Back pain is a pain… well, in the back. And when you start looking for remedies, the use of inversion tables is often suggested. Lets discover what Inversion Tables are and how they may or may not help you.
 
Man with Back Pain

The information provided in this post is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem without consulting a qualified healthcare provider. Links throughout this blog may also contain affiliate links. Please be assured, that these are all products I personally use and/or recommend. There is no additional cost to you, and often times when you use my link, you will save money with my exclusive discounts and coupons.

Back Pain, Now What:

Back pain can occur for all kinds of reasons. The first important thing to discover, often with the help of a provider on your team, is what is causing your pain.
Is it coming from your muscles, joints, soft tissue, discs, or nerves? Once you determine what is causing your pain, it becomes much easier to treat.

Common Treatments for Back Pain Include:

      • stretching
      • chiropractic care
      • physical therapy
      • medication
      • massage
      • acupuncture
      • at home myofascial work
      • strengthening programs
      • surgery
      • and you guessed it– inversion tables.

What are Inversion Tables?

Inversion tables are a piece of at-home medical equipment that allow you to lay upside down at various angles. By positioning yourself at these various angles, the table uses the support of gravity and your body weight to decompress your spine.

What is Decompression?

If we look at the anatomy of the spine, a joint in the spine is made up of 2 vertebrae that stack on top of each other with a disc that sits between the two bones. Most of us have heard of a disc and always fear the “slipped disc” diagnosis from our doctors.
 
Discs are important because they act like a cushion or a shock absorber in the body. Healthy discs allow us to run and jump and prevent our bones from crumbling upon impact with the ground.
 
When laying on an inversion table, gravity helps to create space between the two vertebrae, which increases the “disc space”. This increased space takes pressure off of our discs, nerves and joints and often reduces symptoms like pain and irritation.
 
Creating this space, or decompression in our spine, can feel great and be a fantastic way to treat back pain.
Model of a spine with an irritated disc

Inversion Tables Sound Great, What's the Catch?

While in use, inversion tables can be helpful at reducing pain; however, when getting off of the table and returning to an upright position gravity sets in again. This brings an immediate return of the pressure to the spine that was removed while laying on the table. And this can not only make your symptoms come back, but they can be worse than before you laid on the table.

Do Chiropractors Recommend Inversion Tables?

Like most things, my answer is: it depends. While Inversion Tables have been shown to provide short term pain relief, I’m not convinced that the benefits of an inversion table outweigh the risk of increased pain and symptoms.
 
The latest research is showing that using an inversion table for back pain is likely to decrease your risk of needing back surgery — Which is great! So if you’ve tried every other option and you’re between surgery and an inversion table, I think an inversion table could be worth trying.
 
My overall view on healing is that it is important to treat the cause, not just the symptoms we experience. Inversion Tables can help us to treat the symptoms of back pain but they don’t do much to treat the cause of back pain. There are other treatments like chiropractic, physical therapy, and/ or myofascial work that are more effective at treating the underlying cause of back pain that I personally feel are a more effective treatment option.

What Do I Need to Know About Using an Inversion Table?

Inversion Table

Follow The Directions

This should go without saying, but follow the directions!
 
Falling from inversion tables when you’re suspended in the air can cause significant injuries to your spine. (PMC8143462)
 
In addition, most Inversion Table manufactures will provide detailed information about how many degrees you should tilt your table to and how long you should lay on the table. It is imperative that you follow these directions to prevent further injury while using the table.

What Else Can I Try?

Look for treatments that can treat the cause of your pain, such as chiropractic care, myofascial release (massage therapy, foam rolling), and/ or programs designed to help strengthen and stabilize your spine through physical therapy.
There are certain therapeutic exercises and stretches that can help produce distraction in your spine like we discussed above. My favorite is a dead hang from a pull up bar where you use your body weight to create distraction and open your disc spaces.
 
Pro Tip: if a dead hang exercise feels good on your body then there’s a good chance the Inversion Table will too. But if you feel discomfort while doing the dead hang, I wouldn’t jump right onto the Inversion Table as the Inversion Table will provide a more intense distraction than the dead hang exercise.
Dead Hang Exercise

When Should You Avoid an Inversion Table?

Everything presented here is an opinion and not medical advice. So as always, you should talk to your primary care and/or care team to help you decide if an Inversion Table is right for you. However, having uncontrolled high blood pressure, heart disease, hypertension, glaucoma or detached retinas comes with an increased risk when using an inversion table. In these instances this type of treatment would not be recommended.

Should You Try an Inversion Table?

The answer is not black and white. While it does have benefits it also comes with some risks.
If you have tried using an Inversion Table, let us know. We’d love to hear about your experience with Inversion Tables!