Daily laborer or weekend warrior…how to do prepare
for spine-demanding tasks? What do you do when you must move a weighty box? Get the back brace or brace yourself? The “brace yourself” alternative
may be the better approach! Soft Health and Healing Clinic proposes
back braces for back pain patients who may benefit from
their support. We also suggest self-controlled actions
to Brooks back pain sufferers to safeguard the spine
when its use is demanded (moving boxes, digging
holes, vacuuming, etc.)
BACK BRACES FOR BACK PAIN PREVENTION:
Not All It Seems
Asymptomatic workers were told to wear back belts at work with the intention of lessening
low back pain or injury. 1380 published medical studies were reviewed.
Reviewers found no consistent evidence for back belt
use to avoid low back pain or occupational back pain in
workers. Absenteeism wasn’t reduced with back
belt use either. (1) Mind you, this review was of back
brace use by asymptomatic workers. In this situation,
the back belt is not for everyone. Now for Brooks back pain sufferers, the back belt has
advantages. Non-rigid lumbar support belts are reported to help
non-specific low back pain sufferers with their pain and disability. (3)
Deciding whether to use a belt or not is where
your Brooks back pain specialist at Soft Health and Healing Clinic comes in to figure
out what is optimal for each back pain sufferer. Each Brooks
back pain sufferer – office worker, factory worker, family manager, etc. - is distinctive
and must be addressed individually. Having all workers wear
a back brace in an effort to decrease back pain for a few doesn’t
work as this paper demonstrates that a back brace may benefit some but not all.
ABDOMINAL BRACING MAY WORK BETTER
Abdominal bracing is a self-monitored,
pre-activity motion, a deliberate way of increasing
spine stiffness to limit spine displacement before
doing a spine-demanding task. It seems to
work according to researchers! Abdominal bracing is individually
controlled. In a new study, abdominal bracing significantly lessened
sagittal plane motion from the lower thoracic spine (T12) throughout
the lower lumbar spine (L4L5): by 45% at L4L5, by 94% at L1L2, and 50% at L5S1.
Such self-bracing stimulated all abdominal and back
muscles. Flexion motion was limited at the majority
of lumbar spine levels when abrupt trunk flexion
demands are met with abdominal bracing. (2) It is
worth knowing how to do! Soft Health and Healing Clinic is eager to demonstrate
you how to do this worthy move as part of your Brooks
chiropractic treatment plan!
SPINAL MANIPULATION WORKS FOR BACK
PAIN
Soft Health and Healing Clinic presents
a comprehensive chiropractic treatment plan for those times
when the back pain just won’t go away. When work duties
or chores leave your spine - cervical, thoracic or lumbar -
hurting, The Cox® Technic System of
Spinal Pain Management mixes gentle, relieving spinal
manipulation with specific exercise and nutritional advice to return
you back to life.
CONTACT Soft Health and Healing Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Jenna Kloor on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she describes the significance
of helping a patient be able to do something like walking to help herself as she
recuperated from her back pain episode with The Cox®
Technic System of Spinal Pain Management and even enable her to
shovel snow!
Schedule your Brooks chiropractic
visit soon. We help our Brooks workers and
weekend warriors avert and recover from spine
pain.