Inversion Tables

[Buzzard]

Anyone here use one?

Do you like it?

Not a gimicky kinda thing?

Is there a certain kind better than others?

I'm thinking of getting one and would like some opinions first, although most opinions on amazon, etc. seem pretty positive.

[Slava]

I had one and sold it. I have a bad back and didn't get any real relief from using it. I can go into more detail if you like, but I wouldn't recommend one.

[Buzzard]

Details please Slava...what didn't you like? Which one was it?

[Slava]

I can't remember which brand I had, so I might not be much help in that part. I bought it after having some traction and finding that to be helpful. I have a herniated disc (and have for years), and that gives me nerve issues and other pain. The theory is that the traction pulls you a little and eventually that disc "sucks" back into place.

So I spend a few hundred bucks on a table and give it a shot. I tried this fairly religiously for quite a while. I followed the instructions of not hanging upside down for too long and found it did very little to help correct things. I have a friend who is a massage therapist and got some advice from them as well. I tried different postures and things like that to try to improve the results, but to no real avail.

Eventually it became a glorified clothes hanger and I sold it. I guess my overall impression was that this could work for some people with specific symptoms or issues, but it basically did nothing for me....aside from give me a different view of the world for 5-10 minutes a day

[Flash Walken]

I've never had an inversion table, but I've used one. As someone with back pain from injury, it didn't help, and based on the different things I've done that have aggravated my back pain, I would probably assume that it would inflame the area.

I seem to get the most issue from being stretched too far or inclined too much, the dentist chair for example. Inversion tables strike me as the same sort of thing.

I'm no doctor, but I would say it's mostly muscles and tendons that are contributing to disk pain. When my back gets worse, that's usually the culprit. Whenever I overdo things that involved a stretch, my back gets angry, more so than sitting for too long etc.

I've found stair masters and treadmills are better at keeping things loose without making things worse.

Hanging upside down seems like the last thing I'd want to do to my back.