How Many Newtons to Distract the Hip?
Home Long Axis Traction Options In this excerpt from his workshop at the OPTA Conference in 2016, Dr. Tony Rocklin, a leading advocate for the expanded use of physical therapy in pre-surgical management of hip osteoarthritis, discusses a couple of the different ways patients can use traction at home to decrease pain and improve mobility. One of the key considerations in determining which method chosen is the amount of traction force supplied by each method and the amount of force needed to achieve the goal. Studies show that the force needed to distract the conscious human hip is 400 N (Newtons) +/- 50. Superbands and inversion tables can provide light traction, but not sufficient to create deformation to the joint...