Way back around 400 BC Hippocrates, called the father of medicine, and whose name is used in the Hippocratic oath, used to hang his patients upside down as a therapy. This long forgotten therapy, called inversion therapy, was revived by a US doctor in the 1960s and 70s, and is now extremely popular for the treatment of back pain and a range of other conditions.
Users report all sorts of benefits and improvements in their overall wellbeing as a result of hanging upside down on an inversion table.
The inversin table is a table designed to allow the user to attack to the table by the ankles by means of what are called inversion boots or gravity boots. These were popularized by Richard Gere in the movie "American Gigolo", but are basically a means of attaching oneself to the inversion table.
The table is then rotated to allow the user to hand with the head below the level of the feet. Some people get sufficient results simply by dropping the head a little below the feet, others like to hang completely upside down.
When inverted the effects of gravity on the body, and particularly on the spine, are reversed. We spend our lives with gravity pushing down on our spine and over the years this results in the gradual thinning of the discs, and this is why we gradually lose some of our height as we age. Gravity has all sorts of effects on our spine, and also on the muscles and ligaments that surround it, and are holding it all together. Take away gravity and our muscles, ligaments and spine can all relax and start to feel good.
Users report all sorts of improvements in back problems, particularly in the reduction of back pain. And as a side benefit they alse report improvements in mental clarity, varicose veins and stress levels and much much more. Medical studies have backed up many of these claims with hard data and explanations of why the benefits occur.
Inversion therapy is now used by the US Army for soldiers suffering from the effects of training on their bodies.
If you've got back pain or for any other reason feel inversion therapy may be of use to you I encourage you to find out more, or even buy an inversion table to give inversion therapy a try. If you have a specific back condition consult your doctor first, but otherwise give it a go.
