Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Inversion Tables. Experiences / Advice?

So, bought this contraption a few years ago, and it sat in the closet in the box. My back issues (long ago herniated L4/5) got better over time with ice and motrin. Most days I'd bee at near 100% with little pain. But every couple of months or so, wham! But wouldn't last long with ice and motrin.

Well, a couple stents later, and still on blood thinners, doc says no motrin (no anti-inflamatories of any kind), and I can take nothing for pain other than tylenol. Chit. He recommended an inversion table, and about the time it arrived, the back had improved. So there it sat in the box. When I did get another bout of pain, ice and laying low for a few days would handle it.

Fast forward a few years. Mom was sick and I had to do a lot of assisting her with lifting her. She later passed, and I had sole responsibility to clean out the house. Between that and another move for W and I at the same time, I absolutely wrecked my back. Near constant pain for 6 months now.

Add to that, went in for lung CT scan, and the results had the nice little side note of "degenerative disc disease".

So, finally unboxed this thing today and put it together, and went for my 1st 5 minute ride at a fairly shallow angle. Of course I don't feel a difference yet, and didn't expect to. Did have a bit of comforting cracking of the back though!

But looking for experiences and tips with this thing. If you have one, did it work? Frequency and length of use? Angles that worked for you? How long for improvement?

A bit desperate. Saw doc last week, and he's leaving me on thinners for another year, so motrin and pain killers still out. Ice helps a bit, but ice alone is just not enough anymore.

Try heat for 15 min, then ice. If you want to use the inversion table, heat, then table, then ice. I don't take my table beyond about 55-60°, but I do have a 25lb plate I hold tight to my chest. I do "reps" where I lower myself down for a couple minutes, then up to parallel with the floor for a couple minutes, then back down. A rep takes about 4 minutes, and I do 3-5 reps, 2-3 times a week.

My lower spine is wrecked, and I'm not a candidate for surgery. Been managing this stuff for over 20 years now.

I'd recommend you experiment to see what works best for you, then be willing to change things up to see if anything different works better.

I had L4/5 surgery several years ago and go through a stretch regimen every morning. While I have to be careful, since fusion would include more than a few vertebra, I still overdo it periodically. Then, I get on the inversion table, about 45-50 degreees for a few minutes a couple times a day until I feel better. It usually works for me. I don't use weights, but a couple twists and maybe a couple partial situps works the kinks out pretty well.

To me, it's a lot like the traction that the physical therapists did to me before and after my surgery, so it makes sense that it would help. A basic inversion table is less expensive than even one trip to the physical therapist, and takes a lot less time.

DaveR, question for you do you have high blood pressure? if you do be careful in the table and don't turn yourself upside down

You don't need a big old inversion table. They have back stretchers that pump up with air. When you are done, they fold up into a large suitcase-size.

*Not a Doc!*

Spent 4 months in one of the "Stans" where we wore our (fully loaded) kit 12-16hrs a day. This was near the tail end of my career so by this point I'd been pretty beat up.

We had an inversion table and I worked up to 3, 5min 100% inverted free hangs at the end of each day. Deep breath and focus on total relaxation.

The difference it made for me was phenomenal.

Again,

*Not a Doc!*

I like mine. I keep the the angle pretty shallow, and do three or four repetitions, a couple minutes each. Unfortunately, significant rest is one if the best things you can do for a disk issue. Most of us are programmed to go pretty hard, making rest a real inconvenience.

It helps. Took a bad fall backwards onto a pile of lumber some time back. The table got some of the kinks out. Take it easy and slow. Hope you get better.

I was wondering about the tables because I blew my back up L5 S1 over 25 years ago.
I was going for Acupuncture when I was thinking about them.
My Acupuncturist told me that the damage to my spine was in a position where the Table would not help me.
I use a 10s Unit now when I get bad.
I could not afford to keep up with the Acupuncture treatments.
They were helping me out Greatly.

Good luck to you finding a treatment that will help you out.

No, about normal or slightly above. Cariologist gave recommendation for the table, so I should be good to go.

Will try some of the above. Fingers crossed. I've been mostly on my azz for 4 months now, so rest alone is not doing it this time.

One of the "Stans"? Hmmmm.. We only had a war in 1 "Stan" unless you were support in one of the 2 Russian break-offs that we used to base aircraft at. Which doesn't explain why you would be wearing full kit 16 hours a day. Getting a little smelly.....

Don’t that make your brain bleed?

I'm glad some of you got relief from the table. I had debilitating back pain about 40 years ago and after seeing many local doctors and xrays they sent me to physical therapy. Well after a few sessions of no improvement I talked them into letting me try the new contraption in the corner of the room. I went over to about 45 degrees with no effect until I was raised upright and "oh my God" the pain was so intense that it took about 15 minutes for me to get off that thing. 3 months later Mayo Clinic diagnosed me with a ruptured disc, cracked vertebrae and a calcium deposit pushing on my spine. I still think if you have a misalignment they would be useful but if you have any serious problems it might not be a good idea. Good luck.

Rest alone isn't going to fix anything, at least in my experience. I fight a lot of pain all the time, but for me, it's about what I can still do with my body. So I make sure I do regular physical stuff that puts tension on my lower spine without overdoing it. That's allowed me to overdo it when I choose to, such as when dragging out animals, and not be crippled afterward. There is a price to be paid, however.

The best way to keep a wrecked back functional is keeping all the muscles strong. Staying active, strong, and limber is the best regimen I've found, after decades of physical therapy, over a dozen injections, various pain drugs, and 7 figures in medical costs since I first blew out a disc in '94, then blew out 3 more in 2001, then 3 more in 2014.

if you have high blood pressure can cause a stroke

My son has one I have been using, iam 55, worn out shoulders and back from 30 plus years of heavy manual labor, iam not complaining, I believe where you put your attention is where you put your energy and that holds true with pain anywhere in you body, when I use it constantly it definitely help alleviate the numbness I wake up with though out the night.

I wanted one forever and finally got one, it helped my back but got rid of it cause it would cause headaches. They take up a lot of room too .

I was just diagnosed with a bulged L4/L5 pressing on the sciatic nerve.

Instead of an inversion table, for lower back stuff, just hang as if you were going to do chin-ups, and GENTLY rotate your hips and legs around in a circle. I use the garage door track, stepping off a one-step stool to leave my feet a few inches off the ground.

This works great for any spine pain below the shoulders, but obviously does not stretch your neck. Nor does it rush blood to your head, which can be dangerous, as noted above. No doctor yet has told me it is dangerous. And it's free.