Inversion Table

I've used them for what I'd call a pinched nerve from a bad lift. Haven't needed it in a decade.

Any amount of inversion can feel good, 15-20⁰ below horizontal gives light traction on the spine.

A board on a slope padded with a blanket is a start. Knees bent over the top of the board, to keep from sliding.
 
southsoundtree said:
I've used them for what I'd call a pinched nerve from a bad lift. Haven't needed it in a decade.

Any amount of inversion can feel good, 15-20⁰ below horizontal gives light traction on the spine.

A board on a slope padded with a blanket is a start. Knees bent over the top of the board, to keep from sliding.
Click to expand...
Cool!

I have a pinched nerve at L5S1 from overworking/lifting while working on my house in mid Dec. It hasn’t bothered me in over 15 years until now. I had a great tree season, but then over did it working on the house when tree work slowed down which was just stupid. 3 weeks + in and it’s slowly improving. I don't bounce back so fast anymore. My doctor recommended an inversion table to get some space between the vertebrae to suck that disc jelly back in. He said it’s like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I need to get the jelly back in the sandwich. Luckily my wife is a physical therapist and has me doing exercises. I think I’m going to buy an inversion table and hope it helps. Also start with the Chiro next week.

It sucks! But luckily it happened during the slow season.
 
southsoundtree said:
I've used them for what I'd call a pinched nerve from a bad lift. Haven't needed it in a decade.

Any amount of inversion can feel good, 15-20⁰ below horizontal gives light traction on the spine.

A board on a slope padded with a blanket is a start. Knees bent over the top of the board, to keep from sliding.
Click to expand...
My hill is sloped about 20⁰. If I just lay down in the right direction on the ground, it's the same as a table right?
 
macrocarpa said:
Cool!

I have a pinched nerve at L5S1 from overworking/lifting while working on my house in mid Dec. It hasn’t bothered me in over 15 years until now. I had a great tree season, but then over did it working on the house when tree work slowed down which was just stupid. 3 weeks + in and it’s slowly improving. I don't bounce back so fast anymore. My doctor recommended an inversion table to get some space between the vertebrae to suck that disc jelly back in. He said it’s like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I need to get the jelly back in the sandwich. Luckily my wife is a physical therapist and has me doing exercises. I think I’m going to buy an inversion table and hope it helps. Also start with the Chiro next week.

It sucks! But luckily it happened during the slow season.
Click to expand...
IMHO, absolutely get massage work, too.
 
southsoundtree said:
IMHO, absolutely get massage work, too.
Click to expand...
I did one massage session so far. $75 / visit though. A local lady here we like does some cranial sacral stuff too as well as the usual. She really dug into the nerve going from my back to my foot. It helped with my agility for sure and slightly reduced the numbness on my foot.
 
Matias said:
My hill is sloped about 20⁰. If I just lay down in the right direction on the ground, it's the same as a table right?
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. The point of an inversion table is to 'hang' your weight on the ankles or feet so that the head and shoulder weight stretches the joints - the opposite of the compression the joints get all day long. Laying on the ground won't do this if there is a lot of friction between the ground and the head, shoulders and hips. There needs to be something holding the feet/ankles in place so the rest can stretch.
 
Dan Thornton said:
Not necessarily. The point of an inversion table is to 'hang' your weight on the ankles or feet so that the head and shoulder weight stretches the joints - the opposite of the compression the joints get all day long. Laying on the ground won't do this if there is a lot of friction between the ground and the head, shoulders and hips. There needs to be something holding the feet/ankles in place so the rest can stretch.
Click to expand...
That makes sense
 
macrocarpa said:
I did one massage session so far. $75 / visit though. A local lady here we like does some cranial sacral stuff too as well as the usual. She really dug into the nerve going from my back to my foot. It helped with my agility for sure and slightly reduced the numbness on my foot.
Click to expand...
Money well spent.

I would stick to 'regular' massage over CS.

Thai massage sounds good.
 
Dan Thornton said:
Not necessarily. The point of an inversion table is to 'hang' your weight on the ankles or feet so that the head and shoulder weight stretches the joints - the opposite of the compression the joints get all day long. Laying on the ground won't do this if there is a lot of friction between the ground and the head, shoulders and hips. There needs to be something holding the feet/ankles in place so the rest can stretch.
Click to expand...
Yes, it does require what you said. I wanted to suggest that you don't need to buy and store an inversion table to get benefit, as it can be enough traction at a lower angle, which will be gentler on joints, as well as less extra blood to the head.
 
There are massage therapists whose focus is athletes and such. I found one operating out of a side office in a gym that also had a chiropractor in another office. Met through a friend, and worked out a trade deal actually. She had a really great understanding of how muscles interact in systems and knew all the peripheral tissues to work to relax things along networked lines. Taught me different stretches for particular muscle pains that I didn't know previously; one that seemed counterintuitive to me until I tried it.

I definitely have ways of connecting myself for hanging, but I always thought it was a gimmick. I have an old compression fracture that is now just where my back pain emanates from, and I will try anything now, as it's not getting easier.
 
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Analog said:
Something else to consider is traction gained the other way, by hanging from a pull up bar. There are many benefits to simply hanging - active hangs, shrug pullups and tons of pull up variations that can really decompress the spine, build strength and fitness.
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I’ve been doing that from a pull up bar in my basement. I do feel it works, but mostly on my upper to middle back. My chiropractor says your muscles never fully relax enough for the lower vertebrae. I’m still thinking about ordering an inversion table.
 
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