The proportion of traction therapy in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation is getting smaller and smaller, I think the external reason is mainly due to the advancement of various medications, Chinese medicine techniques, radiofrequency ablation, ozone, minimally invasive surgery and other technologies, which greatly squeeze the living space of traction therapy, and the internal reason is that traction therapy requires time and effort, and the cost of time and patience is what is missing in this society, so traction therapy is not favored by Most orthopedic surgeons and patients prefer traction therapy. The principle of traction therapy for lumbar disc herniation is to use the principle of action and reaction force in mechanics to treat lumbar disc herniation by pulling the body in two opposite directions, cephalad and caudal. (1) Lumbar traction can bring back the herniated disc: traction increases the lumbar intervertebral space and makes the disc become negative pressure, plus the posterior longitudinal ligament is tightened, which is conducive to the herniated nucleus pulposus being brought back and can relieve or eliminate the compression and irritation to the nerve roots; (2) lumbar traction can pull apart the contracted ligaments, joint capsule and the narrowed intervertebral foramen on both sides: it also reduces the compression and irritation to the nerve structures by these structures; (3) lumbar spine Traction can reduce neuroedema: traction gives the lumbar spine sufficient rest and reduces motor stimulation, which is conducive to reducing the pressure in the spinal canal and reducing neuroedema; (4) lumbar traction can relax the muscles of the lumbar back: traction can gradually relax the lumbar back muscles and release muscle spasm. Second, what kind of lumbar disc herniation is suitable for traction Here it is necessary to emphasize that whether the lumbar disc herniation can do traction treatment must be determined by the orthopedic surgeon, must not decide on their own. Therefore, traction therapy is only applicable to mild to moderate lumbar disc herniation, and for severe lumbar disc herniation (that is, prolapse or free type) or combined with other diseases (such as lumbar isthmus crack), sometimes traction therapy will aggravate the condition, so do not do traction therapy blindly by yourself. Third, the type and method of traction therapy 1, pelvic continuous traction method: the most traditional traction method, the patient lying on a hard bed, fixed with a pelvic traction belt around the waist, the left and right sides of the belt connected with a traction rope to the foot end of the bed, or with double lower limb skin traction to lead out the traction rope, traction rope through the pulley after hanging 5 ~ 10kg weight on each side, the foot of the bed raised 10 ~ 15cm to generate counter-traction force. 2.Self-controlled supine traction: the traction bed is divided into the upper part and the lower part, both of which can slide. The upper part of the bed mainly controls the upper body of the patient, and the lower part of the bed controls the lower body of the patient. Traction can be manually controlled or computer controlled. The manual control can generally only do continuous static traction, while the computer control can do automatic intermittent round-trip slow traction or pulsed traction. Some of the more advanced computer-controlled traction devices can adjust the traction force at any time, the force is too heavy can be alarmed, but also can display the changes in the size of the low back muscle tension. 3, prone three-dimensional traction: prone traction is mainly based on the anatomy of the human spine, through the prone traction bed to restore the physiological anterior convexity of the human lumbar spine, in such a position traction can be more effective traction force on the intervertebral disc. Fourth, the course of traction therapy There is no fixed course of traction therapy, the doctor needs to develop an individualized traction program according to the patient’s symptoms, the degree of lumbar disc herniation and the response to traction therapy. But generally 2-3 times a day, once 30 minutes, treatment 4-6 weeks, if the symptoms do not improve, we should consider other treatment methods. V, traction treatment misconceptions 1, traction treatment can be done at home Now many online stores selling traction equipment, traction methods are also very clear, so that people feel that traction can be done at home without going to the hospital. But as an orthopedic surgeon, it is strongly recommended that traction should not be done at home, because although sometimes you can buy traction equipment that is more advanced than the hospital, but to determine whether the patient is suitable for traction, traction program development, how the patient reacts to traction, when to stop need professional doctors and clinical experience, so it is recommended that we better go to the regular hospital for traction treatment. 2, traction treatment for a few days feel no effect to stop traction treatment needs to be carried out on time, and need a period of time to show the effect of treatment, so you can not actively give up because of a short period of time is not effective, need to have patience and set aside a certain amount of time cost to get a good effect. However, if traction is not effective for more than 4-6 weeks, it is necessary to discuss with the doctor whether to discontinue other treatment options.