Using ATV winch to help Mom with sciatica...please read
 

My mother has just developed a fairly serious case of sciatica, which is a condition where you have some serious leg pain as the result of a pinched sciatic nerve. One of the exercises she does in physical therapy is simply the therapist holding onto her foot and pulling away from her hips as she lays on her back on a table. To replicate this exercise at home they have recommended an inversion table (where you turn upside down and hang from your feet), but since she's not too keen on this idea I'm trying to figure out how to replicate this exercise...which is where the idea of a remotely operated winch comes in.

I don't really have a wide range of knowledge when it comes to what equipment is out there that can help me accomplish this goal, but I'm not too shabby at designing things and since I just installed a superwinch on my grizz this is the first idea I've come up with.

Basically I'm imagining using some kind of winch whose rope would be worked through a pulley system that would end attached to a shoe which Mom would put on, lie down and use the remote switch to gently stretch the leg.

- Winch (if an ATV winch) would be powered by a 12v car battery hooked up to a trickle charger

- Safety mechanisms would include...
- a light switch dimmer inline between the 12v battery and the winch so speed can be adjusted.
- possibly using one of those stretchy rubber exercise resistance bands in the line segment to regulate and ease the pulling
- a remote power cut off switch paired with the remote 'in/out' switch

Honestly I could just go ahead and make this system myself, and I'm fairly sure it would work, but I thought I'd bounce this idea off a mechanically minded community to see if there are any ideas how I could improve on the design.

Since I'm only familiar with ATV winches at this point that's what I've imagined using. But if anyone is aware of a 110v based winch that would be more appropriate, that would surely help in simplifying powering the system since it'll be located indoors. Only requirement for the winch would be that it would need both an in and out function operated by a remote switch. And since the winch would only need to pull between 10-20 lbs it wouldn't need to be nearly as beefy as the ATV type.

Sorry for the long write up here but I'm certainly glad for your time and open to your opinions and suggestions.

Tho I think your heart is certainly in the right place, trying to help your Mother, I would think that about anything you "rigged" up could be dangerous/unsafe. Is there not medical equipment designed for this type of appliction?

Also, I would imagine when a moderator see's this, your post may be deleted because of the safety issues involved. But good luck and I wish your Mom the best.

Not going to delete this. -Moderator

Another thought is to get a few double pulleys so you have more lift with less effort. She could do what you're describing by hand. Each wrap over a pulley cuts the effort by roughly a half. Wouldn't have to worry about switches, electrical failure, etc.

Think about how much torque and power even a small atv winch has. They're meant to pull heavy machines out of mud or snow, not be used for physical therapy. I very nearly lost a finger once when I got it caught between a winch cable and the front bumper. Luckily, I only mildly cut my finger but if I hadn't moved it an instant sooner, I would have crushed it. A simple pulley like those in exercise equipment would be a better choice. Something manually controlled where you control exactly how much tension it has by adding or subtracting weight. I know you want to help your mother but doing what you are suggesting is only going to get her hurt.

Even a door pulley system is a better option. Hooks over a door and another person can pull one rope handle,the other on the arm,leg,etc. You have way better control over this. Have had to do this for the wife with rotator cuff surgery before she retired. Gotta do it again as she's having the left one done Feb 3rd.