Slant Board To Stretch Out Your Back

If you've watched daytime or late-night TV recently, you've probably seen commercials for slant boards -- also known as inversion boards or inversion therapy tables -- intended to stretch out your back and relieve back pain. Slant boards work by allowing you to hang upside down, letting gravity stretch your spine, trunk and abdomen. Though this is one method of spinal traction, a recognized chiropractic treatment, slant boards
aren't for everyone. A little information will help you decide if a slant board is right for you. Always consult your physician before you start using a slant board or any other home fitness device.

History

Inversion therapy has been in use since at least the early 1960s. The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association reports that in a 1960 trial of 175 back pain patients, 155 were able to return to work after undergoing inversion therapy in a chair-shaped inversion device. Later in the 1960s, reports the Journal, chiropractors started combining slant board-style inversion therapy with standard spinal manipulations and reported higher successful outcomes than with spinal manipulation alone.

Advantages

The same journal article reports that when tested on healthy individuals, inversion produced greater spinal mobility, an advantage since mobility helps prevent back problems. The journal also reports that inversion therapy in healthy individuals increased the space between the spinal vertebrae. Greater space in the spine, reports the journal, reduces the likelihood of pain or disability due to bulging or herniated spinal discs, one of the most common causes of back pain.

Considerations

Though slant boards have certain advantages, there are also disadvantages. According to MayoClinic.com, inversion therapy of any type does not produce long-term relief of back pain when used in isolation. The clinic recommends using inversion therapy as part of a comprehensive back health plan, which also may include physical therapy, stretches or other exercises. Chiropractor Dr Luke Martin reports inversion is not as effective as mechanical traction at isolating extant spinal disc issues such as bulging discs.

Warnings

Slant boards, whether to simply stretch out your back or to treat a back problem, aren't for everyone. Since your blood pressure and the pressure in your eyes increases when you hang upside down, MayoClinic.com recommends those with high blood pressure, coronary heart disease or glaucoma avoid inversion therapy. If you want to try it and suffer from one of these conditions, mechanical traction applied by a trained chiropractor can be a safe alternative.