I tried a couple of inversion tables but found that they weren't very comfortable on my ankles. Note: It is important to only buckle these gravity boots as loosely as you can without slipping out of them for maximum comfort (transfers pressure off achiles tendon and onto heal bone.) You can use these gravity boots with some inversion tables, but If you have the strength/coordination you may find that hanging from a bar (teeters brand) allows for more options (more hip/body movement.) Scientific studies have shown that traction is of questionable benefit, so I never bothered to persue inversion as the mechanism at play is obviously traction. However, recently, after many many years of back pain, I've started a program of inversion. I find that out of all the things I have tried (of which there are a great many), the inversion is probably the most beneficial. It hasn't cured me by any means, but it has provided some improvement. I think one thing to stress is that it is not sufficient to simply invert and lay still. Rather, it is probably much more beneficial to alternately contract the abdominals in a way that shortens your spinal length by aprox an inch or two. As if you are trying to pull your belly button up into your pelvis. or pelvic bone down into your belly button, perhaps? Do this every five or ten seconds. Not only will this strengthen your abs, but it will also fatiuge your stabalizing muscels so as to more fully stretch the spine (the abs, if not fatiuged, probably limit the stretch, as they are trying to protect the spine and hold it in place.) Also, by contracting and relexing the abs, you are likely expanding and contracting the disc space, moving fluid around the connective tissue (which has no real blood vessels of thier own.) Lastly, by doing these contractions, you may in effect be loading and unloading the spinal ligaments, which might strengthen them the way a bicep is strengthened by contracting and relaxing through bicep curls. There are many people, myself included, who believe that weak ligaments are the primary culprit in many lower back problems (even if bad discs are present....ie, many people have bad discs without problems, as shown by MRI studies.) In my case I believe it is my Sacroiliac joint ligament (si joint dysfunction.) I'm quite convinced that my improvments are not placebo in origin, as I was quite pessimistic about trying this (due to studies on traction that had me convinced this was fairly futile.) In addition to the abdominal contractions, I'd also reccomend do full inverted situps, hula type hip rotations while inverted, try to stretch the front of your hips (flexors) while inverted, and also twisting and side bending motion. It is probable that all this motion and stretching while inverted ads flexibility and elasticity to the connective tissue as well as moves fluid around. I invert twice a day for ten minutes each time.
