After my recent move from Palm Springs back to our home in Sacramento one of the important pieces of furniture I wanted unpacked was my inversion table.  I was first exposed to using inversion therapy early in my pain rehabilitation and have found it quite helpful. Today I was looking at chronic pain news and I found an interesting article by Steve Hefferon, which was published in the online American Chronicle.
 
Mr. Hefferon listed what he called the seven benefits of inversion for chronic back pain.  If your interested Mr. Hefferon invites you to get more information in alternative back pain treatments when you sign up for his Back Pain Advisory at http://www.losethebackpain.com/  as well as access to free informative articles, videos and open forums.  My olny word of caution is to check with your healthcare provider to make sure inversion therapy is safe for you.  I’ve put his seven points below.

7 key benefits of inversion for the back pain sufferer

While relieving your back pain is your primary reason for considering inversion therapy, there are a number of additional benefits many people experience with a regular program of inversion. Here are 7 good reasons to use inversion therapy:

1. Maintains your height. Regularly inverting will help you avoid the “shrinkage” that naturally occurs as a result of gravity over a lifetime.
2. Improves circulation. When you’re inverted, your blood circulation is aided by gravity rather than having to work against it. In addition, with inversion, gravity helps the lymphatic system clear faster, easing the aches and pains of stiff muscles.
3. Relieves stress. Everyone knows that a full-body stretch is rejuvenating! An inversion table provides the same feeling of relaxation as a yoga class—with a lot less effort. Many people find that they sleep better with regular inversion therapy.
4. Heightens mental alertness. Any upside-down activity increases the supply of oxygen to the brain, which many experts believe helps maintain mental sharpness.
5. Increases flexibility and range of motion. With inversion, your joints stay healthy and supple, meaning you can remain as active as you were in your younger years.
6. Improves posture. The stretching that comes with reversing the force of gravity on your body helps you sit, stand, and move with more ease and grace.
7. Realigns the spine after workouts. Running and other aerobic activities inevitably compress your spine—often unevenly. One-sided activities such as golf or tennis often pull the spine out of alignment. During inversion, minor misalignments often correct themselves naturally.

A surprising number of people — more than 60 percent — still suffer significant pain a year after a traumatic injury in a car crash or other cause, showing the need for better pain treatment, researchers said.  In a study published on March 24, 2008 in the journal Archives of Surgery, researchers tracked 3,047 patients ages 18 to 84 from 14 US states who survived an acute traumatic injury. Dr. Frederick Rivara of the University of Washington in Seattle led the study.

Dr. Rivara also noted that people who experience chronic pain are at higher risk for depression and for being unable to work or function normally. I’ve seen this same problem in the majority of the chronic pain patients I’ve worked with the past 25 years. One reason for the prolonged problem is our medical system is very good at dealing with treating the original injury but it is not so effective when the pain continues long after the problem is supposedly fixed.  In many instances the person in pain gets blamed or accused of malingering or that the pain is all in their head.

Depression is one of the most common coexisting disorders for people living with chronic pain and it sabotages both quality of life and effective pain management. One of the biggest problems in treating depression in people with chronic pain is missing the diagnosis.  This occurs for two reasons: (1) the person in chronic pain often does not realize he or she is also suffering from a major depression; and (2) the healthcare provider is not looking for it. To learn more about this go to my article The Role of Clinical Depression in Pain Management.

Although fibromyalgia is recognized by the American College of Rheumatology and some insurers as a legitimate disease and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug (Cymbalta) to specifically treat the condition, many people, including medical experts, still doubt its existence.  Skeptics say the symptoms are too varied and vague, there’s no definitive lab test to prove the disease and most of the people claiming to have fibromyalgia are really suffering from stress, depression and anxiety. As a result, confusion and controversy continue to surround the illness.

To help clear up some of the mystery surrounding the disease, a resolution was recently proposed to initiate the Fibromyalgia Legislative Task Force for California. The task force would aim to promote public awareness and proper treatment for the disorder. Please see below for a brief exert from the California legislature—2007–08 regular session.  You can go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov and search for “Fibromyalgia Legislative Task Force.”

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 112; Introduced by Assembly Member Soto March 3, 2008: Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 112—Relative to a Legislative Task Force on Fibromyalgia legislative counsel’s digest ACR 112, as introduced, Soto. Legislative Task Force on Fibromyalgia.
 
This measure would establish a Legislative Task Force on Fibromyalgia, consisting of specified members, to establish a public information and outreach campaign, work with other state and local agencies to promote fibromyalgia education and training programs for physicians and other health professionals, collaborate with a broad group of stakeholders, review current state policies and practices concerning treatment of fibromyalgia, develop a State Fibromyalgia Strategic Plan to be submitted to the Governor and the Legislature by September 1, 2009, and hold a Fibromyalgia Summit during the 2009–10 Regular Session of the Legislature.

I believe it’s about time something is being done for people with this condition.  It’s always difficult when I work with someone suffering from this because they are not taken seriously and often made to believe they have a psychological problem and the symptoms are all in their head.  It’s also very exciting to see that research continues to increase studying different approaches to help this population.  Please go to my News & Research page to see some of the latest Fibromyalgia news and research. Unfortunately, many healthcare providers still prescribe opiates and many people develop other problems including addiction.