Claim Science

  I was looking through the Ceragem Master V11 product page when one claim made me stop. Ceragem lists “help in the treatment of herniated discs” among the V11’s six MFDS-certified effects. Its lumbar disc mode goes a step further, describing a process in which traction reduces pressure on the disc and helps a herniated disc return toward its proper position. That is a much more interesting claim than simply saying the machine feels good on a sore back. If part of a disc has pushed outward, can traction actually help move it back? At first, I expected this to be a fairly easy claim to check. Either traction works or it doesn’t. After reading the research, that turned out to be the wrong question. There is evidence that spinal traction can physically change what happens inside the lumbar spine. There is also evidence that some patients with disc herniation feel better after traction. The harder question is whether those findings mean that a herniated disc has actually been “put back...