Chapter 37: Not Even Built for Balance

I am lying on a table, tightly strapped into two back braces. The top brace is threaded around my shoulders and then strapped just as tightly to the table. The straps of the lower brace are attached to a rope, which in turn is attached to a device with a pulley and an electric motor. While I can move my lower arms and head somewhat, I can’t move any other part of my body to any meaningful extent. Before things begin, I am handed a “kill switch” to stop the machine if something goes wrong during this treatment—or I freak out. Then, the device is switched on and the lower brace is gently pulled at 30 pounds of torque for 30 seconds, then it lets go for 10 seconds of release. The device then repeats the pull, but this time at 60 pounds of torque, again for 30 seconds. Alter the second pull, the physical therapist releases the lock on the table. With the next pull of the machine, which is at 95 pounds of torque for 30 seconds, the middle part of the table and my lower spine ... move downwards. The physical therapist makes sure I’m okay, waits for the fourth pull, double checks everything, and then he leaves me alone to contemplate life with this modern-day “rack” for the next 30 minutes at 30 seconds per pull.