Gravity lumbar reduction method

Claim 1

A method of gravity lumbar reduction therapy, which comprises the steps of: (a) disposing the body of a patient on a support member that is inclined at an angle with regard to the horizontal; (b) suspending the patient by the rib cage in a head-up orientation with the patient's feet being unsupported, wherein the patient is suspended from substantially directly above the patient's shoulders regardless of the angle of the support member to produce an axial elongation of the spine, wherein the suspending step comprises: (i) firmly and frictionally grasping the rib cage of the patient below the patient's arm pits and at least partially underneath the rib cage; and (ii) hanging the patient by the rib cage with the weight of the patient's body being supported at the rib cage; (c) maintaining the patient in the disposed and suspended position to allow the force of gravity to act on the unsupported lower body, whereby a non-injurious stretching of the lumbar spine is achieved; and (d) progressively increasing the angle of the support member to a maximum angle in accordance with the patient's ability to tolerate the stress imposed on the patient's spine and maintaining the patient in the disposed and suspended position at each increased angle of the support member, and wherein the maximum angle includes 90° relative to the horizontal in appropriate cases.

Claim 2

A method of gravity lumbar reduction therapy, which comprises the steps of: (a) disposing the body of a patient on a support member that is inclined at an angle with regard to the horizontal; (b) suspending the patient by the rib cage in a head-up orientation with the patient's feet being unsupported, wherein the patient is suspended from substantially directly above the patient's shoulders regardless of the angle of the support member to produce an axial elongation of the spine, wherein the suspending step comprises: (i) firmly and frictionally grasping the rib cage of the patient below the patient's arm pits and at least partially underneath the rib cage; and (ii) hanging the patient by the rib cage with the weight of the patient's body being supported at the rib cage; (c) maintaining the patient in the disposed and suspended position to allow the force of gravity to act on the unsupported lower body, whereby a non-injurious stretching of the lumbar spine is achieved; and (d) progressively increasing the angle of the support member to a maximum angle in accordance with the patient's ability to tolerate the stress imposed on the patient's spine and maintaining the patient in the disposed and suspended position at each increased angle of the support member, and wherein the maximum angle includes 90° relative to the horizontal in appropriate cases.