Stamina InLine Back Stretch Bench

Background: ruptured a low back disc in 2016. Went through traction therapy with 2 different doctors, and different machines, dozens of times, over the course of 5 months. I’m familiar with traction/decompression. My back was aching after a strenuous job for several months. I thought this may be an option to spending $50 per session. I sincerely wish I had never considered it. I assembled the back stretch bench in the living room, as my wife looked on, and we chatted about how nice it would be if I could use this while traveling for work, as well. Once it was completely assembled, I set it for my height, and put my feet between the rollers, and the upper cushions under my armpits. Used the ratcheting mechanism to slowly extend the machine, and allow a moderate stretch, pulling at my ankles, and resisting with the cushions under my arms. But. When I released the tension, by pushing the ratcheting mechanism all the way down, the machine SNAPPED back to the original position! Think about a ratchet strap, pulled taut, then suddenly released. It was NOT smooth, gentle, or acceptable. “Oh! Ouch. Oof! That was rough!” My wife’s eyes were huge “Oh my god! Are you alright?” It was obvious that it was bad. My back and hip were sore immediately. I spent the rest of the evening on the floor, on ice and heat. The next day it was worse, and the day after that, I could hardly walk. That was almost 2 months ago, I’ve had terrible sciatica nerve pain down my left leg, in my thigh and the front of my shin ever since that night. It’s bad enough that I’ve decided to take a couple weeks off work to focus on healing, since it’s not getting better with time and chiropractic sessions. I tried to return it, but maybe the returns window closed already. Either way, there’s no option to return. Which means I’ve been injured, and I’m out the price of this product, I’ve had to pay for numerous chiropractic sessions in an attempt to solve the injury, AND I’m about to lose thousands of dollars because I need to take time off work. This item is Painful, leading to very expensive costs to offset its use.