# Anybody have an inversion table?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-an-inversion-table/835681
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 18, 2019, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-an-inversion-table/835681 "2019-06-18T14:33:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-an-inversion-table/835681/1 "2019-06-18T14:33:50Z")
I just ordered [this one](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003QCI4GG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) off of Amazon. Upon hearing of my purchase, two separate people warned me of the risk of dying if I remained inverted for too long 🙂
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-an-inversion-table/835681/2 "2019-06-18T14:47:59Z")
I don’t have one, but based on statistics on where people die, I would stay out of bed it I were you.
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-an-inversion-table/835681/3 "2019-06-18T14:51:15Z")
Maybe not dying but: (hyperbole warning!)
Your eyes could fall out:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28413744](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28413744)
> [@](#):
>
> To report a case of sequential bilateral inferior retinal detachments secondary to inversion table therapy. A 67-year-old-male developed inferior rhegmatoegnous retinal detachments (RRD) in both eyes on two different occasions with the use of inversion therapeutic tables. Various predisposing factors have been documented for RRD such as previous cataract surgery, peripheral retinal degenerations, high myopia, history of previous retinal detachments and direct ocular trauma. The authors report here a case of inferior retinal detachments associated with the use of inversion therapy. Physical therapists, physical medicine rehabilitation physicians, and retinal specialists need be aware of this potential complication.
And you could start bleeding inside your skull:
> **[Bilateral subdural hematomas in an adult with hereditary factor VII...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18160563/)**
>
> A 57-year-old man of northern Italian and Polish descent with a late-onset, mild form of hereditary factor VII deficiency developed bilateral intracranial subdural hematomas after performing sit-ups while he was in a head-down position on an...
> [@](#):
>
> A 57-year-old man of northern Italian and Polish descent with a late-onset, mild form of hereditary factor VII deficiency developed bilateral intracranial subdural hematomas after performing sit-ups while he was in a head-down position on an inversion table. The pertinence of the Valsalva maneuver and increased intracranial venous and intraocular pressure associated with sit-ups and other exercises in the causation of subdural hematomas and other types of intracranial and ocular hemorrhage are discussed in this study.
>
> PMID: 18160563 DOI: 10.1177/1076029607308862
Is there another name for these devices or for the practice involved? Pubmed only gave 6 results for “inversion table” and two of them were these nasty case studies.
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2019, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-an-inversion-table/835681/4 "2019-06-19T01:52:29Z")
I have one and have never used it for more than a few minutes at a time. I use it to pull my back straight and take the load off. I see no reason to set the stop so my head is straight down. The farther back you tilt it the harder it is to pull yourself up. If in doubt do it in the presence of someone who can help you back up.
Any angle that lets your body mass pull on your back will work. If it hurts your feet then wear a good pair of boots.