It's been 20 years since I had a bad case, thank the diety of your choice. Similar to an inversion table, they put me on a modern version of The Rack. Basically a girdle around the hips and another around the ribs, then lay face down on a table where the bottom half slides. The one I was treated on used a big vacuum cylinder to pull the bottom half. After laying down, they'd pile hot sisal mats (like the old floor mats) on my back to make the muscles relax, and have it pull and release in 15 second intervals for 15-20 minutes. The theory is to stretch the spine and open the gaps in the vertebrae. Then get up and walk for 15 minutes to get things back in a natural alignment. Worked AMAZINGLY well...