Slipped Disc : Spinal Decompression by Inversion

• Pain Index (PI) : Scale of 1-10, 1= Normal, 10= Unbearable pain so bad that tears come on automatically.
• Before : Slipped disc pressing on sciatic nerve, causing pain that extends from buttocks and shoots all the way down to lower left leg. 2-3 minutes after getting out of bed in the morning, PI shoots up to 8/9 (due to gravity adding to pressure). So bad I had phobia of getting up to pee in the middle of the night. Dreaded getting out of bed and the pain that comes with standing upright that I missed executing some stop losses at night during this period. Unable to walk for more than 5-10 minutes without feeling intense pain in left calf and ankle. At best PI = 4/5. Unable to get through day without pain killers. Surgery recommended.
• Therapy : Spinal decompression using inversion table. 60 degree inversion (lying horizontally = 0 degree), 6 times a day, 5-8 minutes each time. + Swim 1 Km every day. No pain killers or steroids at all.
• Today = 6th week of inversion : PI daily range now 3-5. More importantly, this week I am finally able to walk normally (with only mild pain) for an extended time period.
• Not sure if improvement in my condition is due to inversion or whether I would have gotten better naturally in any case. Surgery avoided?
• More about inversion therapy and Teeter tables here.
• Not suitable if you have ankle injury.