On the Bench

1

Hallo! (Read 459 times)

Mile Collector


Abs of Flabs

    Hi guys! I'm still on the bench. There's so much going on in my life that I haven't had time to visit the forums. PT discharged me two weeks ago because insurance had stopped paying for it and because they've shown me all they know in terms of exercises. I've been toying with the idea of getting an inversion table, which is a device that allows you to hang upside down and let gravity decompresses your spine. I didn't get one because I was still going to PT and they were doing that for me manually. I ordered one from Amazon and received it on Thursday. The irony of an inversion table is that it weighs about 60 lbs. The fact that I get an inversion table is that I have back troubles. Moving the table into the house by myself will make my back worse. Still, I manuvered the box into the kitchen and assembled it. The table is a glorified seesaw. On one end is an ankle strap and the other is a taut cloth backing for you to lie down in. The pivot is near my hip so if I lay down on it with my arms at my sides, the table would be nearly horizontal to the ground. It was weird being on the table for the first time. When I move my arms to above my head, that slight shift in weight was sufficient to tilt the table, leaving me hanging from my ankles. I got a little nauseous from the quick tilting but after several more uses, I learned to slow the tilting which reduced the motion sickness. I can't say if it's doing any good since it's too soon to tell. I don't think it's doing any harm so that's a good place to start. My friends think I'm a nut job for buying something so I can hang upside down, but if that's what gets me back to running, well, nut job is a lot better than an invalid.
      , but if that's what gets me back to running, well, nut job is a lot better than an invalid.
      Well said Wink How long do you stay inverted at a time? How many degrees are you inverted? Hope it works out for you - keeping everything I can think of crossed Big grin

      Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away...(unkown)




      Go With The Flow
      Thyroid Support Group

      Mile Collector


      Abs of Flabs

        Thanks Cheryl! I can invert to 90 degrees with this model but that will require some work from me (i.e. use my arms to push to 90 degrees). I've done it and didn't feel any different from the 60-70 degrees that it balances at. Since it uses an ankle clamp, I had to flex my shins (to keep my feet at 90 degrees with respect to the lower leg) to ensure that I don't slip out, I hang for as long as my shins don't get tired. I won't fall out if I don't keep my feet hooked to the clamp, but the weight on my ankles will become quite uncomfortable. For now, I hang for about several minutes at a time and the pain does go away when I'm inverted. Now it's just a matter of letting the inversion reduce the inflamation in the area and hope that it heals.


        Along for the Ride

          Hi guys, I am not on the bench for anything, but I wanted to check in with you all here. Mile Collector, how is your back feeling these days? Do you still have sciatica? Hopefully the inversion table will help you!

          Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.

          Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.

           


          Now that was a bath...

            My lesbian best friend has one of those. She has a phobia and cannot leave the house but she does have the shopping channel and so buys all these wonderful devices. She also has a kit with electrodes that you attach to your head and you can zap your brain. She tried it on me once. It gave me Super Powers. Seriously though, I am praying it helps you! We can be pity partners in the meanwhile. I have avoided posting here for a while as I didn't want to admit the truth - that I never got off the bench properly at all - but it looks like I am back! Are we possibly running parallel lives? Busy & injured? If so - would you hurry up and get better already as I have had enough of this injury rubbish! Say it once, say it twice, say it loud & proud... "I am a runner and I will run" Claire xxx
          • jlynnbob "HTFU, Kookie's distal tibia"
          • Where's my closet? I need to get back in it.
            Mile Collector


            Abs of Flabs

              Inversion table update... I've been using it for a couple of weeks now and I think it's working. More background info... I went to PT for a couple of months and when they do traction on me, I can definitely feel something. It's a sensation that's hard to describe. The closest would be that weak in the knee feeling when you're nervous. My expectation for the inversion table was that it will help me get back to running, although not necessarily back to the 50-mile weeks, but enough to preserve some semblance of my former self. I didn't expect to see improvements for 3 or 4 months after using it. I suppose this sort of back issues take years to develop and will take many months to get them to go away. It's about 3 weeks since I got the table. I hang myself from it several minutes a day because hanging by your ankles and nothing else gets rather uncomfortable in the ankles after a while. I would get on it after a run to decompress my spine and that feels good. It relieves all the pressure in my lower back as I hang there. My head swells a little, not from my ego, but from the blood rush. I did track last night and for the first time in a very long time, I didn't have any pains during or afterwards. On top of that, it was cloudy and drizzled much of the day so I know there was a low pressure front hovering around the region. If my back didn't bother me at low pressure, then I would feel great when the weather turn nice. Today, the sun's out and as I'm typing this, I feel quite normal. Of course, the thought of the pain may come back any second lingers in the back of my mind. That will probably never go away. It'll serve as a reminder that I'll need to continue with all my core strengthening exercises that my PTs showed me for the rest of my life, but if that lets me go back to running pseudo normally, then it's worth it.
                That is the very best news, Eric!!! I am so glad that it seems to be working out for you - although I'm sure you are also right about keeping up with the core exercises and such. I find that the hardest thing to keep up. Nice that the chance you took in getting the table paid off. Smile

                Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away...(unkown)




                Go With The Flow
                Thyroid Support Group

                  Yay Eric! I am so glad to hear that things are looking up for you. Soon you can have a big head from a running ego and not just hanging upsidedown. Big grin