Hearing symptoms and dizziness after use of an inversion table.
Timothy C. Hain, MD
Most recent update: January 11, 2023 : This page is not written for or intended for use in legal endeavors.
Inversion table graphic from "walmart.com". Accessed 1/1/2023
Occasionally patients develop dizziness or hearing deficits after use of an inversion table for treatment of low back pain. This page attempts to review literature concerning complications of inversion therapy, and specifically dizziness or hearing deficits.
The literature about inversion tables is scanty and there were only 10 papers (in total) in Pubmed as of 1/11/2023.
Inversion tables involve having the head upside down, and can cause symptoms from the unusual position as well as from the pressure increase in the head related to the head being lower than the heart. There are also injuries from falls. There are no reports of BPPV following inversion table use, although anterior canal BPPV would seem to be a risk to us.
- Jung et al (2021) reported on falls in 3 patients. They wrote " Fall injuries while hanging on inversion tables are among the most devastating spine injuries, as the likelihood of severe neurological sequelae such as tetraplegia increases".
- Kondrashova et al(2019) reported "There were significant changes in ICA and MCA flow caused by inversion, which affected blood flow velocity, resistance, and pulsatility index (all P </= .005)." This is vague.
- Lerebours, et al (2017) reported "A 67-year-old-male developed inferior rhegmatoegnous retinal detachments (RRD) in both eyes on two different occasions with the use of inversion therapeutic tables. "
We have encountered two cases with symptoms following inversion table use. One patient developed dizziness and tinnitus, tentatively attributed to a PLF (perilymph fistula). Another developed a lightheaded sensation that persisted for years, tentatively attributed to cervical vertigo, combined with several other medical problems.
Overall, inversion tables do not have a high rate of reported complications in the literature.
References:
- Jung, S. H., et al. (2021). "Inversion Table Fall Injury, the Phantom Menace: Three Case Reports on Cervical Spinal Cord Injury." Healthcare (Basel) 9(5).
- Kondrashova, T., et al. (2019). "Dynamic assessment of cerebral blood flow and intracranial pressure during inversion table tilt using ultrasonography." J Neurol Sci 404: 150-156.
- Lerebours, V. C., et al. (2017). "Bilateral Retinal Detachments Associated with Inversion Table Therapy." Cureus 9(3): e1098.