I am now at the age of 69 and over the past few years, I have developed what the doctor calls Spinal Stenosis. It's where the spinal bones have closed together and some bones in my lower back are pinching a nerve or two. When I was 19 years old, I was 6' 1" tall, I am now 5' 11" tall, so I have shrunk 2 inches over the past 50 years. The cartilage between the spinal bones have compressed or worn away.
The doctor said I have 2 choices, either have shots between the spine bones to replace the missing cartilage and help spread the bones apart or have surgery to force the bones physically apart. Sorry, but I am not doing the surgery nor the shots as I have had reports that the shots only help some people, not everyone.
I cannot walk or stand for more than 5 minutes as my lower back and hip bones hurt so bad that I have to sit down for a few minutes. I have numerous lower backaches off and on though out the day, I have muscle spasms in the lower back area if I turn wrong, especially if I am leaning forward typing on the computer keyboard.
One day I saw this teeter device advertised on TV and thought it might possibly help. Rather than buying it from the company directly as per their advertisement, I checked to see if Amazon offered them. They did indeed, in fact, they have a grand selection of all the models and accessories. So I ordered this particular model from Amazon. As always, with Amazon's super fast delivery service, I received the item in 2 days.
The Teeter Hang Ups came in a long and very heavy box. I had my wife help me carry it down into our basement rec room area.
It comes with a DVD that contains tutorials with complete assembly instructions. Also included are a set of paper instructions. I don't think much of those instructions, I think that they could have done a much better job making those. The DVD however is great and you should watch the DVD before beginning assembly.
After unpacking the parts and laying them out on the floor, you need to put in the DVD and watch it for assembly instructions.
Luckily, we have a big screen and DVD player in our basement.
I highly suggest that you keep the DVD in the player as you will most likely need to refer back numerous times to the assembly instructions. (unless you have a great memory)
The day that the unit arrived, my back was hurting so bad that I had a hard time even getting the parts out of the box.
When I went to put in the first set of 5 screws, I wasn't able to stand long enough to do so.
I called a good friend asking if he could come over and help me assemble the unit. He showed up at my house at 7 pm that evening.
We watched the assembly part of the video up to a certain assembly step, pause the DVD, assembled the parts as per, then continued the video to the next step. The parts are made of high quality materials. I was very impressed that it was not cheaply constructed. I really feel like I got my $300 worth. There are so many overpriced cheaply made items on the market today. This is not one of those cheaply constructed items.
According to the video, you should be able to assemble the unit in 30 minutes. It took us 2.,5 hours!
Our main problem was the parts fit so tightly together that we had to push, shove and bang with a rubber mallet in order to get the pieces inserted. (These were the same exact pieces that the video showed a man slipping together easily)
Luckily for me, my friend Gary is very strong and we managed to get the tight parts together with a minimum amount of swearing.
I must say though, once together, it is a really neat machine. They did an amazing engineering job designing the item. It is a very solid, well constructed item. It should last me forever.
They say to adjust the table's length one inch longer than your height. After a few trial and errors, we ended up having to make mine 3 inches longer than my height in order for it to work properly. I have mine set at 6' 2". Since people are all built differently, their weight is being distributed in different body parts, so this must be a variable and you will probably have to go with trial and error until you find the proper setting.. All adjustments are easily made.
There is a strap that prevents the teeter from going back too far. We adjusted the strap a bit too long for my first session.
I climbed onto the device and had Gary lock feet in place as I was not able to reach the lever that allows your feet to be locked into place. As I raised my arms slowly to my chest, the teeter started moving and I was heading backward at a slow pace until I was about horizontal to the floor. When I raised my arms over my head, the teeter immediately dropped back to about a 70 or 75 degree angle, scaring the devil out of me. I was yelling for my friend to pull me back up but he was laughing so hard that he was unable to do so.
Upon moving my arms back to my side, the teeter began ascending to a level position and then as I lifted my knees a bit, the teeter returned to it's beginning position.
We adjusted the strap to a shorter length and I tried it again. It was much better this time, the angle was not as drastic.
I highly suggest checking the angle before climbing on the teeter for the first time. I would suggest starting off with the table slightly below horizontal, then lengthening the strap as you become more accustomed to it.
The pressure of blood rushing to my head and arms bothered me at first. It was rather uncomfortable. I could feel my chest muscles sliding towards my head, it was a whole different experience. Later on that first night, I had a hard time going to sleep as my chest muscles ached. I was exercising muscles I hadn't used in years. After one week, the pressure no longer bothered me and the sore chest muscles was a one time experience.
Now here's the kicker. As I stated earlier, my lower back was hurting so bad that I had to call my friend to come help me put the thing together. I couldn't even stand long enough to insert the first screws nor could I reach the lever to lock my feet into the unit.
After the first 2 short sessions that evening, maybe 2-3 minutes each, I discovered that my back pain was totally gone. I have since been able to lock my own feet in without any trouble reaching the lever. I can now bend over further than I could before.
For the 1st week, my wife stood by as an observer in case of any problems. They suggest having an observer until you get used to the unit. No problems ever arose so now I use the machine every morning and usually every evening after dinner all by myself. I only use it for 2-3 minutes and then stop. If you wear glasses, be sure to remove them before using the item or they will fall off. Also remove any items in your shirt pocket, they will fall out.
I haven't tried removing the security strap and hang at 90 degrees vertical as yet. Some day I would like to try that, I am currently working up the nerve.
I use the teeter any time I have the slightest backache as it immediately stops any back pain I might have.
If nothing else, It was well worth the $300 to stop my back pains. I had a muscle spasm in my lower right side the other day.
Two minutes on the teeter and the pain was gone. I found the machine great for relaxing muscles.
So far, It has not yet done anything to help my Spinal Stenosis as I still cannot stand or walk for more than 5 minutes.
I am hoping that in time though, it may help me in that respect.
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