Have you been wondering about using an inversion table to help get rid of back pain naturally? Or how inversion tables work?
Here’s some helpful info:
Inversion tables DO help get rid of back pain. They create a little more space between your spinal bones. Stretching two or three times a day for at least a few minutes reduces the pressure of gravity.
That’s the whole thing: Gravity.
It keeps us from floating off into space but it also squashes us down.
Gravity can cause pain unless we do things to counteract it. Inversion is one of those things.
Some of the older style inversion tables have hard ‘foot holsters’ and cause discomfort in your feet or ankles. If you have one of those, wearing thick socks and tennis shoes when you invert helps a lot.
You may have a newer version or maybe you have a table that has foot holders that can be updated to a secure but less uncomfortable style. I was able to buy more comfortable foot holders from the manufacturer of my table.
Benefits of inversion:
Inversion helps fight the effects of gravity all over our bodies.
It creates a little more space between vertebrae so they can line themselves up a little better when we’re upright.
Inversion elongates muscles that get shortened from day-to-day activities. This is especially helpful for muscles in the front of the body because they get shortened so easily.
It helps with posture so you can stand taller and straighter.
Since a lot of back pain is caused by being crushed by gravity, using an anti-gravity device like an inversion table makes a lot of sense.
I especially love the way it stretches the muscles in the front of my body. Those muscles tend to be short just from daily activities but they prefer to be long.
You can go to YouTube to watch some videos about how to use inversion tables.
If you see someone hanging totally upside down, you might be thinking, “Whoa! I can’t go upside down!” Skip on to the next video which isn’t so aggressive.
That’s okay if you don’t want to hang like a bat.
That’s not my position of choice, either.
But the cool thing with an inversion table is that you can go to your level of comfortable tilt. After you watch a video or two, you may see that you can have benefit even from a slight incline.
You might see an athletic man doing exercises while hanging from his ankles! You don’t have to do that. (I sure don’t!) That position, with all of your weight being supported by your ankle bones, could possibly cause discomfort in your ankles or feet.
I’m not comfortable hanging freely. I like the feel of the table behind me. Still, I do get quite ‘upside down.’ I probably invert to about 40 degrees.
You will do what feels best for your body. You can increase the angle over time if you choose.
When I first started doing inversion, it felt like my blood was rushing to my head. But I figured if little kids can hang upside down, I could, too. And after just a few times, that feeling passed.
Inversion isn’t a one-time fix although some people feel improvement after the first time. Just like any good movement activity, you will do it daily and over time you will notice less discomfort and back pain.
Inversion is a good tool for creating space in your spinal bones in your neck, too.
If you are wondering whether you will be able to do inversion therapy to get rid of your back pain because of a medical condition, please check with your doctor.
