Can hanging upside down REALLY improve your skin? A FEMAIL writer dangles by her ankles to find out after Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes swear by the benefits

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My head feels like it is about to explode but my body is in a state of total relaxation, which is surprising considering I am dangling upside down from my ankles. 

I am being held in an inversion table, which leaves you hanging - literally - and is the latest trend among the A-listers to improve posture, ease back pain, restore well-being and even improve the complexion.

Bradley Cooper uses the contraption every morning and evening to look after his back during his gruelling stint as The Elephant Man on the London stage.

A rush of blood to the head: Naomi tries inversion therapy and, despite the heavy head, her body felt relaxed

Bradley Cooper (left, pictured yesterday at Wimbledon) and Eva Mendes (right) have both spoken about the benefits of inversion. Bradley uses it to ease back pain and Eva says it gives her complexion a boost

Eva Mendes also swears by it and says that inverting at a shallow angle for 20 minutes at a time does wonders for her skin.

David Duchovny, Rosie O'Donnell, Martha Stewart and even Ozzy Osbourne have also spoken of the virtues of inversion therapy.

The benefits of hanging upside down include reduced back and neck pain and improved circulation. The tables are also meant to reduce stress and induce a general sense of well-being.

Over the course of a day, we can lose up to half an inch in height due to the compressing effects of gravity on our spine.

When we relieve that strain on our back, our discs plump back up. Lying flat only releases 75 per cent of standing body weight pressure on the spinal discs. Inverting reduces the disc pressure to almost zero. 

Interestingly, bats and sloths are the only known vertebrates that never suffer from osteoarthritis – hanging upside-down relieves pressure on their joints, preventing degeneration.

Naomi, pictured the right way up, says dangliong from her feet for ten minutes gave her a 'zing'

The tables retail at around £440, but mobile therapy firm Back Angels offer the therapy for £7 a pop at various festivals and events round the country.

As I'm always keen to improve my posture I was intrigued to give this trendy new therapy a go.

On hand for my first foray into the technique, Back Angels founder Barry Clarke tried to help me relax. But when he started adjusting the ankle clamps to suit my height, I could not help feeling a little uneasy.

But I was reassured that I could abort the mission at any time and set myself free.

He explained: 'When our backs are relieved from gravity, our discs plump out - they rehydrate and draw in fluid from surrounding tissues. In healthy backs the discs are like grapes. In old backs they are like dry raisins.'

I was sold. Give me grapes!

Ankles secure, Barry flipped me over. I gave a little yelp as I felt like I was in free fall, but he assured me I was only a few degrees beyond horizontal.

'The blood will obviously rush to your head,' Barry said.

Experienced inversion table users, like Bradley Copper, can get into the 'bat' position straight away but beginners are advised to take it more slowly.

After a few minutes Barry suggested I was ready for the 45-degree stage. Despite the heavy head, my body did feel comfortable and relaxed as I tipped back further.

For the last few minutes of my ten-minute session, I rotated backwards to 60 degrees and Barry advised that I stretch my arms above my head to maximise the benefits.

My head felt ten times heavier and I had to keep craning my neck up because of an irrational fear it might burst.

Once I was flipped up and reentered into the vertical world I stood tall and felt a sudden zing in my step. It turns out that a rush of blood to the head can perk you up no end.

Perhaps it was psychosomatic but I did feel like I was walking taller. I'm not sure I would shell out hundreds of pounds to have one in the spare room just yet, but if I did suffer from back pain I might became a more regular dangler.

Inversion tables have also been found to be very effective in more acute cases. One study at Newcastle University Hospital found that regular use can reduce the need for back surgery.

Patients who were told they needed sciatic operations were divided into two groups. One regularly practiced inversion therapy along with regular physiotherapy, while the other used only physiotherapy.

Patients who practiced inversion were 70 per cent less likely to require surgery.

Professor David Mendelow, Head of Neuroscience at Newcastle University, estimates inversion therapy could save £80 million a year in unnecessary surgeries in the UK.

Bradley Copper (pictured with actress Patricia Clarkson and actor Alessandro Nivola in The Elephant man) recently admitted he hangs by his ankles twice a day to help with his grueling stint on stage

Naomi at 45 degrees: Lying flat only releases 75 per cent of standing body weight pressure on the spinal discs but inverting reduces the pressure to almost zero and allows the dics to plump up

For, Bradley Cooper the inversion tables have helped him cope with one of the most physically demanding roles of his career.

He said: 'The physical challenge is having to twist the body and hold it for two hours.

'It's brutal, we did 120 performances in New York and in the last two weeks of the play I started to feel it in my back and my mouth and my face, all the muscles got very strong.'

Luckily, Cooper discovered inversion tables: 'I have one where I'm staying. You do that morning and night... and then find a person who can do massage work every day.'