BENEFITS OF INVERSION THERAPY

You might think that hanging upside down to relieve back pain is a wacky, new-age idea, but Inversion Therapy has been used for hundreds of years to help relieve back pain, reduce stress, stimulate circulation, promote flexibility and proper spinal alignment, and reduce the effects of aging caused by gravity.

By inverting, your body weight applies mild traction to your whole spine, which elongates, increasing the space between the vertebrae and reducing the pressure on the discs. Every nerve in the body leaves the spine through spaces between the vertebrae. Increasing the space reduces the pressure on the nerve roots and discs. Less pressure means less back pain.

By oscillating up and down on the inversion table, you can create a pumping action for fluids around the spinal discs (which do not have their own blood supply) forcing wastes out and drawing fresh fluids around the discs. Inversion helps muscles relax so blood flow is increased, which reduces the tension that is a major contributor to muscles spasms in the back. Using your own body weight, inversion also helps your body recover from high impact activities like aerobics, weightlifting, and even driving. Inversion can speed up recovery time after exercise by increasing the flow of lymphatic fluid, which helps clear lactic acid out of the muscles.

Not only does inversion help to relieve back pain and make the spine more flexible, it also increases oxygen flow to the brain. Your heart generally must work against gravity to pump blood up to your brain, which is the body’s largest consumer of oxygen. Your brain cells function best with an ample capillary blood supply. Some people claim that increasing the circulation of blood to the head through inversion may also improve the color and tone of the skin, stimulate mental alertness, and improve hearing and vision.

Inversion therapy can be a great complementary home therapy for someone currently involved in myofascial release treatments, physical therapy and chiropractic care.

Inversion table that are available today are safe and easy to use. Used sensibly, inversion is extremely beneficial and no more dangerous than many other popular and widely practiced fitness activities. The experience of thousands of people who invert regularly and eight major medical studies show that it gives the users the relief from back pain they have been looking for. Just as important, they gain the rejuvenating effects of inversion on the entire body, providing health benefits far beyond the relief of back pain.

MODELS

Back and Body Solution is proud to be an exclusive provider of the Health Mark therapy equipment line. In fact, the inversion table was the first product we promoted to our myofascial release clients to use as a home therapy. We have had 100% satisfaction from our purchasers of inversion equipment and you are welcome to read their testimonials.

HEALTH MARK PRO INVERSION TABLE

Rediscover the wonderful feeling of a healthy back with the Pro Inversion Table from Health Mark. The inversion table helps optimize lumbar traction and allows the back muscles that support the vertebrae to relax. When your back relaxes, you can relax.

Strong, sturdy frame folds up for easy storage

Frame shield prevents pinching

Ultra comfortable ankle bracket

Firm, durable 430 denim/nylon bed

Adjustable strap allows any angle of inversion up to fully vertical

Accommodates any person from 4’9” to 6’8” and up to 300 lbs.

We don’t have any “hang-ups” about our inversion table prices – so why spend $400.00 or more at the “Relax The Back” or other back stores when our inversion table provides the same quality and benefits for much less cost.

HEALTH MARK PRO INVERSION CHAIR

Help relieve tension and reduce spinal compression by simply sitting down and laying back

Allows for complete spinal decompression for those who might find discomfort in their legs and feet from using the inversion table

70° Maximum Inversion Angle

BACK WAVE TRACTION BENCH

The Back Wave Traction Bench is an extremely versatile piece of therapy equipment and is a great complement to our inversion table

By lying on your back on the bench, you create passive extension of the spine similar to the exercise techniques taught by one of the most influential researchers in Orthopedic Physical Therapy, Robin McKenzie. This position also helps elongate the hip flexor muscles to reduce lordosis and disc compression of the lower back.

By side-lying, you can open up the fascia in the side of the torso that may be compressed or restricted, causing an uplift in the pelvis or a depression of the shoulder.

Can be used for numerous exercise and stretching positions

Three-position handlebars

Three leg positions to adjust from gentle to advanced traction

Legs fold under bench for easy storage

Compare our price to the BodyBridge – higher quality and more benefits at a much lower cost

CAUSES OF BACK PAIN

Pathophysiology of regional low back pain syndromes varies on a highly personal, individual basis in such factors as etiology, causation, resulting activity dysfunction, and psychopathological considerations. These factors must not be overlooked or underestimated in prescribing treatment. Classically, there are four broad categories of low back pain syndrome, each requiring different treatment pathways (O’Brien, 1984: Bogduk, 1987):

1. Acute muscular low back pain which is usually self-limiting

2. Acute low back pain involving sciatic radiation with or without neurological dysfunction

3. Chronic low back pain which has recurring symptoms modified by therapy.

4. Neoplastic low back pain syndrome which is recurring, but eventually becoming progressive, constant, and intractable.

Each type of low back pain syndrome has common features which vary with the intensity of symptoms: regional pain – impairment and mechanical dysfunction exacerbated by activities of daily living, and mood and behavioral changes. All need to be addressed for overall successful outcomes of treatment.

There are numerous causes of back pain, from a simple muscle spasm to a tramatic injury. There is one force that we all must deal with on a daily basis, and that is gravity. The compressive force of gravity will cause you to be shorter by ½” to ¾” by the end of the day due to fluid being squeezed out of your spinal discs. At night when you sleep, your discs will soak back up most of the fluid lost. But, over our lifetime we will lose around 20% of the fluid in our discs and will lose around ½” to 2” in height.

In a normal healthy spine with plump discs, our vetebreas move and work together when we bend and twist. If the discs are thin, the facet joints, that normally would glide together, will now become worn down, become inflamed and irritated.

Other causes of back pain include:

Muscle Sprain and Spasms – The majority of back problems fall into this category. A muscle sprain generally occurs when a muscle is made to function beyond its capacity. The muscle may be strong and flexible but made to perform beyond its functional barrier. A muscle that is hypertonic or over-stretched may spasm in an effort to protect itself from injury. A spasm is a sub-conscious function and can be very painful. Even though the threat to the muscle passes, it may still remain in the protective spasm for a long time. Muscle spasms deprive the cells and tissue of blood and oxygen, causing further degeneration.

Sructural Imbalances – In what is called the “Anatomical Position”, all of the joint and muscles in the body are in their proper balanced position. Through a lifetime of injuries, physical and emotional insults and repetitive use, our structure can move out of this balanced position. Bones can be rotated and muscles can be shortened with the opposing muscles over-stretched. Injuries and restrictions in the fascial pathways throughout our body can cause a tremendous pull on bones, muscles and nerves.

Poor Flexibility – What to animals and babies instinctively do when they first wake up? They stretch. As we get older and busier, we forget to stretch to keep our body loose and limber. People who regularly stretch or do yoga have a much lower incidence of back problems.

Poor Muscle Strength and Conditioning – Most people do not engage in correct weight-bearing exercises to keep muscles strong and toned. Lack of exercise also causes poor blood and oxygen supply and increased storage of waste fluid in the muscles.

Hypertonicity of the Psoas and Iliacus Muscles – Both these muscles are mainly hip flexor muscles. The psoas attaches at the anterior transverse spinous process and runs through the groin to insert at the lesser trochanter of the femur. Have you ever experienced being unable to stand up totally straight after sitting for awhile. If you couldn’t, it was due to a shortening of this muscle. If too tight, this muscle will pull the spine anteriorly, sometimes laterally, and this will cause a compression of the disc space in the back of the spine.

The iliacus muscle attaches within the anterior iliac fossa (the front of your pelvis) and also inserts at the lesser trochanter. If this muscle becomes too tight, it will anteriorly rotate or tilt your pelvis forward. The result will be lordosis, or what is commonly known as swayback, and will cause a compression of the disc space in the back of your spine. Most people have one or both of these conditions happening in their lower back.

BENEFITS OF INVERSION THERAPY

Numerous medicals studies and use by thousands of people support the efficacy of inversion therapy. Combined studies by Anderson, Schultz, and Nachemson (1968) of intervertebral disc pressures during traction demonstrated by radiographic studies concluded that disc space increases in height and lumbar disc protrusion can be reduced during traction. Myelographic evidence of disc herniation was found to disappear after traction.

HOW INVERSION REALLY WORKS

As practicing bodywork therapists, many people ask us what being inverted really does for the body physiologically. A simple explanation would be that inversion elongates the spine and stretches the muscles. But, inversion therapy goes way beyond that. First, we are going to describe some functions of your body you may not be aware of.

Here’s a question for you – what is the part that holds a tent up, the poles or the guy wires. The answer is both – the pole hold the tent up but it is the guy wires that determine the shape and provides the stability. If the wires are too tight on one side, the tent will lean to that side and the wires on the other side will be overstretched.

This example also pertains to the human body – almost. Our bony skeleton acts like a tent pole but its main function is to provide an attachment site for our muscles and to protect our vital organs. So do the muscles provide the shape and stability for our body like the guy wires? No – because there is no such thing as a muscle.

After you have recovered from the shock of that statement, we want to describe to you what really holds our body together – fascia. The fascia is a tough connective tissue that spreads throughout the body in a three-dimensional web from head to foot functionally without interruption. This tissue is the immediate environment of every cell in our body and covers the muscles, bones, nerves, organs, and vessels down to the cellular level.

It has been estimated that if every structure of the body except the fascia were removed, the body would retain its shape. A muscle is actually a compact locomotive machine that is made from specialized muscle cells surrounded by fascia. Therefore, it is the fascia that ultimately determines the length and function of its muscular component.

Malfunction of the fascial system due to trauma, poor posture, repetitive motion or inflammation can bind down the fascia, resulting in abnormal pressure on any or all of the body’s components. Connective tissue is made of three components – collegen, elastin, and the polysaccharide gel matrix, or ground substance. These form a three- dimensional, interdependent system of strength, support, elasticity, and cushion.

So what does any of this have to do with inversion therapy? Think about your spine and imagine a disc compressed between two vertebrae. What is causing the vertebrae to compress the disc? The muscles attached to the vertebrea are hypertonic (too tight) causing compression and even pulling the bones and posture out of alignment. Ultimately, it is this web of fascia that is restricted causing the muscles to function improperly.

Many medical traction devices, such as VAX-D and DRS are very effective with localized treatment of compressed discs but the results frequently won’t last. That is because they treat the area causing the symptom but do not treat the body globally. Without releasing the three-dimensional web of connective tissue that runs through the entire body, you will never solve the problem. This is also why that many times a chiropractic correction of a vertebral subluxation doesn’t hold – the hypertonic tissue pulls the vertebrae back out again.

This is where inversion therapy really stands out as a superior form of traction therapy. By inverting, you are actually stretching and decompressing the connective tissue around every cell in your body! Not just your spine and your muscles but the tissue around your organs and in between your joints. You may even release restrictions in the dural tube that surrounds your spine and your brain. However, the inversion must be performed properly or it will not be effective.

The proper way to perform inversion therapy is to only invert to an angle of around 15 to 45 degrees and to stay in that position for around 2 to 5 minutes. We will explain why as this is not absolute for everyone. Inside your muscle is an organ that helps prevent it from injury if stretched too much. If overstretched for 3 seconds, it will tighten up to protect itself. Also, when you perform any kind of stretch for a brief time, such as a yoga pose, you will get some increase in range of motion or flexibility. But, you have only stretched out the elastic component of the fascia. The collagenous component takes at least two minutes to begin to heat up and elongate and really should be stretched for five minutes or longer to release fully.

Most people think you will get more benefit from inverting if you hang at a steeper angle or even totally upside down. After understanding how muscles really work and the principles of myofascial release, this proves that inverting at too steep an angle may actually cause your tissues to tighten up and fight against it.

It is best to start with a light angle of inversion but for a longer period of time – a minimum of two minutes to a maximum of what is safe for your body. A study in The Medical Journal of Australia stated: These authors used a traction table with the patient supine. The thoracic harness holds the body as the table is tilted a foot down, so the patient’s body is really doing the traction. They used only a 12-degree incline, and after 85 minutes they noticed that even a higher angle of 70 degrees gave no significant further lengthening, but 5 minutes at 12 degrees was quite significant. These results indicate that “compared with the horizontal supine position, the lumbar disc spaces were widened significantly at an incline of 12 degrees after traction for 5 minutes, and even more significantly after traction for 85 minutes.”

MEDICAL STUDIES ON INVERSION THERAPY

Besides the above mentioned study, here are a few more proving the efficacy of inversion therapy:

Sheffield, F., Adaptation of Tilt Table for Lumbar Traction, Arch Phys Med Rehabil 45, 469-472, 1964

175 patients who were unable to work due to back pain were treated. After eight inversion treatments, 155 patients were able to return to their jobs full time. Study concluded that the main basis for improvement was the stretching of paraspinal vertebral muscles and ligaments and possibly the widening of intravertebral discs. Study found significant improvements in a variety of diagnosis including spondylolisthesis, herniated discs, lumbar osteoarthritis with sciatica, and coccygodynia. Patient experienced traction in a modified hip flexed position. It is worth noting that previous to his use of inversion therapy, Dr. Sheffield regularly used mechanical traction with weights and pulleys. He considered inverted traction much more effective than mechanical traction.

Nosse, L., Inverted Spinal Traction, Arch Phys Med Rehabil 59, 367-370, Aug 78

Study found emg activity (an indicator of muscle pain) declined 35% within the first 10 seconds of inversion. Study found that inversion increases the spinal length. Study concluded there is a correlation between a reduction in emg activity and an increase in spinal length.

Cyriax, J., The treatment of lumbar disc lesions, British Medical Journal, Dec 50, 1434-1438

Cyiax states, “Sustained traction is the method of choice for ambulant patients with pulpy herniations whose symptoms warrant treatment. Distraction of the affected joint has two effects. (1) Increase in the interval between the vertebral bodies, thus enlarging the space into which the protrusion must recede. (2) Tautening of the joint capsule. Naturally, when the slack is taken up, the ligaments joining the vertebral bodies exert centripetal force allaround the joint: this tends to squeeze the pulp back into place. Thus, sustained traction merely represents a way of achieving in a very short time the same effect as rest in bed for some weeks.”

McElhannon, J.E., Physio-therapeutic treatment of myofascial disorders, 1984

Traction is indicated in conditions where you want to achieve “distraction of the vertebral bodies with enlargement of the intervertebral space producing an inward suction effect on the disk: stretching of muscles and ligaments with a tautening of the posterior longitudinal ligament exerting a centripetal effect on the adjacent annulus fibrosis: separation of the apophysial joints: and enlargement of intervertebral foramina.” He recommends mechanical massage of the muscles of the lumbar spine prior to traction. He believes that mechanical massage should not be done after traction. He also believes that static traction for 20 minutes is preferable to intermittent traction for people with acute discogenic disease, severe radiculitis, or severe muscle spasms and that a patient with severe muscle spasms should never have intermittent traction. For more chronic problems, intermittent traction (pulling for 30 second, followed by release of 10 seconds) is best and gives the greatest results.

CONTRAINDICATIONS FOR INVERSION THERAPY

The following medical conditions are absolutely contrary to inversion therapy:

Bone Weakness – moderate to advanced osteoporosis, recent unhealed fractures

Recent Head Injury

Fainting Spells

Acute Spinal Injury

Disoriented if upside down

Retinal Detachment

Cerebral Sclerosis

Recent stroke or transient ischemic attack

The following medical conditions may not interfere with inversion therapy, however, you must seek your treating physicians recommendation and approval first before using. We recommend no more than 20°of inversion from horizontal:

Hiatal Hernia

Glaucoma

High Blood Pressure

Medullary Pins, Artificial Hip Joints

Orthopedic Supports Surgically Implanted

Cardiovascular Insufficiencies in the Limbs

Heart and Circulatory Disorders for which you are being treated

Recent Back Surgery

Severe Disc Herniation

Acutely Swollen Joints

Chronic Sinusitis

Motion Sickness or Inner ear Disorders

Any other medical condition that may be made more severe by an elevation of blood pressure, intercranial or interspinal pressure or the mechanical stress of the inverted position

TESTIMONIALS

What do owners of our Health Mark Inversion Table from Back and Body Solutions say about their table:

“feet are easily secured”

“Easy to set up and store. Better support than another table I used to own”

“Good, sturdy product”

“It’s right there in my room ready to use when my back tightens and starts to hurt”

“It’s easy to work with and I trust it”

“It helps avoid bouts with low back pain and the stretch just plain feels good”

“I wanted to consult with my chiropractor before I bought your inversion table. He told me that if I bought it, I probably wouldn’t have to come back and see him. He was right and the money I have saved on chiropractic treatments far exceeds the cost of the table.

“It has straightened out my boyfriend’s spine”

Other Benefits Noted:

Reduced pain and tightness, sometimes in as quick as two to five minutes

Reduction or elimination of pain medication

Reduction or elimination of frequent visits to doctors, chiropractors and physical therapy.

Original copies of our surveys from our buyers are available for your review at our office