Inversion Tables

[CornHunka]

I've suffered from back pain for my entire adult life. I have two degenerative discs in the lower lumbar region. I'm forever going to the chiropractor for pain relief. The adjustments do help, but it's only temporary. I also have pain in my hips and knees and I'm convince my pain is related to my back. During one of my usual sleepless nights, I saw an infomercial for the Tweeter inversion table and it peaked my intererst, thinking that maybe it will give me some relief.

 

I did some internet research and most of the reviews on inversion tables is very positive, but I'm thinking that has to be skewed, at least a little bit.

 

Any posters ever try an inversion table to relieve back/joint pain? If so, what info can you pass on to me.

[rawhide]

I'd be interested too. I have had L4-5 stenosis with disc degen for about 5 years. One MD wants me to have surgery. Not so sure, just yet. Pain meds don't work with being semi-comatose. Epidural injections x3 with 1 facet injection have brought the pain to a level of 3-7 depending on the day. Maybe acupuncture next???

[CornHunka]

I'd be interested too. I have had L4-5 stenosis with disc degen for about 5 years. One MD wants me to have surgery. Not so sure, just yet. Pain meds don't work with being semi-comatose. Epidural injections x3 with 1 facet injection have brought the pain to a level of 3-7 depending on the day. Maybe acupuncture next???

 

I posted this same question on another General Discussion message board and I've gotten quite a few positive responses from people who suffer like we do and the inversion table seems to help. I think I'm going to take the plunge and buy one. I checked Craigslist, and there are few available in the Omaha/Lincoln area.

 

Best of luck to the both of us.

[HSKR]

I'm guessing you are already past this point but have you considered the quality of shoes that you wear? I used to have a lot of lower back problems, still do on occasion but not nearly as bad as I did. While talking to a friend about it who shared he had similar problems as I did, he would go to the chiropractor frequently like you, he mentioned the best thing he ever did was to start wearing better quality shoes, like Nike Air Shox instead of the cheapo $25 walmart shoes. I tried it myself and it helped my lower back a lot. In fact I can even tell when the shoes are starting to wear out, my lower back will be more sore. I get a new pair and the pain is gone that fast.

[HUSKER 37]

My brother and his wife have one and seem to like it..They still have it anyway and they're usually fanatical about gitting rid of clutter most of the time.

My sister also had back surgery in Lincoln a few years ago against my advice but had much better results than I expected.

 

Other than a couple of nurses my best friend's wife fixed me up with, I tend to avoid the medical community and took enough MicroBiology and BioChem classes to make me only slightly dangerous, but I've also had lower lumbar problems to the point where I've sometimes had to crawl to get around or sometimes saw stars if I lifted my leg over the side of the tub to enter the shower...like in a Road Runner cartoon.

 

I'm a semi-firm believer in the body's ability to heal itself, but I started helping the process along by biking (~10 miles per day when I was having the most trouble) and lifting weights...Concentrating on movements that would "isolate" the pain.

 

In my case, I found the problem area seemed to be in front of my lower Lumbar..I was able to strengthen the surrounding muscle (or in my mind, the ligaments) by doing forward crunches from a sitting position.100 reps of 150# resistance on a pulley system.

 

Before finding which lifting motion hurt the most and in turn, benefited the fastest from resistance training, I'd thought I maybe had a pinched disc on my Left side of the Lumbar between the L4 and L5...The Dr and a couple of chiropracters insisted that's what the mess looked like on X-rays anyway.

 

Sometimes I still will have a flareup that almost seems to resemble (or behave like) a virus, or when I accidently fall asleep on the couch all weekend, but the recovery time seems to keep getting shorter and the occurances almost a year apart.

 

I'd looked into acupuncture ~15 years ago and it still sounds fun, but I was concerned that it would only temporarily mask the symptoms or block the pain and not really do anyting preventative or repair any accumulated damage.

[HUSKER 37]

My Mom gave me a 40 year supply of Ultram once that works for me for blocking the pain, but I only use them as a last resort.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm....lth/PMH0000960/

[carlfense]

My Mom gave me a 40 year supply of Ultram once that works for me for blocking the pain, but I only use them as a last resort.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm....lth/PMH0000960/

Hope those are prescribed to you . . .

[NUance]

Best thing to do when you throw your back out: First, alternate hot and cold on it every 15 minutes for a couple of hours. Then take prescription painkillers and drink bourbon until you pass out. You'll feel better teh next day. It sounds like I'm making a joke, but I am actually serious. This is what I do.

 

 

As for a day-to-day ritual to keep your back healthy--walking a couple miles per day is one of the best things you can do. You could start by walking to the liquor store to stock up on bourbon.

[rawhide]

Too old to drink much. The cost is prohibitive: feel like CRAP But I put my walking on hold for about 6 months. Seems like that is the most likely thing that truly helps me. I took tramadol(ultram) for over 2 years. I stopped taking in in Dec. WOW talk about withdrawals I was surprised how bad I feel since stopping those. My MD's said "Oh, don't worry, they aren't addictive." BS

 

 

GBR

[Chaddyboxer]

I've suffered from back pain for my entire adult life. I have two degenerative discs in the lower lumbar region. I'm forever going to the chiropractor for pain relief. The adjustments do help, but it's only temporary. I also have pain in my hips and knees and I'm convince my pain is related to my back. During one of my usual sleepless nights, I saw an infomercial for the Tweeter inversion table and it peaked my intererst, thinking that maybe it will give me some relief.

 

I did some internet research and most of the reviews on inversion tables is very positive, but I'm thinking that has to be skewed, at least a little bit.

 

Any posters ever try an inversion table to relieve back/joint pain? If so, what info can you pass on to me.

Have you looked at your feet!? Typically back problems can be rooted to the alignment and muscular balance of the ankle. Once you stated that you had pain the knees, that begins to tell me that you may want an "expert" to take a look at your feet and possibly look into some good quality foot orthotics. Just a thought...

[Chaddyboxer]

I'd be interested too. I have had L4-5 stenosis with disc degen for about 5 years. One MD wants me to have surgery. Not so sure, just yet. Pain meds don't work with being semi-comatose. Epidural injections x3 with 1 facet injection have brought the pain to a level of 3-7 depending on the day. Maybe acupuncture next???

 

I posted this same question on another General Discussion message board and I've gotten quite a few positive responses from people who suffer like we do and the inversion table seems to help. I think I'm going to take the plunge and buy one. I checked Craigslist, and there are few available in the Omaha/Lincoln area.

 

Best of luck to the both of us.

The nice thing about inversion tables is that they help relieve disc pressure. Now...it's only a temporary relief. I hope you find someone that can get down to the root of your problem. Have you tried abdominal and transverse core strengthening exercises?

[Chaddyboxer]

I'd be interested too. I have had L4-5 stenosis with disc degen for about 5 years. One MD wants me to have surgery. Not so sure, just yet. Pain meds don't work with being semi-comatose. Epidural injections x3 with 1 facet injection have brought the pain to a level of 3-7 depending on the day. Maybe acupuncture next???

I'm sorry to hear that man....stenosis is not a good deal...

[Chaddyboxer]

My brother and his wife have one and seem to like it..They still have it anyway and they're usually fanatical about gitting rid of clutter most of the time.

My sister also had back surgery in Lincoln a few years ago against my advice but had much better results than I expected.

 

Other than a couple of nurses my best friend's wife fixed me up with, I tend to avoid the medical community and took enough MicroBiology and BioChem classes to make me only slightly dangerous, but I've also had lower lumbar problems to the point where I've sometimes had to crawl to get around or sometimes saw stars if I lifted my leg over the side of the tub to enter the shower...like in a Road Runner cartoon.

 

I'm a semi-firm believer in the body's ability to heal itself, but I started helping the process along by biking (~10 miles per day when I was having the most trouble) and lifting weights...Concentrating on movements that would "isolate" the pain.

 

In my case, I found the problem area seemed to be in front of my lower Lumbar..I was able to strengthen the surrounding muscle (or in my mind, the ligaments) by doing forward crunches from a sitting position.100 reps of 150# resistance on a pulley system.

 

Before finding which lifting motion hurt the most and in turn, benefited the fastest from resistance training, I'd thought I maybe had a pinched disc on my Left side of the Lumbar between the L4 and L5...The Dr and a couple of chiropracters insisted that's what the mess looked like on X-rays anyway.

 

Sometimes I still will have a flareup that almost seems to resemble (or behave like) a virus, or when I accidently fall asleep on the couch all weekend, but the recovery time seems to keep getting shorter and the occurances almost a year apart.

 

I'd looked into acupuncture ~15 years ago and it still sounds fun, but I was concerned that it would only temporarily mask the symptoms or block the pain and not really do anyting preventative or repair any accumulated damage.

I am firm believer of this, but I don't condone conventional medicine. Conventional medicine is great in some aspects, but I believe that if you put in the work, the body is naturally designed to heal itself. It just takes work to put it into the proper conditions/environment so that it may heal on its own. You're body is the most perfectly built machine: It adapts, it heals and it is resistant.

[huKSer]

I am firm believer of this, but I don't condone conventional medicine. Conventional medicine is great in some aspects, but I believe that if you put in the work, the body is naturally designed to heal itself. It just takes work to put it into the proper conditions/environment so that it may heal on its own. You're body is the most perfectly built machine: It adapts, it heals and it is resistant.

The human body was not designed to walk upright. Stupid evolution

[HUSKER 37]

My Mom gave me a 40 year supply of Ultram once that works for me for blocking the pain, but I only use them as a last resort.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm....lth/PMH0000960/

Hope those are prescribed to you . . .

 

Kinda..

 

Actually, a Company I was working for ~5 years ago started a drug screening program and anything that we were taking had to have a recent prescription..Since the only thing I ever took was Ultram..maybe a couple of pills every other month I wasn't too worried, but I used it as an excuse to get my cholesterol checked and find out if I needed to put Guiness Book of Records' phone number on my speed dial once my Triglycerides went past 800..As an after thought I had the Dr write me up a script for some Ultram and used the bottle for show while I tried to use up the properly aged stash first..It's probably been 6 months since I had one so I might have to recalculate the 40 year thing..

 

 

... I took tramadol(ultram) for over 2 years. I stopped taking in in Dec. WOW talk about withdrawals I was surprised how bad I feel since stopping those. My MD's said "Oh, don't worry, they aren't addictive." BS

 

What kind of withdrawls?..I'd never took more than a dozen in any one week..They sometimes felt like they were burning a hole in my stomach and drying the crap out of my mouth, so I never took them for much of any length of time or drive a car more than 50 miles under the influence of them.