Richmond Chiropractic Incorporates Abdominal Bracing and Back Brace Wearing for Patients to Protect Their Spines

September 25, 2020

Daily laborer or weekend warrior…how to do get ready for spine-demanding chores? What do you do when you must move a heavy box? Reach for the back brace or brace yourself? The “brace yourself” alternative may be the better approach! Johnson Chiropractic recommends back braces for back pain patients who may benefit from their support. We also propose self-controlled actions to Richmond back pain sufferers to safeguard the spine when its use is required (hefting boxes, digging holes, raking, etc.)

BACK BRACES FOR BACK PAIN PREVENTION: Not All It Seems

Asymptomatic workers were told to wear back belts at work with the aim of decreasing low back pain or injury. 1380 published medical studies were reviewed. Reviewers found no consistent evidence for back belt use to stop low back pain or occupational back pain in workers. Absenteeism was not decreased with back belt wearing either. (1) Mind you, this review was of back brace wearing by asymptomatic workers. In this situation, the back belt is not for everyone. Now for Richmond back pain sufferers, the back belt has benefits. 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 Richmond back pain specialist at Johnson Chiropractic comes in to figure out what is optimal for each back pain sufferer. Each Richmond back pain sufferer – office worker, factory worker, family manager, etc. - is distinctive and must be addressed individually. Putting a back brace on all workers in an effort to decrease back pain for a few does not work as this paper shows that a back brace may benefit some but not all.

ABDOMINAL BRACING MAY WORK BETTER

Abdominal bracing is a self-controlled, pre-activity motion, a voluntary way of increasing spine stiffness to constrain spine displacement ahead of a spine-demanding job. It appears 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 activated all abdominal and back muscles. Flexion motion was restricted at the majority of lumbar spine levels when challenging trunk flexion demands are encountered with abdominal bracing. (2) It is worth knowing how to do! Johnson Chiropractic is eager to show you how to do this worthy move as part of your Richmond chiropractic treatment plan!

SPINAL MANIPULATION WORKS FOR BACK PAIN

Johnson Chiropractic uses a comprehensive chiropractic treatment plan for those occasions when the back pain just will not 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 get you back to life.

CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic

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 be able to shovel snow!

Schedule your Richmond chiropractic visit soon. We help our Richmond workers and weekend warriors avert and recuperate from spine pain. 

 
Johnson Chiropractic takes care of weekend warriors and daily laborers alike and directs them to the best way to protect their spines during work and projects.