Inversion table therapy has many benefits that include relieving spinal pressure, reducing back pain, and more. It is also known to ease stress, detoxify the body, improve blood circulation, and speed up recovery.
What is an Inversion Table Therapy?
An inversion table therapy, as the name implies, involves the inversion of your body in an upside-down position. By shifting the gravity from the nerve roots in your spine, it improves spinal traction and decompresses the spine, thereby relieving back pain and stress.
How to Use an Inversion Table?
One way to do inversion therapy is by using an inversion table, which can be bought at health and fitness stores. It is also very simple to use.
- Step 1: You lie with your back down on this machine and slowly move backward as the table rolls. [1]
- Step 2: Hold your position with the help of rails when you’ve turned the table or machine upside down.
Other equipment to do inversion therapy includes the use of inversion chair and gravity boots. You can also try many of the amazing yoga poses or inversion table exercises to do this therapy, including the following:
Yin Yoga Photo Credit: Shutterstock
- Feathered peacock pose
- Headstand
- Shoulder stand
- Handstands
- Plow pose
To avoid any side effects of this therapy, start off with only tilting the table to a 20 to 30-degree angle first. You can slowly move towards 60 and then 90-degree angles, once you’re comfortable. [2]
Inversion Table Benefits
Let us take a detailed look at the many benefits of an inversion table.
Relieves Back Pain
In today’s day and age, when almost many of us suffer from poor posture related back pain, inversion table comes as a boon! By reducing the pressure on the discs, it decompresses pinched nerves and thereby relieves back pain. [3]
It can help in treating herniated disc and sciatic nerve pain by realigning your spine. Inversion therapy is also known to help in the treatment of back pain post surgery, osteoarthritis pain, and scoliosis pain. It also eases fibromyalgia symptoms and improves flexibility.
Some people also claim the benefits of inversion table for the treatment of headaches, but for that research is still ongoing.
Improves Joint Flexibility
By stretching and elongating the muscles, inversion therapy may help improve the joint flexibility. It is also known to be effective in correcting any minor misalignments of joints caused by activities like golf or tennis, in which we only make use of one side of our body. [4]
Improves Lymphatic Function
Hanging upside down helps detoxify the body by flushing out the toxins, thereby promoting lymphatic function. It also clears out the lactic acid from the lymphatic system that causes pain.
Relieves Stress
Inversion therapy lowers the heartbeat rate and helps in keeping your anxiety levels at bay. It also increases alertness and prevents depression, mood swings, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
Improves Blood Circulation
Inversion table therapy helps promote the flow of the blood to the different parts of the body, thereby improving the heart function. It also enables the alleviation of varicose veins.
Others
There are some other benefits of inversion table therapy as well, including the following:
- Helps maintain posture
- Aids in increasing height
- Speeds-up recovery
- Promotes relaxation after workouts
- Antiaging effects
- Improves respiratory health
Side Effects
As inversion therapy increases the pressure in eyeballs and blood pressure, it may have cause the following side-effects:
- High blood pressure
- Strokes
- Glaucoma
- Dizziness
- Vertigo
- Retinal detachment
- Obesity
- Conjunctivitis
- Spinal injuries
- Ear infections
Note: Always do any exercise in moderation, especially if you’re breastfeeding or pregnant.
