Manufacturers of inversion tables claim their products can help curb back pain and improve blood flow as well as offering a host of other health benefits. But inversion therapy also has detractors who point out potentially serious health problems it can cause. One of the areas of concern is damage to your eyes, and although likely only a short-term effect, it's something you should consider if you already suffer from an eye condition.
Identification
Inversion therapy involves hanging upside down from ceiling-anchored boots or laying on an inversion table that angles downward, with the latter being the most common form of the therapy. Primarily used to treat back pain, inversion tables are also touted as being able to reverse some effects of aging on your spine and to even make you taller.
Eye Dangers
When you are inverted for any length of time, it leads to an increase in intraocular pressure, a measurement of the fluid pressure inside your eye. Other effects include excessive accumulation of fluid around the eye, which may cause them to bulge outward; eye redness; red spots on the eyelids called petechiae; excessive tears; and subconjunctival hemorrhage, or bleeding beneath the white part of the eye. Normal intraocular pressure ranges between 10 and 21 mm of Hg, but a study published in the "Archives of Ophthalmology" in June 1987 measured an intraocular pressure of 35 to 40 mm Hg while subjects were in a head-down position.
Expert Insight
One of the earlier, more definitive studies to look into the effects of inversion tables on eyes was conducted by Thomas R. Friberg, M.D., and Robert N. Weinreb, M.D., in Toronto and published in 1985 in the "Journal of the American Medical Association." Researchers evaluated healthy volunteers using inversion therapy and found the intraocular pressure in the eye more than doubled, increasing to levels well within the range associated with glaucoma.
Recommendations
The 1985 report by Friberg and Weinreb concluded that although the researchers didn't know the long-term effects of inversion therapy on the eyes of healthy volunteers, if you already have retinal vein abnormalities, macular degeneration, ocular hypertension, glaucoma or any other eye disorder, you should avoid inversion altogether. If you are uncertain about the health of your eyes, consult your health care provider and get an eye exam before trying any form of inversion therapy.
