Can an Inversion Table Help My Blood Pressure?

Inversion tables are traction devices that essentially hang a person upside down. The typical purpose of these tables is to relieve back pain temporarily by using the weight of the patient's body and gravity to create more space between the vertebrae and decompressing the discs and nerve roots. In general this type of therapy is not intended for those with high blood pressure, but there are cases in which it could help.

Risk Groups

• Since becoming inverted can temporarily raise the blood pressure significantly, the Mayo Clinic considers it risky therapy for those with high blood pressure or heart disease. The additional pressure caused from inversion also adds pressure to the eyes and those with glaucoma should not use inversion therapy either.

Inversion To Lower Blood Pressure

• Lower your blood pressure with oscillating inversion therapy, according to EnergyCenter.com, a website that sells inversion equipment.
  The retailer's findings are based on research by Robert Goldman, an osteopathic physician and others that was published in The Physician and Sports Medicine in 1985. According to the study, there is evidence that inversion can actually lower blood pressure. Men in the study were oscillated between upright and inverted positions for 15-minute intervals after which their blood pressure and heart rate was significantly reduced. The study claims that this type of therapy poses no risk for those with normal blood pressure.

Research

• In a study published online by the Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association, sixty volunteers were divided into an experimental and control group to determine the blood pressure response to inversion.
  The experimental group participated in inversion therapy and had participants' blood pressure taken before, during and after inversion. The control group did not participate in the inversion.
  Systolic blood pressure jumped an average of 16.3 mmHg in the experimental group while the average change for the control group was -1. Diastolic blood pressure increased 7.2 mmHg versus an almost insignificant change for the control group. Meanwhile the pulse rate of those in the experimental group dropped by 6.4 beats per minute.
  The conclusions drawn during the study showed that the decreased heart rate in those being inverted is likely the body trying to regulate blood pressure, but it is unable to bring the level down to pre-inversion levels in most cases.
  Do not attempt inversion therapy as an effective means of lowering your blood pressure. If you have hypertension, pre-hypertension or are unaware of your blood pressure status, you should not try inversion therapy for any reasons.
  If you do not have blood pressure concerns and wish to try inversion therapy for back pain or relaxation, do so gradually. Start with a slight angle of inversion to see how your body reacts.