Notes on Spinal Decompression

This blog answers the decompression questions that don't fit on a treatment page, starting with whether a decompression table is really any different from the powered traction equipment the FDA classifies it as.

Some questions need more room than a service page gives them. They also need sources, because most of what's written about spinal decompression online is written by someone selling it.

We sell it too. That's exactly why every claim below has a link behind it.

Care by Mecham Chiropractic · 4700 South 900 East

Updated September 15, 2026

What's here

Each post sticks to the same rule the rest of this site follows: facts come from documents we opened, the weak spots get said out loud, and nothing gets a number it can't back up.

The first one takes the line every decompression clinic uses, this one included — that a decompression table isn't really a traction table. It works through the pressure study behind that claim, what the FDA and Cigna call these machines, and the two trials that actually tested the difference: one against a sham pull, one against ordinary traction.

Posts get written when a question comes up often enough to deserve a real answer, and only when there's something published to point at. If we can't cite it, we don't post it.

Where to start instead

If you're trying to decide about treatment rather than read about it, three pages do that job better than any post. There's what the research says about spinal decompression, what a plan actually involves, and what it costs in Salt Lake City.

Questions that don't fit any of those? Call (801) 590-8615 or book an exam online.

Start with an exam, not a package

Dr. Cody Mecham checks whether your pain actually behaves like a disc problem before anyone talks about sessions. If decompression isn't a fit for you, that's the first thing you'll hear.

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