Inversion Tables/Therapy for Spinal Decomp

[Six-Two]

All I can find online in support of inversion therapy is anecdotal or from alternate press that uses sentences like "it is well known that Inversion Therapy yadda yadda yadda..." to say it cures everything from spinal alignment to sleep quality. Does anybody have any first-hand experience with boots or tables?

I have slight twinges in my lower back from time to time and I can't help but feel it's the ghost of desk jobs past come to haunt me, so I'm wondering if an inversion table or the boots would be worth looking into since I don't have the skrilla for a weekly chiropractor visit. Thanks all.

 

[Etype]

All I can find online in support of inversion therapy is anecdotal or from alternate press that uses sentences like "it is well known that Inversion Therapy yadda yadda yadda..." to say it cures everything from spinal alignment to sleep quality. Does anybody have any first-hand experience with boots or tables?

I have slight twinges in my lower back from time to time and I can't help but feel it's the ghost of desk jobs past come to haunt me, so I'm wondering if an inversion table or the boots would be worth looking into since I don't have the skrilla for a weekly chiropractor visit. Thanks all.

They had one in the Camp Brown gym in Kandahar, I tried it a couple times. It made my head feel like it was going to explode, that's about it.

I get a lot more mileage out of hanging from a pull up bar, retracting my shoulders, pointing my toes and activating my quads- that always pops my back.

 

[Six-Two]

They had one in the Camp Brown gym in Kandahar, I tried it a couple times. It made my head feel like it was going to explode, that's about it.

I get a lot more mileage out of hanging from a pull up bar, retracting my shoulders, pointing my toes and activating my quads- that always pops my back.

Cool, thanks Boss. To be clear, you mean pointing up or down? And overhand grip or under? I don't mean to be pedantic, just haven't gotten a great stretch-out from a dead hang yet. But I'm all about not buying novel equipment of relatively limited utility.

 

[Etype]

Like this, but at a dead hang. Then I try to push my chest forward.

 

[TLDR20]

I used an inversion table for a while. It helped me pop my hips really well.

 

[Six-Two]

View attachment 17482
Like this, but at a dead hang. Then I try to push my chest forward.

Ahh, cool, thanks. So almost like you're trying to stand your tallest, just bearing your weight with your arms not your legs. I'll give it a whirl when I'm back at the gym; my doorframe chinup bar and my gorilla arms won't let me clear the floor.

 

[Six-Two]

I used an inversion table for a while. It helped me pop my hips really well.

Pop your hips? I've yet to do have to do that. Is this correlated with a specific condition or have I just not been sportsing hard enough for long enough to run into this milestone?

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

I used one for about 3 years. I would say it was helpful at relieving some pressure and providing a mild stretch to the muscles.

I have a jacked up T/C spine, but I also have a really fucked up ankle. I stoped using the inversion table because I broke my ankle for the 4th time and my ankle started to hurt while in use and after.

 

[TLDR20]

Pop your hips? I've yet to do have to do that. Is this correlated with a specific condition or have I just not been sportsing hard enough for long enough to run into this milestone?

The second one.

 

[pardus]

I'm very interested in trying out some kind of inversion table. I have a lot of back pain from spinal damage and I'm curious as to if it will help.
I asked my chiropractor and they gave the thumbs up as a part of an overall plan, but really pushed me to try yoga, which I've been doing a little bit.

 

[SmokinOkie]

I have been recovering from a bulging disc in my low back for the past 2 months. Both inversion table and dead hang work wonders for my back as far as decompression goes. Dead hang is obviously more convenient whether it be from a bar or rings. But as etype said the inversion table isn't for everybody.

 

[SmokinOkie]

Which movement hurts your back though? Front or back bend? Spinal decompression via inversion table or dead hang is good regardless but there are easier stretches that can help you depending on which condition.

 

[Six-Two]

Which movement hurts your back though? Front or back bend? Spinal decompression via inversion table or dead hang is good regardless but there are easier stretches that can help you depending on which condition.

Front. About a year back, I bent over to reach something on my bed and keeled over - thankfully there was a mattress there, cause I'd have hit whatever was in front of me. Since then, it gets a little twingey when I sit for a long time, which for work, is often. Looking into standing desks and shit like that as well, but I think @pardus is probably on the money with the yoga tack. The core stability and strength, general flexibility, and calming mental effects are probably a worthwhile pursuit as I ready my 29-year-old hide to outperform the 18-year-olds.

 

[Red Flag 1]

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[SmokinOkie]

Yoga does work wonders. I follow a yoga program called ROMWOD religiously. I do it at night because it acts like a sleep aid as well to wind me down after a long day.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

Back issues only get worse with time. It is important to know what you are dealing with before you begin any kind of exercise/treatment routine. Back surgery done for back pain alone, has a poor success rate in the long run; like 12.5% see a positive outcome lasting more than a year. The indications for surgery are: loss of bladder and bowel control, muscle wasting in the legs, and sudden neurological changes.

With back issues, it is generally an intervertebral disc that has been injured. There are three categories, and each one is treated differently. The cause is overloading of a disc space, and the disc gets squashed between the vertebra. The damage can be in one, or a multiple number of discs. The categories are:

1. An annular bulge: The disc is intact but has pushed out some from between the vertebra. This will cause the ligament hold in the vertebrae in place to pull away from the vertebral bodies. There may, or may not be disc space narrowing. The amount of pain varies.

2. A disc displacement: The disc has been squashed enough to push it out into the space behind the vertebrae. This can result in disc space narrowing, and pressure on the nerve roots within the spinal canal. This can also cause nerve roots to become impinged because of the interspace narrowing. The amount of pain can be moderately severe.

3. A Ruptured disc with disc contents entering surrounding tissues: The disc contents is jelly like in substance that can be squeezed out into the surrounding tissues. This jelly is very caustic to the surrounding nerve roots and tissues. The pain can be severe, and it can cause the patient to become immobile.

Intervertebral disc injuries can happen at any interspace. The most commonly injured are the interspaces between L-5/S-1, and L4-5. You can make a diagnosis from X-rays, but CT, and MRI give better soft tissue images.

My suggestion is to see a doc. Tell him/her what happened, and let your doc make a diagnosis. Without a diagnosis, you are playing a guessing game, and it really is a game because you have no idea what is going on in your back and why it hurts. You can discuss inversion tables, traction devices, and even holding crystals over your head to treat your back pain. Before you start treatments, find out what is going on.

My $.02.

This is the most comprehensive and best advice you will receive here. As someone who was medically retired due to a back injury, and who suffers severe pain daily, learning your limits and being careful to not agrivate the condition has become key to living with tolerable pain levels.

@Red Flag 1 couldn't have spelled it out better for you, and you would be foolish to not heed his advice. Most people leave the service with knee and back injuries, it's common place from the amount of weight soldiers carry. Starting off with a back injury, is asking for trouble with regards to career longevity and future quality of health and life. Also keep in mind, with a preexisting condition, if you further agrivate, to a point of disability while in the service, you will have hell being compensated for it. If you can imagine being disabled to the point of inability to work, and not being compensated by the Army or the VA, would likely lead to an extremely harsh life.

See a doctor, find out the opinion of your injury and gain the opinion on putting 120 lbs of gear on your body and conducting some of the most extreme physical activity you will ever do in your life (running, jumping, climbing, crawling, etc for days upon days). Than point out that you will be committed to doing so for 4 to 6 years.

There are no traction machines, inversion tables or yoga at a combat out post, or mid patrol.

 

[digrar]

Stretching has done wonders for my back, I've got chronic muscular back pain and I manage it with osteopathy, remedial massage and a quick little 5-10 minute stretching regime.