Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Inversion Tables ~ Do they work?

My Son in Law uses one for relief of a serious spine injury which required extensive surgical repair. He says it works wonders.

Then my 11 year old Grandaughter decided to try it out. Her feet slipped out of the retainers and she landed on her head. She is okay, but it did necessitate a trip to Urgent Care and X-rays and a couple days of missed basket ball practice to make sure.

No reflection on the inversion table, just considering that even the best kids do not always keep their hands off of things Mom and Dad told them not to touch.

I've had a chronic bad lower back for a long time, and I'm a fitness guy.
I have and use my inversion table, it does help. Some days work better than others. I don't hang completely inverted.

I actually just picked up a heritage 10 -google it- roller table (intersegmental traction table) on eBay, it is enroute.
I use one at my chiropractor when I go and it affords me the most relief..so, I picked one up very reasonably.
It will be wonderful to plop down and use it when needed.

I did pick up my Teeter hang up model 550 today. It will be set up tomorrow. Right now the pinched nerve in my lower back , shoots pain to the left hip pointer, back to the middle of my butt, and then down the back of my leg. My left lower leg now feels like it fell asleep , and when I walk, it flops down weird when I take a step. So I will be a good ginny pig to report back to you all. I'm very glad to have read all the positive remarks on the inversion table. At the very least, I can pretend to be Rocky Balboa (dreaming) getting ready to fight the Russian, when he was doing those upsidedown sit-ups hanging on the barn beams. HaHa!

Good luck Birddog, stay plenty hydrated before ya begin, as you hang upside down the discs are allowed to take on water and firm back up, airing themselves back up so to speak, cushioning the vertebrae and getting OFF the nerves.

Gunner

You probably know this, but start slow, and at a very slight angle.
It may take a few weeks to get comfortably to a sharper angle.

My 29 year old daughter has a ruptured disk and a bulging disk from a fall on a stairwell when she was 18. She benefits greatly from monthly sessions in a computerized traction machine.

I have back problems for which I am currently in physical therapy. I use an inversion table each morning in my home for just a few minutes and it helps.

Jordan

Thanks for the tips. Well, I can report back that after a week of heavy use(couple minutes at a time, for 30 minutes--2 or 3 times a day) has helped my back a great deal. The overall pain has almost gone, the nerve being pinched is 50% less of a problem, but leg is still flopping when I walk? I can honestly say that inversion tables can help a bad back. I am very happy with my results in such a short time. I will report back with any other changes. Thanks, Mark.

I know of a guy who, after setting himself up (down?) in one, his buddies duct-taped him into it, hauled him to the curb, then dropped his drawers for him. Talk about pissed! So my advice would be to use it only around those you trust.

I've had one for about a year now. When I stand on concrete, my lower back really takes a beating. I go home from work and 5 to 10 minutes really helps me out. It took about a month for my muscles to start relaxing, but after they did, I saw a big improvement. Would recommend them to anyone with back pain!

if i understand what your saying correctly that is from the nerve being pinched.....hopefully it hasnt been pinched to much for to long for it to be permanently damaged.....even if it hasnt been permanently damaged it can take months for it to get back to normal, unfortunately blood flow in that area is pretty poor and healing is slow.....even after i had the bulge fixed in my back i still had numbness completely for a month and off and on for 6.....

rattler, you are correct. i beleive that I have developed "drop foot" from Sciatica nerve damage. I hope its not too late for the release of pressure on that nerve to heal??

depends.....to many variables and i ddoubt even a back specialist can give you definitive answers.....prolly going to be a wait and see thing.....

I wanted to mention I have started using an inversion table and within a few days did notice some difference in my lower back, and just how I generally feel. It does do a good job of stretching me out and decompressing everything. I was having issues with a pinched nerve in my lower back and am hoping that just 5-10 minutes in the morning and again in the evening every day will hopefully keep it at bay ... so far so good. Also, my only complaint is how hard it is on my ankles while hanging upside down. I'm starting to get used to it and the benefits greatly outweigh the bit of discomfort, but I could see how someone would give up on it because of this reason alone. Just thought I'd mention all this incase other members are considering trying inversion therapy.

I got one about 10 yrs ago. A teeter hangups

I hung laundry on it for a few months, stubbed my toe 1/2 dozen times in the dark, finally carted it over to the garage (garage looks like govt basement at the end of raiders lost ark)

I never realized any benefit from it. Made my heels hurt and my stinky-ass chocolate lab would lick ya in the face after he'd been munching on his ballsack.

Anybody had their head asplode from being upside-down?

It has helped me a great deal. My lower back pain is gone and if I feel any slight pain at all---- I'll go inverted for a couple days treatment and it goes away. Unfortunately I still have the drop foot/damage to my lower left leg from the original pain that I had months ago. I WAITED TOO LONG TO GET TREATMENT!!!!! Partly due to money (didnt want to spend 300 and it not work) but it has been worth every penny. Get a TEADER, they have the best ankle retainers and you can hang longer with no discomfort to the ankles. good luck.

Ditto if you suffer from glaucoma. You do not need anything ramping up your inner eyeball pressure, which inversion equipment will do. My ophthalmologist said nothing doing, there are other ways to stay in shape and take care of a bad back.

forepaw

Traction therapy is the bomb---if you have it in your area. My daughter swears by it.

Traction therapy is the bomb---if you have it in your area. My daughter swears by it.