EOTA With Or Without Mechanical Traction For Patients With Lumbar Spondylosis

"The EOTA intervention involves three components.~The first component is a series of active extension- oriented exercises:~Prone lying: Able to tolerate for 5 minutes, no pillow Prone lying on elbows: Able to tolerate for 5 minutes Prone press up exercise: 3 sets of 10 repetitions, move to end-range extension Repeated extension in standing: 3 sets of 10 repetitions, move to end-range extension The second component of the EOTA is subject education. Subjects are educated to maintain the natural lordosis of the lumbar spine while sitting, and are instructed to avoid prolonged sitting for greater than 20-30 minutes whenever possible.~The third component of the EOTA is mobilization of the lumbar spine to promote lumbar extension. The mobilization component consist of a series of up to 20 graded oscillatory mobilizations performed with the subject prone by using a grade I - IV mobilization force as described by Maitland."

"Subjects in the EOTA + traction group receive the EOTA components described above with Mechanical lumbar traction.~Intermittent traction being applied (30-sec hold, 10-sec rest) for 15 minutes. Traction started with 25% of the patients' body weight and increased until the patient indicated that the tolerance for pulling was reached, with a maximum of 50% of the total body weight.~2 sessions being given per week for 3 weeks."