Have you ever suffered - even for just a few moments - a nagging and often excruciating pain running along the side of your leg?

Then you may be feeling the effects of sciatica, typically a compression of the sciatic nerve fibers which runs from the lumbar region, through the sciatic foramen, and vertically into the back of the thigh and down your legs towards your feet.

The pain from sciatica can be varied: dull or sharp, tingling or burning, numb or accompanied by sporadic shocks of pain from the lumbar area going down the back of the thigh towards the feet. Any movement affecting the lower back such as sitting or even standing up can be painful.

For some people suffering from sciatica or other types of lower back pain, inversion table therapy may offer some relief.

Inversion tables are specially designed tables that allow the patient to hang upside down or at an angle in an effort alleviate back pain. Sometimes, gravity boots are used in conjunction with the inversion table. In a way, inversion therapy is similar to spinal traction or spinal decompression therapy.

Although traditional western doctors are sometimes reluctant to recommend inversion tables or inversion therapy for back pain, there are claims that it can be effective. The reasoning or principle behind the treatment is simple. Much of the back problems people have are the result of aging - in other words - living a long time with gravity constantly pulling down.

The idea behind inversion tables is that your weight is turned upside down (or at least angled) and by having your weight suspended from your lower body rather, you are putting equal and opposite gravity pressure on the joints and spine. Therefore, in effect, you are doing the opposite of what happens naturally-the constant "weighing down" on the body by the pull of gravity when you are standing upright. This is intended to reverse or reduce the pressure on the discs between the vertebrae and help reduce the wearing down, or degeneration, of those discs.

Inversion table manufacturers and proponents of inversion therapy claim that such therapy may help improve posture, reduce or alleviate back pain, improve blood flow or circulation, and increase flexibility.

An alternative type of spinal therapy called spinal decompression therapy often uses a type of computerized traction table that employs a pull-and-release motion to separate the spine. This oscillating motion is important because it essentially counteracts the body's natural inclination to tighten up when being pulled. According to the developers of the machine, this allows the patient to be subjected to a much more effective spinal decompression treatment.

As with any treatments or therapies, it is advisable to seek the advice of a qualified medical professional before beginning inversion or spinal decompression therapy.

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