Traction
Does traction work?
Traction is effective in providing temporary pain relief in the early stages of treatment after trauma. For long-term (chronic) conditions,there's little scientific evidence to support the use of traction.
Skin or skeletal traction was often routinely applied to the limb of a fractured hip before surgery. However, recent research has shown this appears to have little or no benefit.
There's alsolittle evidence to show traction is an effective method of treating spinal conditions such as:
- neck pain
- back pain
- sciatica (pain caused by irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve)
Several studies have either produced inconclusive results or concluded that there aremore effective methods oftreating these conditions, such as exercise and physiotherapy .
Although skin and skeletal tractionmay be used to treat certaintypes of fracture, traction isn't usually needed for minor fractures.
Medically Reviewed by a doctor on 21 Dec 2018
Introduction
Traction is where weights, ropes and pulleys are used to apply force to tissues surrounding a broken bone.
When traction is used
There areseveral situations when traction may be used. For example, it may be used to: realign and fix bone fractures, such as a broken leg helpreduce painbefore surgery treat bone deformities cau
Types of traction
The two main types of traction are skin traction and skeletal traction. Skin traction Skin traction is usually carried outwhile a person is lying in a hospital bed. It uses equipment such as splints
Does traction work?
Traction is effective in providing temporary pain relief in the early stages of treatment after trauma. For long-term (chronic) conditions,there's little scientific evidence to support the use of trac
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