Been hearing a lot about these lately. Seems I continually hear of a new success story of someone curing a lifetime(or several years worth) of back problems by simply introducing inversion therapy. Any of you CampFire members hanging upside down these days for some pain relief? Can folks who don't even suffer from back pain benefit from using an inversion table on a regular basis?

I'm going to buy one tomorrow. I got to try something. I drive a lot and have just got my lower back jacked up for months. I am constantly in pain. I dont want to go to chiropractor(so i will spend my money on some thing that i want to try)

Good Luck! Hope it works out for you.

I've considered an inversion table many times but have never pulled the trigger on one. Having had a broken back I'm currently pain free thanks to chiropractic. I'll never be 100% but without a GOOD chiropractor my quality of life would definitely suffer in a BIG way. YMMV.....

I have heard that some chiropractors claim that if everyone had an inversion table, they'd be out of work.

Glad I have never experienced back problems ... nor have I ever had to see a chiropractor.

Finding a good chiropractor has been the one thing that has kept my buddy bent over his leather sewing machine for a lot of years.

Use mine in the morning and before bed daily. Two ruptured discs, one discectomy.

It helps immensely.

Be aware that if you have inner ear balance problems, an inversion table might send you for a serious loop. Before you spend the money, hang over the back of a couch with your head way down for a while to see what happens.

Yes

an inversion table coupled with a good chiropracter does wonders....only thing with inversion tables is there are some medical issues/back injuries where its a really bad, even potentially dangerous to use......my dad was told to stay away from them but i forget why but the surgeon that fixed my bulged disk highly recommended one for me when we were trying to treat it without surgery first....

I highly recommend pools, light exercise in the water has been a god send to me over the years.

Chiropractors can be wonderful or terrible, it is an art.

I have had a bad back for years. My friend's Dad had one. It always seemed to help me when I tried it. However, I eventually needed emergency back surgery. No fault of the table though. I would look into one.

I cured a fairly bad case of Sciatica due to a bulging disk. I bought one for $100 at the Big 5 and used it every day for a month or so then less frequently for another month or so.

A couple of things 1) don't feel like you have to hang dead vertical. A supported angle helps your back learn to relax. You can increase it once your back starts getting with the program. 2) I didn't find that hanging longer was better. 5 minutes or so seemed to be about right for me.

Take it easy. My back was pretty reluctant to relax at first but it will if you don't get too radical with angle or duration at first. If it didn't take up so much darned room I would have it around all the time.

haven't used one in years, but you guys are tempting me to buy one.


I think there's much benefit to be had by being inverted for a bit on a regular basis. Gravity will take the synovial fluid in your joints and coat the top of it for awhile.

and it does feel good on the back

takes some getting used to though, the just bending or straightening your legs to change the angle, I wanted to sit up my way out of that thing. But you pick it up pretty quick when you learn the futility of trying to muscle your way back upright.

Inversion therapy is beneficial for overall health as well as providing gentle traction for bad backs. $100 is cheaper than back surgery no matter what version of Obama care you got.

Sounds like they just plain work!

I had one for 10years. only nedd to use it ocaisionly anymore, but still do.

I use mine whenever I need it. Best investment I've made in a long time.

Hell yes they work, I bought a 'teeter hangup' about 12 years ago, it's the only thing that gave me relief when that pesky hunk of bullet I picked up in '90 squirms around and gets on a nerve pack.

About 5/10 minutes is all it takes, also helps pull out knotted pulled muscles and other back irritations, and you dont have to go 180 degrees to get relief either, just increase the degree as you get used to it, also, leave your boots on when using it, hurts the top of your foot arches in your socks.

Gunner

Make sure you bend your knees just enough to put tension on them, you can loosen things up there instead of your back, so loose on your back but tighten up your leg muscles a bit.

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.