no, but a yoga ball and one of these really helps me.

also, chinups / arm hangs help.

 

not exactly the same thing, but I do a head stand in yoga everyday for a couple of minutes...it feels good. and it's free.

 

I used one for a bit. Basically it really didn't do anything for me. While upside down the pain would be relieved some what but when I flipped back right side up it would feel the same. After a few weeks of use I stopped using it since it felt no better. However I have been able to eliminate most of my back pain by doing the following:

1) lots of stretching
2) going to a very good physical therapist
3) getting a firmer mattress
4) changing my work chair to an exercise ball
5) when sitting on the couch using a pillow to support my lower back

While I still have discomfort from time to time I have eliminated the worst of the back pain that kept me off my bike. Its not 100% but its much better then it was a few months ago.

 

I already roll around and stretch on a large yoga ball. I think my bed is half my problem. The mattress is old and the 4 inch memory foam is prolly a little too cushy. Even when I was working out a ton and had great abs my back hurt so it's not a muscle imbalance..

 

Yes I Have

I've Had A Few Nasty Bouts W Sciatica. Oddly, It Never Hurt In The Least When On The Bike. But I Recently Bought An Inversion Table, About $125. Fr Overstck.com. Works Pretty Good. Big Time Stretch. It Does Seem To Lessen The Pain. I Found It More Effective When I Wasnt In Pain As A Way To Stay Loose And Avoid Another Sciatica Episode. Pretty Sturdy Device. They All Seem The Same, No Real Need To Spend More

 

I've used one before. I have Degenerative Disc Disease in S1-L5, and L5-L4.

It felt great while inverted (slightly, not completely upside down), but as soon as gravity was reapplied, the benefit was lost.

It wasn't bad as a non-narcotic temporary pain reliever, but of all the things I've tried, this seemed to have the least overall benefit.

Physical Therapy, a TENS Unit when in acute pain, regular exersise do the most for me.

My inversion table is in my garage. I need to Craig's list it.

 

I know this doesn't directly answer your question about inversion therapy but it might help you with your back pain. This might be a coincidence but I'm going to duplicate a post I just left on another forum which referenced back pain. In the e-article mentioned below, the author says many people put too much focus on increasing abdominal strength to eliminate back pain when they should be increasing their back strength.

I bought an e-article on Core Training by Alan Bragman, D.C. ,from roadbikerider.com a few months ago. An unanticipated benefit of following the program was, it all but cured the sciatica I had developed. Best $4 I ever spent.

When I received roadbikerider.com's weekly newsletter Thursday, something clicked and I thought I should send them a thank you.

Today I receive an e-mail from one of the editors in reply who said he'd pass the good news onto Dr. Bragman.

Ten minutes after I read the e-mail I get a phone call-from Alan Bragman! The guy wanted to thank me and give me more advice about treating my sciatica. We talked at length about all sorts of complementary training for cycling.

I'm sold.

P.S. Dr. Bragman recommended I get his e-article on stretching. He said Active Isolated Stretching is much more effective than the common static stretching such as put forth in Bob Anderson's popular book titled, Stretching.

 

I suffered from back pain for most of my life (61 yrs) with occasional (annual) really bad, incapacitating bouts. Early on, various doctors talked about surgery which I didn't want to do. I made do with percodet. Three years ago after another bad episode I had MRI and the doc said there was nothing wrong with bones or cartilage - he sent me to a physical therapist.

Now I'm cured! I still do the stretching and strengthening program the PT gave me. The exercises are just part of my life. Not only can I ride without pain, but I can do normal lifting around the house without fear.