door and then another minute to strap it to my body.

BIG DISCLAIMER - out of the box this thing is complete junk, it hurts so bad you won't last 10 seconds in it. It should cost about $20, the material is the bare minimum, and the buckles are PLASTIC! But, with a bit of work it’s the best ~$120 (including bar/other materials) decompression I’ve found. Using the Chiropractor decompression machine as the gold standard, I tried to find something that would approach that feeling. I have the inversion belt (refurbished $109) and an inversion table that are really good, better in some ways. Excellent stretch but a bit annoying hanging upside down sometimes. The inversion belt changes the game for an inversion table, no ankle or knee pain and you can fully relax upside down. The problem is you’re upside down and the inversion belt can be a problem for males… you have to work at making it comfortable. I’ve tried the Stamina InLine Bench with inversion belt AND the T-bar accessory, I really hoped it’d mimic a professional table but no, not worth it. I’ll write a review for that soon. I’ve tried the Stamina inline Traction control system, no go. It just hurts, you can’t use it for more than a few seconds and you’re in pain the entire time under your arms; not worth it. The only positive about it is ease of use, you can walk up to it and get in/out in seconds. Fisher traction system. Not enough of a stretch but not bad, I’m still evaluating. This thing, with the mods I will describe, is excellent for the price. Even though it costs double what it should. With some padding and a tight belt you can really relax and get a good stretch. 30 seconds is easy to achieve, pain free. Maybe even a minute at a time or more. To me, comfort is a big deal if you’re going to fully relax and let your spine decompress. I had to order an extra large for this. I use a belt to secure a yoga mat around myself and after strapping in I cover the sit and decompress with a low back brace belt to really get a tight fit. Place the contraption a bit under your ribs and let the yoga mat really cushion under your arms. It works really well. The yoga mat provides grip for the site-and-decompress belt so that even if you don’t use a back brace to really cinch in, it’ll still greatly improve the experience. There’s another device called a gravity belt that looks promising, but I honestly can’t justify $350 for it…. I’ve included pictures for your enjoyment and my embarrassment. It looks ridiculous but I don’t care, it feels great.

ALTERNATIVE: Consider a FISHER TRACTION Lower Back Unit with added knee wedge supports that’s used on the floor so you can actually relax without added pain. Almost any BODY can use that one! PHASE 1 - YIKES!: As of this review there is NO full disclosure disclaimer on Amazon about this harness being unsuitable for large busted women; I found out too late that the disclaimer is ONLY on Dr. Dorsey’s website - almost at the bottom! Fool me once . . . Dr. Josh Dorsey, you’ve got some disclaiming to do on Amazon! Sadly for me, the return deadline has passed; yeah, buyer beware. Unless you’re built like a 12-year-old boy this thing HURTS as demonstrated - if you can keep it on! Slippery unpadded vinyl material, no instructions on safety threading the webbing straps and a stubborn waist belt clip release, all say, what was I thinking? If you like hanging from your armpits and breasts, this is for you! It was designed by a thin male chiropractor without any consideration for the physiologic differences between men and women or their weight dynamics. Others have commented on this shortsightedness and Dr. Dorsey has done nothing to address it. And kudos to my husband for safety threading the drop straps that I photographed. PHASE 2 - WORKAROUND: After some pondering, I re-deployed this harness to use like a Back Bubble decompression device. Because the size I purchased was just large enough with which to work, I velcro-ed the vinyl band and adjusted the safety belt to the largest matching safe circumference. While the harness was hanging, I turned it to look like an “O,” belt clip at bottom. I then adjusted the drop straps so the bottom of the “O” was at about waist height. I could then put my body weight across the flat band by entering the “O” head first to find a point of equilibrium around my ribs, not my breasts. My hands and arms could still grip the drop straps to help stabilize my tilt. As a woman, this is the only potential use I’ve found for this poor design. Good luck!

I will edit this review as I gain experience. I have tried other decompression devices, and have been told by experts that surgery has a poor prognosis at my age. Btw, I am Desiree's husband ... we purchased this using her account. My first comment is .... ease of use. It's monotone spaghetti. Why on earth doesn't the inventor use color coded straps?? At this writing, I can't untangle it. Edit 1: It's assembled. I bought the large since my chest measures 47". It's too small, though. It won't fasten. Edit 2: I got the larger one, and it fastens. However, it rides up. Now, mind you, I did go to the main website and watched the videos: also, I teach anatomy, and know that he ribcage is smaller at the bottom. However, I also drink beer (too much) and eat pastries (too many) and so my big ol' belly overlaps the narrow part of my ribcage. I'm not proud of it, but, well, there it is. All 50 inches of it. So I decided to seek an alternate solution, and let the harness ride up into my armpits. First attempt: No. It cuts into the flesh too deeply. Second attempt: I decided to use folded handtowels to cushion the armpit area. Um: No. My big ol' body and the hand towels can't both fit in the harness. Take home: it'll probably work for anyone slender and athletic. For an aging ex-athlete who has let himself go from lean to porcine, though ... nope.

I am 55, 185 lbs and in pretty good shape. I have had sciatica for about 3 years (from my right hip to my right foot), and I have been going to different chiropractors for help, as well as physical therapy. I had a cyst on the spine drained, and that did not help much, I've been doing Yoga and pyriformes stretches and IT band rolls religiously, and those have been short term relief at best. I can do most everything I want for exercise, but sitting seems to kill me. I believe my lower back pain is from compressed discs in the L5-S1, and from years of sitting, baseball, golf and weight lifting. I used this sit and decompress off and on for a couple months (like once or twice a week) for 3 to 5 minutes. I was also doing chiropractic care, which included vibration therapy, cryotherapy, and stim, and i I didn't notice much alleviation of my pain. I ramped up to 10 minutes a day with the sit and decompress to see if that would make a difference. It gets a little uncomfortable on the armpits around the 7 minute mark, but not terrible. the first time I did 10 minutes I noticed a reduction in my sciatica. The last few weeks I've noticed a MARKED difference in the amount of sciatic pain I have. It's been a huge difference for me, and I know everyone is different, I think I like doing it for 7 - 10 minutes at a time. For people that are overweight or maybe weak in the shoulders, I would think they would need to do less time, as it is an intense stretch. I have a wide back and i think that helps also with the comfort. My x-rays show more space between the discs now, which I believe is the result of this device and the chiropractic. In combination with other back stretches, and ab work, this has become an hugely important part of my daily routine. I've seen alot of posts that this thing is cheaply made, and doesn't work- but it does the job and it is incredibly inexpensive, and sturdy for what it does. I have no need to modify it in anyway, it's built well enough. You have to know how to / or figure out how to pull the straps through correctly and put it on so it fits snug. For people that are overweight or can't figure out how it put it on right, then they should contact customer support. This thing has worked great for me, and I'm sure it would help alot of people and it's the only reliable treatment I have found for my sciatica. Thank you Dr. D!

This item looked in the videos like it might be effective and my lower back pain is severe enough to make me give it a try. Maybe it does indeed work for some lucky people and I think the creator has sincere intentions to help people. For me though it was just too uncomfortable to be able to use it on a regular basis unless it really helped my back, which, after I did use it for 8 straight days, did not seem improved at all. With no noticeable improvement I could not force myself to try it any longer. In order to tolerate it at all I had to first wrap my torso with a 1/4" thick sponge rubber mat. There was still a problem with breathing, on every exhale I would slip down a little further until virtually hanging from the arm pits. It was also difficult to relax my core muscles completely enough to allow the spine to stretch at all. I think trying to firmly attach this device to a part of the body that changes in diameter with every breath is just not going to work, at least not for me. I gave it 2 stars because, according to the reviews it does work for some people, it seems well made, and I think it is an honest effort to help people with back pain.

Service Plumber here! I'm Constantly in weird positions and lifting heavy things and 4 years ago I was in a position using a drain snake for over 45 minutes which made a muscle near, I'm guessing, Lumbar 5 near my tailbone, base of the spine sore. Then, I went to lift a 150 pound toilet and immediately felt something pull that muscle and caused me to be hunch backed for 5 straight days. They sent me to Chiropractor and it helped minimally but the pain lingered forever, I realize now that I wasn't healing because of my bad posture while driving and I pulled the muscle for a second time a year later which caused me to have to be off for at least 3 days and this time they sent me to workers comp doctors who just prescribe muscle relaxers and sent me on my way. Another year goes by and I finally hurt my back to an alarming extent. I was out for 10 days of work and couldn't even walk most of those days. The pain was unbearable, whereas the other times I just couldn't stand straight up and was hunched over. This time, I had to have my wife lift my legs and stuff pillows under them to sleep and coughing was terrifyingly painful since I also had a cold. I had to wheel myself around the house and couldn't even get into the car to go to the doctor. Finally, I healed enough to go to the doctor again just for them to prescribe Ibuprophen and say to rest and use ice packs and crap. I've been dealing with that pain from the last time I hurt it for over a year now and someone mentioned trying to use "traction" stretches and stuff to allow the muscle to heal. I started seeing immediate results in those types of stretches and I found the "sit and decompress" after googling " Traction devices". After three sessions ( three days three minutes a piece) I have ABSOLUTELY ZERO pain at all. It's completely stretched that part of my back and I admit, the first couple of times it was hard and painful to use, my back feels 100% healed! So grateful for this device. I will continue to do it to add therapy to my worn back. I found the straps uncomfortable to use but bearable when you put a hoody on AND a large coat to cushion the stress that it's going to put on your chest. But it's a small price to pay for a healed back!!! Thank you!

This does relieve strain on the lower back very well. I feel much better after hanging in it for about 5 minutes. There are some problems but I don't know how they could be addressed. Some engineer might be able to figure them out. Making it fit well and stay tight was impossible though. Over time you'll sink down and eventually the side portions would be in your armpits. That's rather uncomfortable. I put some thick cloths on there so it wouldn't hurt. They also need intermediate sizes so there's more overlap in the chest area.

love it

Does what it says on the packet, but I personally find it rather uncomfortable to use.

I received the product when expected and I loved it!!!!

I was disappointed to receive this item and realise that it didn't come with a chin up bar. I realise that you have put it in the product description further down the page, but it should be in the product description under the main photo - which reads as though the bar is in the box with the belt.

Ok