“Self-decompression” & the seated chair lift

Don’t underestimate the value of seated ‘chair-lifts’ both as an important testing procedure for “compression but also as a counter to the discal stress imposed by daily sitting. Holtzman, Froyer, Saunders and others have examined the decompression effect and benefit of this maneuver and found that it indeed both relieves pain and restores height i.e. fosters disc fluid imbibition in people who sit a lot during the day. “Sitting is the new smoking” takes on a chiropractic edge when you realize the damaging effects on the lumbar discs. Instructing patients to try this “self-decompression” 30-60 seconds (dependent on their strength) several times per day can help pain and possibly disc nutrition & revitalization.