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.

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!

Review: For the past year or so my back has been KILLING me. The junction where the T12/ L1 meet has become hyper mobile to compensate for my upper back being extremely tight. This caused a pinched nerve which I'd feel all day long as dull pain and then wake me up in the middle of the night from severe & sharp nerve pain. Anyone that has had nerve pain knows this is no joke (advil, aleve, percoset, etc won't touch the pain, nothing helps you just suck it up - so I'd be getting out of bed at 4 am almost every day because I couldn't deal with the pain any longer). I'm sure this is due to inactivity, sitting behind a PC for 8 hours a day and bad posture. I've spent hundreds of $ going to to PT for months, acupuncture treatments and a cortisone shot which all did absolutely nothing for me. The next step was to go back to the doctor and get an MRI/ back surgery - no thanks. I figured my spine was compressed so started with hanging on a pull up bar for a minute or so at a time as that's all I could do but it wasn't enough. I then found this product and figured I'd give it a shot but wasn't hopeful as nothing else seemed to work - my trouble spot is right at the very edge of where this product is no longer effective because the waist strap starts to cover it. I started using it twice a day and 3 minutes per stance and I can honestly say within a week, the pain decreased so much that I was able to sleep through the night without waking up due to pain. First time within about 6 months. I just could not believe it. And it seems to have semi lasting results; I haven't used it in about a week and still able to sleep through the night. I now use it as needed and when my back starts talking to me. No it's not a cure all & Yes there's still some dull pain noticeable throughout the day but at least it's manageable and almost never sharp like it was before. I will say that I made some other changes along with this. As my bad posture behind a PC perpetuated this, I needed to also correct it so purchased Upright GO | Posture Trainer which vibrates every time you slouch - otherwise doing the Sit and Decompress really would just be a bandaid for the bigger issue.. I also am working on increasing core strength via exercise. I used to get sciatic flare ups all the time and noticed doing a bunch of lunges help prevent these. This 3 pronged approach is what works for me. Suggestions: While it indeed is extremely effective for lower back issues, you really need to follow instructions to get a good fit and prevent slippage into the armpits. For those complaining of slippage, you need to ensure the TOP of waist strap is tight and UNDER your chest muscles/ breasts - NOT on top of them. If it starts to slip, then it's not tight enough. As it needs to be really tight, you can at times feel like you can't get a good breath. Maybe proper & padded support under the armpits as well could alleviate this a bit so you don't need it so tight? The youtube vids really helped with this. I couldn't figure out the reason for the double D hooks on the over shoulder straps at first but found they were to rest your arms if needed. Maybe better pictures of each feature in detail could be provided in the instructions as well as a link to Dr Josh's YT channel. Only other suggestion I can think of is I'd love to be able to also decompress my thoracic spine. There's nothing on the market that will do this unless you want blood rushing to your head on an inverted traction table - which I do not. But how can this be done as the waist strap is taking all of the weight and covering the thoracic spine in the process? Maybe instead of the current waist strap, use a rigid inverted V type strap supported at the top and padded arm rests leaving your entire spine exposed and able to decompress. I'd buy this in a heart beat

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!

I really wanted to like this harness - it seemed to fit what I was looking for: a convenient traction device that didn't take up a lot of space. What I found is that no matter how much I tighten the straps, or where I locate them (upper chest, mid-chest, below ribs), they don't stay put. If I position them where the instructions indicate, they always end up in my arm pits, which starts to hurt almost immediately. If I move them down my chest to a spot below my ribs so that I can tighten it even further and use my ribs as actual supports, it still doesn't stay put, and makes me 'top heavy' (and also hurts). I even tried rolled up towels inside of the arms of a heavy shirt, thinking the cushioning might help, but it didn't. If anything, it made the harness even more awkward to use, and frustrating, since I don't think I should have to go through all these convolutions just so I can hang from a pull-up bar. The only idea that I can think of to make this workable is to include some sort of sleeved attachment that you could put your arms through, thus supporting your upper body more. I realize that the looped straps that go through the upper set of 'D' rings may be the inventor's intention to address this, but frankly, those don't stop the harness from sliding up to your arm pits. All in all, I think if I had this to buy all over again I probably wouldn't. At least not for $78.00 (which is the real cost when you factor in the mandatory shipping and handling to put the prepackaged harness into an envelope and mail it). Not recommended

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!

The first thing that presents a challenge is to hangup a shooting bar that is strong enough to bear your weight. That is what cheating bars do but most people probably do not set about to find a place and they’re home that is strong enough to anchor into wooden stud walls and have it be strong enough. You really need a concrete or block wall to do that correctly. The biggest downer on this product for me though was how incredibly uncomfortable it is to use. You can wrap it around your middle or up around near your armpits. Either way, it slides up very violently into your armpits and really hurts. I did not get around quick enough to return this and get a refund. The refund window had closed by the time I got around to it. Too bad because I knew the very first day that it probably was not going to work for me. In hindsight, I would rig up ratchet straps or a robot cat just long enough to be fastened to the joists or rafter boards of a garage or outbuilding. Then I would have taken some old blankets and wrapped them very quickly around the rope or straps and settled that blanket enclosed rope around my back and under my armpits. It would have been much cheaper and have been much more comfortable to use. I do not know how many this guy has sold but if he has sold very many at all he has made a pretty good fortune at $47 each. I think you can get them now for $35 each but for me two dollars would be too much because I find it useless. I hate to trash this guys business but neither do I want customers like myself out there to throw away $35-$47 of good cash. My recommendation to the inventor is that you go back to the drawing board and come up with something with massively more padding for the under arms, which means you will probably need to go with a padding wrapped rope design instead of a Velcro waist strap. I do understand that this would drastically simplify the design though and probably show potential customers that they can rig something up themselves for free with a rope or ratchet strap and a few old blankets.