The purpose of this study was to determine if a gentle form of manual lumbar traction could reduce painful lumbar motions associated with lumbar disc degeneration (LDD). This clinical trial incorporated 134 participants with painful active lumbar motion. Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental treatment or sham group. 67 participants received sidelying manual lumbar traction while the other 67 participants received a sham treatment. Pre and post treatment NPRS values for the painful active lumbar motion were recorded for each group. There was a statistically significant improvement (P=0.00) for decreased pain intensity during active lumbar motion in the experimental group as compared to the sham treatment group. The average percent decrease in numeric pain rating scale (NPRS) values was 52.1% for the experimental treatment group and 8.1% for the sham group. The results of the study suggest that side-lying manual lumbar traction can improve painful lumbar motion in patients with LDD.