The inversion cure for chronic pain

“Almost everyone who spends lots of time on computers or phones suffers from ‘tech neck,’” a forward posture that causes back pain and headaches, says Russell Schierling, a chiropractor who specializes in pain management. The reason? The human head weighs about 10 pounds, but leaning forward increases the gravitational pull on the head, translating into up to 60 pounds of pressure on the muscles in the neck.

One study-proven solution: lying on an inversion table, which holds the body at an angle, allowing gravity to stretch out the back. This leads to an 83% improvement in back and neck pain, according to Stanford University researchers. Schierling explains,

“Inversion allows injured discs to come back into alignment, removing stress on the spine.”

To get the benefits, he suggests using an inversion table (like the Innova ITX9600 Heavy Duty Inversion

Table, $116, Amazon.com) for 3 to 5 minutes per day, starting at 10 degrees and working up to 25 or 30 degrees. Don’t want to try an inversion table? Schierling also suggests the stretches at right to ease headaches.