Adventures In Gaining Height
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I’ve been 5’4” my whole adult life. Until my last doctor’s appointment, when I was informed that I am now 5’ 3 1/2”. Dangit!
I’ve had an inversion table for close to 20 years now. The one I own is no longer available, although I’ve linked a similar product. Mine is in great shape and works exactly as intended. However, as I’ve gotten older, I struggle with vertigo, which can be triggered by inverting my body. Hmmm…walk in a straight line without falling over or live with the vertigo in order to hold onto my height? That’s a dilemma.
I’ve only used my inversion table sporadically in recent years mostly because of the occasional risk of vertigo, which really puts a damper on my life. But there are some other reasons you also might not want to use it. It tends to temporarily increase blood pressure and lower heart rate, which isn’t terrible if you don’t have hypertension (I do) or a heart problem. It also temporarily increases the pressure inside the eye, so if you have a condition like glaucoma, you definitely don’t want to be inverting. Same if you have a history of strokes and heart disease.
The benefits are obvious. When I got my table, I was instructed by someone (can’t remember who) that I was to use the table for 5-10 minutes at bedtime, and then immediately go to bed. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200. Straight to bed. The idea is that after you have inverted for a few minutes, you have decompressed your spine, giving your poor discs a rest. If you then continue on about your day, you compress everything back down in short order. But if you immediately go lay down and sleep for 6-8 hours, you are sleeping with a decompressed spine. Lots of healing can occur in that time frame.
In addition to giving your discs a rest from the relentless pressure of carrying you around, the inversion itself can gently realign your lower back, which is an area I struggle with a lot. So…long term benefits to your discs (which helps keep you from getting shorter) and relief from back pain. Win win!
But only if you use the inversion table regularly. Sporadic use doesn’t help much. And my usage was increasingly sporadic, due to the danger of vertigo. But I recently saw an add for a traction table where you lay flat (not inverted) and gently pull on your legs to stretch out your spine. I suppose it’s a little like being tortured on the rack only without the torture and also you do it to yourself, so you completely control the rate of stretch.
I bought this one off Amazon and it arrived last week. I immediately extricated it from its (very thorough) packing arrangement, laid out all my pieces, and started the very easy assembly. I was alright up until I got to the place where I needed to attach the little hand-cranked wheel on the side which controls the traction. It was missing a screw. Specifically, the screw which attached it to the table.
I was naturally annoyed and disappointed, and immediately contacted the company directly for the missing part. They got back to me quickly, and told me what information they needed from me and where to find that information if I had trouble. I emailed them back with the requested details and they shipped a replacement screw out to me.
However, while all that emailing was taking place over several days, I still didn’t have a working table, so I decided to take the little wheel to Home Depot to see if they could find me a replacement screw that would work until the proper part arrived. And the very nice British lady who worked there found the exact screw I needed. I think I paid $0.75 for it. And it worked just fine until the replacement arrived yesterday.
So I was able to use the table in the meantime, which made me happy. I decided I would lay on it with my fabulous massaging pillow under my neck. The first night I used it, I got really carried away with that hand crank and ended up with minor back pain for a day. But it was gone by the next evening, when I got on the table again. I was much more gentle the second night, had no discomfort, and woke up the next morning completely pain free. Let me say that again. Completely pain free. The older I get, the more rare that is.
I’ve been using the table every day, 5-10 minutes per evening, right before I go to bed. And overall, my back feels great. I mean, really great. So I can’t recommend this flat traction table enough. And also, I’m pretty pleased with the company’s customer service. Anyone can make a mistake, and everyone does. What really matters is how you deal with the mistake and the company made the problem right quite promptly.
I’m now trying to persuade my mother (whose back problems are worse than mine) to give up her old inversion table (which she isn’t using anyway because she’s worried about getting stuck in the inverted position) and buy one of these tables. I’ll get her there, it’ll just take some time.
