Stretching Rack

The stretching rack was initially called the Hypocratic bench because it was invented by none other then Hippocrates.

He invented it to fix bone problems such as separating overlapping bones in the spine or fixing the curvature of the spine in many individuals.

Eventually, the stretching rack was also used to torture prisoners and suspects until they confess. Whether or not they confess the truth was irrelevant to the people who did the torturing as long as they got the desired results and confession. The stretching rack was banned after the public complained about its barbaric and cruel methods of extracting a confession. The individual who was stretched on the stretching rack would either die from the immense pain or if they lived, they will die from the broken bones and dislocated joints. A confession is the only way to stop the torture and many people who went on the stretching rack did exactly this even if they were confessing to something they did not do.

The Concept Of The Stretching Rack

The concept of the stretching rack is to tie up an individual’s arms and legs and with the use of winches, pull the individual in order to align his spine correctly. The pull exerted on the spine of the individual can often correct many spinal ailments. To this day, the idea of correcting or fixing some deformities or spinal ailments using the stretching rack concept has prevailed. The use of the Hypocratic bench was widespread until medieval times when it was solely used as an instrument of torture.

The Stretching Rack Now

Vertebral Axial Decompression is the modern answer to the Hypocratic bench. The VAX-D operates with the same principles as the older ones except that a computer manages the pulling mechanism according to the necessary corrections with a human hand controlling the input. This has proven to be quite an effective way of fixing some specific spinal problems which include back pain. There are some claims that the stretching rack could also cure other ailments pertaining to other bones but these have not been proven yet.

The stretching rack has come a long way from the original device invented to help people with their spinal problems. In spite of the cruel twist of fate that turned it into a machine solely used to torture people, it has made a great comeback in the recent years and has proven its worth. Hippocrates was not wrong in inventing the stretching rack to help with the problems of the spine.