Bats don't have back problems

After the second slipped disk, I thought to myself that it made sense to stretch out my spine, in the hopes that my disk would snap back in if I gave it more room. I set up my step ladder in my garage, and hung from it, while twisting back and forth.

It worked pretty well. Relief was immediate, but more importantly, my disk went back in within about a week.

It gave me the idea that I should get one of those inversion tables, where you hang upside down. After shopping around, I got a nice one at Sam's Club.

It took two days to put it together, but I finished it last night and tried it out. It works well. This morning, I got back on it before work. It's a great way to get going in the morning. I did some more research and found out there are more benefits than I imagined:

Inverted, your body weight applies mild traction to your spine (which elongates), increasing the space between the vertebrae and reducing the pressure on the discs.

Every nerve in the body leaves the spine through spaces between the vertebrae. Increasing the space reduces the pressure on the nerve roots and discs.

By oscillating up and down on the inversion table you can create a pumping action for fluids around the spinal discs (which do not have their own blood supply); forcing wastes out and drawing fluids around the discs.

Inversion can speed up recovery time after exercise by increasing the flow of lymphatic fluid, which helps clear lactic acid out of the muscles.

Not only does inversion help to relieve back pain and make the spine more flexible, it also increases oxygen flow to the brain.

Some people claim that increasing the circulation of blood to the head through inversion may also improve the color and tone of your skin, stimulate mental alertness, and improve hearing and vision. In addition, you may have healthier hair because the scalp is well supplied with blood.

We'll see.