How Using a Teeter Inversion Table Helps With a Herniated Disc

The discs in your spine act as shock absorbers for your vertebrae. They are made up of two main parts, the nucleus, and the annulus. Think of a disc-like a Twinkie – the annulus is the yellow cake and the nucleus is the cream filling. But instead of cream filling, the nucleus is made of a jelly-like material that provides flexibility and “cushioning” in your back.

What is a herniated disc? A herniated disc is also called a slipped, bulged, or ruptured disc. When a disc is herniated, the cream filling (nucleus) pops through the yellow cake (annulus). As you see in the diagram, there are also nerves that run through the vertebrae and when a disc is herniated, it can impinge on the nerve and cause irritation. A herniated disc can cause “pain, numbness or weakness in an arm or leg. On the other hand, many people experience no symptoms from a herniated disc. Most people who have a herniated disc don’t need surgery to correct the problem.”

Inverting on a Teeter inversion table helps to decompress the vertebrae, widening the space between the vertebrae and alleviating the pressure on your discs. Taking that pressure off of the discs allows them to rehydrate and fill with nutrient-rich fluid so they naturally heal. The action of increasing the space margins between the vertebrae can actually create a mild suction in the disc, which may help encourage the bulged nucleus to return to its proper place.

How an Inversion Table Helps With a Herniated Disc

Inversion therapy with Teeter is an optimal way to help maintain back and spinal health by stretching tired, sore, and irritated muscles, decompressing and elongating the spine, and allowing the spine to naturally realign.

As always, check with your health care professional before starting inversion and make sure your equipment has been evaluated by a third party like Underwriter’s Laboratories (UL) for safe construction and operation.