Anyone use an inversion table for back pain?

[Peaker]

Most of my life i have been 6'3 / 1.9 M tall, but untill i was 35 i have been under 132 Lb.
But offcourse that skeleton in a skin sack look havent stopped me doing a lot of hard Work and lifting, at 25 Yo and 121 lb i was still able to deadlift 330 lb

Now i am 48 and within the last 2 years i have added 1/3 to my mass, so i am now at 242 lb

My back have been acting up since i was 20, and for the last decade or 2 its been hard at times to find a position to fall asleep in, witch in turn mean that some days when i have been getting out of bed to go to Work i have only been sleeping a fjew hours.

I have allso tried to get help from my doctors thru the years ( not the place i come often, but still )
And i have been given absolutely no help aside for some weak painkillers.

The perils of public helthcare i guess, changing doctor have not helped only cost me mony to do so.

[wings_of_fire]

I find it hard to believe what a doctor has to say. I just cannot trust them in anyway. They misguide for money. Not all, but probably most.

[badhoopty]

Originally Posted by wings_of_fire

I find it hard to believe what a doctor has to say. I just cannot trust them in anyway. They misguide for money. Not all, but probably most.

or they are lazy... i've had more lazy doctors than i have had pill pushing ones.

[craddock35]

Originally Posted by badhoopty

or they are lazy... i've had more lazy doctors than i have had pill pushing ones.

Thats been me with A LOT of the ones I have seen. I have been asking the ones I am seeing now if they are gonna give me more meds and they said they won't that I need to see another Dr for meds then that Dr says I need to see a different Dr then that Dr says he doesn't do scripts. Like I told them I hate taking meds and only take them when I really need them but after 8 years of hurting daily not sleeping well and only able to sleep curled up on my right side I want some kind of relief from what I am going through. There are days I can't move my arms I have headaches daily my lower back hurts constantly and there are many days I can't hardly walk and I have fallen a few times from it. I am 38 not 100 you gotta take care of your back and finding a good Dr now is hard.

[warren]

Thanks for all the good advice guys.

I know that being over weight is a big factor but I know what I do at work isn't helping. I had the same job for 7 years until this year I started doing something else where I was up walking around more and on my feet more. I actually lost some weight and felt better. my old job was being on the stool in front of a weldment for 8-10 hours a day. But since we have had 5 welders out of work due to quitting, personal injury, or health reasons I'm back in the stool in front of the work for hours on end. We have 2 10 minute breaks and a 30 lunch in a 10 hour day. Not much time to get up and move around. We (The welders) do make our own time to get up a stretch, but it still sucks sitting back down.

I guess I should start looking more into the loosing weight option. back relief just seemed so easy with the tables.

[Mike Flea]

I've had back pain since the early 80's, re-injured it in the mid 90's, and have been in and out of a chiropractors office ever since. On my health insurance, I'm only allowed 22 visits per year, unless the pain is bad enough to get an extension. The insurance company suggested I see a therapist, which helped out immensely because they have you do exercises which strengthen your core, and limber you up. I too am large at 6'2& 325lbs. I've also been seeing an acupuncturist, which also helps. I had asked my chiropractor about the inversion table, and what he told me makes sense. For someone of my stature, it can actually do more harm than good. As you invert, your upper body stretches out, and takes pressure off the spine, however, when you return to a standing position, as your spine settles back down, you run the risk of pinching a nerve or muscle, especially if you have degenerative discs. Thinner people don't have the extra fat and muscle to get pinched. I usually see my chiropractor/acupuncturist twice a year, unless I re-injure. Generally before snow plow season, and definitely after snow plow season.

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by warren

Thanks for all the good advice guys.

I know that being over weight is a big factor but I know what I do at work isn't helping. I had the same job for 7 years until this year I started doing something else where I was up walking around more and on my feet more. I actually lost some weight and felt better. my old job was being on the stool in front of a weldment for 8-10 hours a day. But since we have had 5 welders out of work due to quitting, personal injury, or health reasons I'm back in the stool in front of the work for hours on end. We have 2 10 minute breaks and a 30 lunch in a 10 hour day. Not much time to get up and move around. We (The welders) do make our own time to get up a stretch, but it still sucks sitting back down.

I guess I should start looking more into the loosing weight option. back relief just seemed so easy with the tables.

The company you work for is setting the employees up for injury by not allowing proper breaks and encouraging stretch/walk time, poor ergonomics in the work area...this all proved by lots of people quitting, on the job injuries, and health problems. You need to lose weight, strengthen core muscles, do yoga/stretching, cardio (walks, bicycle riding, hiking), this combined with chiropractor, NUTRITION, and look around at other job options.

Originally Posted by Mike Flea

I've had back pain since the early 80's, re-injured it in the mid 90's, and have been in and out of a chiropractors office ever since. On my health insurance, I'm only allowed 22 visits per year, unless the pain is bad enough to get an extension. The insurance company suggested I see a therapist, which helped out immensely because they have you do exercises which strengthen your core, and limber you up. I too am large at 6'2& 325lbs. I've also been seeing an acupuncturist, which also helps. I had asked my chiropractor about the inversion table, and what he told me makes sense. For someone of my stature, it can actually do more harm than good. As you invert, your upper body stretches out, and takes pressure off the spine, however, when you return to a standing position, as your spine settles back down, you run the risk of pinching a nerve or muscle, especially if you have degenerative discs. Thinner people don't have the extra fat and muscle to get pinched. I usually see my chiropractor/acupuncturist twice a year, unless I re-injure. Generally before snow plow season, and definitely after snow plow season.

Good advice, but it's not the extra fat and muscle to get pinched, it's that extra fat weight pulling down on your body that's bad. A friend told me about another type of stretching thing you sit on and use your arms to apply upward stretching pressure. It's much gentler and doesn't put the entire weight of your body pulling down on your back. The inversion tables assume that you are not severely overweight, you can also lay on a declining bench like they have at many parks in the exercise area around here. You hook your feet under a bar and lay down on the incline with your head lower than your feet, these are for situps but they should work for stretching too, but much gentler than full inversion. Something I do during every bicycle ride is stop at the exercise area in a park and just hang from the pull up bar (palms facing away from you).

How To Do Pull-ups and Chin-ups With Proper Technique | StrongLifts

This really helps stretch your back arms and legs. Hang for a minute then pull and hold partial pull up, then slowly let yourself return to a resting hanging position, this loosens your muscles and allows more stretch than just hanging.

Pull-ups. Palms facing away. Less biceps, more back. Harder.
Read more: How To Do Pull-ups and Chin-ups With Proper Technique | StrongLifts

[Perkolator]

aside from the weight thing like everyone's suggesting - try stretching your legs more, if at all, and adjust your posture while sitting at work.

i get lower back pain that's related to muscle tension. has to do with imbalance of quads, hamstrings, stomach, and lower back muscles. for me, my quads have always been super tight due to running long distance in school and I haven't been able to put my heel to my ass since i was a kid. got foot injury in HS that kept me from being able to do lots of physical activity, now I suffer. my issue is the tension in the legs/quads is stronger than my core, and my pelvis is tilted forward like Donald Duck because of this (aka: hyperlordosis). there is lots of info on the web about this, and how to help make it go away.

these days i tend to only stretch when my back's in pain, but it really seems to help when I maintain several consecutive days of stretching my legs and butt. i really notice the back pain after days of lots of up/down activity without stretching afterward.

so yeah, try the stretching. worse thing it'll do is make you healthier. good luck!

[Mike Flea]

there's a lot of good info on this thread, I feel better knowing I'm not the only one that's overweight and has chronic back pain. Thanks for the tips.

[wings_of_fire]

Originally Posted by badhoopty

or they are lazy... i've had more lazy doctors than i have had pill pushing ones.

one more type are those that use trial and error method on a patient.

And funny thing is, they still need to be paid for their incompetence in giving the right medicine.

[Krakker]

I'm 245 and use an inversion table for low back pain. Have for over 5 years now. if you can handle being upside down, go for it. I stopped going to the Chiropractor after getting mine, and haven't gone back since accept for a rib being out that the table couldn't "gravitate" back into position.

I got mine off ebay, it's not a cheapy, but being a welder, I've often thought about making a very heavy duty one with bushings or bearings. There's not a whole lot to them really. even if you got one and "modified it", you'd reap the benefits. It's helped my knee's, hips, back, shoulders makes you fart in strange ways at times. True.