Does inversion therapy work? If you have chronic lower back pain or feel joint pain after a high-impact workout, evidence suggests you can get relief from inversion therapy. Proponents claim it not only relieves back and joint pain but improves posture, increases flexibility, and stimulates abdominal organ function. Some go as far as to say regular sessions on an inversion table preserves their height and that the increased blood flow to the head stimulates their brain and scalp.
Inversion therapy is when the spine is elongated upside down for short periods of time, using so-called “gravity boots” or by lying on an inversion table. By elongating and stretching the spine, traction forces reverse the gravity that has compressed it. The head is tilted downward to relieve pressure on the discs and nerve roots and increase the space between vertebrae, reducing the pressure on the discs. Additionally, inversion therapy stretches the muscles and ligaments around the spine and can temporarily relieve muscle spasms. And all you have to do is lie there.
Will an inversion table work for you? Let’s look at some of the other things inversion therapy can do.
Relieve Joint Pressure and Pain
Your joints can experience stress after a strenuous gym session—especially after a high-impact workout. An inversion table stretches your muscles and ligaments, and after a hard run or jumprope session that can relieve stress and pain. An inversion table may even correct minor misalignment caused by one-way activities like golf or kayaking, where you use a single-sided motion over and over.
Help Circulation and Stimulate Abdominal Organs
Blood only flows one direction for most of our waking lives; hanging upside-down can improve circulation simply by forcing our blood to move against gravity for short periods of time.
Many inversion proponents claim that hanging upside down on an inversion table decongests their abdominal organs. And there’s some evidence to suggest that stretching upside down flushes the lymphatic system, clearing out lactic acid and other waste.
Improve Posture and Maintain Height
Because of spinal compression from being upright all day, studies show that the average guy can shrink up to 3/4-inch from when he wakes up to when he goes to bed at night. Sleeping, of course, corrects this over the course of hours. But proponents of inversion tables claim that reversing the force of gravity by hanging upside down quickly negates this spinal compression.
Further, sitting at a desk all day can be murder on our posture. Stretching out your back on an inversion table can help correct bad posture habits derived from sitting in one place for hours at a time.
Before beginning inversion therapy, however, experts recommend consulting your doctor if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, or glaucoma or other eye problems.
Ready To Try It?
Ten minutes a day is all it takes. Remember to consult your doctor before beginning inversion therapy. But if you have chronic back, sciatic, or joint pain, this inversion table make give you the relief that’s been eluding you all these years.
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See Also:
The 30 Best Back Exercises of All Time
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What’s Really Causing Your Lower Back Pain
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The 30 Best Back Exercises of All Time
Read article
The 30 Best Back Exercises of All Time
What’s Really Causing Your Lower Back Pain
Read article
What’s Really Causing Your Lower Back Pain
