The value of inversion tables for those who suffer chronic, long term back pain is something that an ever growing number of people are discovering for themselves. Once the preserve of the specialist treatment room, this type of inversion therapy is now readily and safely available to anyone in the comfort of their own homes.
Over time, the continual effects of gravity have a detrimental and ongoing effect on the body's joints, most specifically the spinal vertebrae, and this compression causes misalignment, pressure and sometimes pain. It is also this continual pressure that causes older people to stoop or appear to have excessively rounded shoulders and poor posture. Inversion therapy seeks to naturally and gently redress the natural balance of the spinal column by counteracting the forces of gravity.
It is perhaps not a great leap of faith to appreciate the fundamental benefits of stretching the body as this is a common aspect of much physical exercise, but it is the way in which inversion tables accomplish this stretching and elongation that offers a significant improvement over other methods. The key to the success of inversion therapy is that the table securely and comfortably anchors the feet, thus allowing the weight of the body to naturally stretch itself throughout its entire length. Contrast this to standard stretching exercises where the strength of the body must be used to give leverage to the stretch to help elongate the spine. With inversion therapy, not only is the stretch applied naturally by the same forces of gravity that work in a negative way to compress the spinal column, but because inversion tables are designed to fully support the body whilst in use, one can relax totally and this allows a full stretch that is unimpeded by tense muscles.
Whilst these benefits may be clear, it can initially be a little intimidating to completely invert oneself on an inversion table but fortunately this is not at all necessary as the benefits of this kind of therapy can be enjoyed with a 20 degree inversion. Gaining direct and quick improvements in chronic back pain from such a gentle therapy is one of the major benefits of using inversion tables and many users see a significant and long lasting improvement in their conditions with just three or four short inversion sessions per week.