Should I wear a back brace?
As a chiropractor a frequent question I get is 'should I wear a back brace? First and foremost, there are many different reasons for one to wear a brace and I believe, almost all back braces should be worn under the care of a doctor. As advised by a doctor, a back brace ideally should only be worn for the first few days when severe back pain hits. A back brace can help stabilize your back and help you accomplish simple tasks such as bending, standing, and walking. When wearing a back brace, essentially, the brace is doing the job of your back when your back can't currently do it. As you improve the back brace should become annoying and become more uncomfortable, and frankly, that is what you want! Your back no longer needs the brace when your back can do its job and support your body and spine. If you frequently feel that you need a brace for extra support, it is a sign that you need to get your back fixed and looked at more closely by a chiropractor or doctor. Your body is speaking to you, and I recommend that you listen.
Additionally, a frequent solution to needing a back brace is to decompress your spine and use extension therapy, and that's precisely why I developed the Backbridge.
After seeing many patients with core imbalance, I started to study the benefits of extension therapy. Still, it wasn't until I began working with a patient who happened to be an ESPN fitness model that I had my "aha" moment. She was the picture of health but was suffering terribly with neck and back pain. While taking down her case history, she said that she did thousands of sit-ups and crunches on her fitness show. What could I do to immediately put extension into her back? I wondered. I grabbed one of the big exercise balls we had in our therapy room and had her lay on her back and stretch over it. After stretching over the ball for a few minutes, she felt significantly better to her surprise and mine. I then took the ball and went to show my father, whom I was still working alongside at the time, what I had discovered. He proceeded to lie over the ball—only to fall of it!
Off to the drawing board, I went. I wanted to design a more stable product and to put a similar extension into one's spine but gradually and safely. After years of tinkering, I finally perfected it and created the Backbridge. With its five different levels, Backbridge allows anyone to use it comfortably by progressively undoing all of the forward "hunch." Two minutes, twice a day on the Backbridge is enough to let the spine curve backward slightly, extending and loosening the back muscles, opening the chest, and permitting deeper breathing.
There are many decompression techniques; however, I firmly believe the Backbridge can help increase stability and introduce realignment into your back in a safe and stable way eliminating the need for a brace.
