Lower Back Pain Relief Products

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Welcome to the Back Pain Solutions Podcast – Lower Back Pain Relief Products

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Introducing Lower Back Pain Relief Products

Have you seen advertisements online recommending various different products to help provide back pain relief, or solve your back ache? Have you considered buying any of these so-called back pain relief products? Do you think such products could help with your back pain treatment and have you thought about how they work to cure your back pain?

In this episode we discuss a number of different back pain relief products and how they may, or may not, help with the management of your lower back pain. Not only do we give consideration for lower back supports but also some of the more modern technologies that are focussed on providing feedback regarding posture to your phone!

Show Highlights for Lower Back Pain Relief Products

Don’t just rely on a product to solve your back pain, or postural issues. Some products may provide some assistance but you have to remember that there is a lack of research evidence to support many devices so you have to question, or at least challenge, some of the advertising messaging around these products. The products in question are not classed as medical devices and the evidence they require to commercialise these products is minimal.

Interview Transcription for Lower Back Pain Relief Products

Unknown Speaker 0:00

When we’re young, we move with freedom and confidence with a great resilience to injury. But somewhere along the line we develop poor habits and become more vulnerable to back pain. Back Pain solutions features evidence based and practical advice to help you take back control of your health and get back to the activities you love. This is your guide to better back health through movement. So join us as we demystify some of the commonly held beliefs about back pain and build your confidence to be stronger back the smart way.

Ben James 0:28

Okay, welcome back to the back pain solutions podcast, everybody. I’m Ben James. I’m joined as always by my co host, Jacob stain. Hello, Jacob. Hello, Ben. Thanks, as always everybody for dropping by. We appreciate your ears. We appreciate your listening. We hope you’re enjoying the content and you’re getting some value on it. As we try to help people to resolve their low back pain today. We’re talking about lower back pain relief products. Last time we talked specifically about black belts, and we thought it’d be a good opportunity to follow up with that and talk about some of these other about pain relief products, what are they? What are some of the things that are out there on the market? do they work? Should you be considering them? And will they help you with the management of your low back pain or even just improving your posture, which is how some of them are marketed? So, Jacob, let’s jump straight in what are some of the things that you’ve seen before some of the things that maybe patients have discussed requested information about or potentially even coming to see you wearing or using already?

Jacob Steyn 1:32

So quite often, the things that I see are things like the foam roll or a posture corrector you know, pulling the shoulders back when you sit, or maybe a low back support, or what I quite often speak to patients about and some of them have it as the sit stand desk.

Ben James 1:53

Okay. Yeah, sure. becoming more popular, it seems.

Jacob Steyn 1:56

Yeah. It becomes more popular and I think people are becoming more aware. of what it can actually mean for them, especially if they said the whole day five days a week behind a computer.

Ben James 2:05

Yeah, absolutely. And when you say back supports your he talking specifically about kind of other back braces in addition to the bat belt. So are you talking supports for maybe seated posture, something that goes behind the chair or maybe it’s for you the car car or both, I guess,

Jacob Steyn 2:23

I think for this podcast, it’s better that we stick with the lower back support when you’re sitting in a chair. So specifically, a support lumbar support, so a low back support. That gives, I suppose support to the low back not allowing you to slouch jaw when you’re sitting in a normal chair or maybe in a car chair.

Ben James 2:43

Yeah, so we’re not talking about back braces, you know, like with other joints in the body, you get all these different back supports that you can kind of wrap around and maybe it’s a Velcro attachment that is around that low back, very similar I guess to to back belts, but a very Have a little bit more maybe generic elastic ones, etc, etc. So we’re not talking about those. Today we’re talking about back supports for seated posture for maybe driving that help to keep you or keep that spine in a more neutral position. We’ll also talk a little bit about some of these other stretching devices. You mentioned foam rolls. There’s other kind of wooden configurations of these things that you arch your back over, for example, the Back Stretcher, Back Stretcher, your plastic variations of that, that you see a lot on Amazon, various different colors, different kind of configurations of the same thing. And then also, there’s some newer technology, some of the things I think one called the LUMO, for example, that the fixes to low back or in fact, this one, you clip onto your your to your top, and it sends a message to your phone that you’re slouching forward for example. So it’s designed to help improve that posture or make Be more aware of that posture. So, we’ll talk a little bit about each of those and then maybe talk a little bit about some of the research or lack of research regarding those products because they’re not specifically medical devices. So do they need evidence? And actually, you know, is that a problem? So, with regards to the back, stretcher, Jacob we you know, we’ve we’ve seen foam rollers before foam rollers are pretty useful and diverse in what what we can use them for. But I think we we have an opinion on those on those foam rollers and how they can be used beneficial. What are your thoughts on on the phone?

Jacob Steyn 4:40

Yeah, I, I use the foam roll, ideally for improving upper back mobility.

Ben James 4:48

So for thoracics that kind of mid to upper the back.

Jacob Steyn 4:52

Exactly. And then I’m not even talking about rolling the spine. Across the foam roll. I mean more in a fashion where you’re sitting on the foam roll and you just recline backwards. So the foam roll is lying along the length of your spine. So it’s actually pushing against the spine. And so it helps you to extend to bend back without you forcing it, of course. But what what a lot of people do is they actually roll. Yes. And that’s something we should discuss, I think.

Ben James 5:21

Yeah, because what you’re saying is, is have that foam roller kind of vertical or parallel to the spine. But actually, I think an important piece of advice for people is when you when you’re doing that, really the base of the spine, that kind of sacrum just above the buttocks, and also your head should ideally be in contact with that foam roller. Exactly. So actually, if you if you turn that foam roller so it’s horizontal, then the problem with that is you really arch in your head, and you’re back right the way over and that can be pretty uncomfortable for people.

Jacob Steyn 6:00

And I think not only uncomfortable I think we we can talk about what it what it does to the spine. So let’s talk about that. I mean, the goal of rolling the foam roll, like you said horizontally along the spine, the idea there is actually to create more movement. And then the, the perception is that that movement will allow more extension, more bending backwards, if you want to with your upper back. So it will allow you to stand more upright, but there’s a danger. There’s a danger with that. And that is that you at the same time are likely to create more mobility, which relates more to an instability between the vertebrae of your spine. And that’s not what we want to do. And so what I see a lot of people do with that is not only roll the upper back but they also roll the foam roller foam roller horizontally. At the lower back at the lumbar spine. So and that’s that’s absolutely something we want to avoid, because then you’re really working on a lot of instability. And we don’t, we don’t want that.

Ben James 7:13

Yeah, because and the point here is that actually within the lower back, as we’ve talked about before, a lot of what we’re trying to do is stabilize those joints and stabilize the structures around the lower back. Because often, it’s a hypermobility, that’s the problem, and it’s an instability that is causing that discomfort and ultimately causing that injury. But actually, when it comes to applying the use of a foam roller, we’re targeting the mid upper back because often, restrictions there and a lack of mobility there can have a negative effect on the lower back. So we’re trying to look at it exactly a little bit more holistically in terms of the spine as a whole, stabilize the lower back, try and improve mobility In the upper back, and obviously, the problem with a poor application of that foam roller is, yeah, maybe we improve mobility in the upper back but we’re actually having a negative effect on the lower back and therefore you’d be better off not doing anything at all because you just upsetting or aggravating the problem.

Jacob Steyn 8:24

I think it’s, it’s safe to say that if you go in hard and aggressive, you’re more likely to cause a problem than when you gradually take a very, you know, taking a very slow, temperate approach. And I think if you if you would roll the upper back or the lower back, especially the lower back, something I do not recommend with a foam roll, then you can quite often go in very hard and aggressive and too much movement between two vertebrae is going to lead to maybe an irritation but also maybe, like we just said like just anything stability and unwanted movement that would cause irritation.

Ben James 9:05

Yeah, exactly. And I think that this comes back to, you know, a lot of people will experience a tightness and stiffness in the muscles in the lower back, which are often you know, is often a reaction to a problem there that are trying to help to stabilize or those muscles are trying to help stabilize the back in some way and actually, like you say, and often, fitness enthusiasts will will go at that aggressively with a foam roller to try and really loosen up those muscles. But you’ve got to think about the reasoning behind that problem being there and actually taking more of a kind of safe rehabilitation or thought thought through shall we say rehabilitation program will allow those muscles to relax without directly kind of massaging or vigorously kind of rolling those those muscles. So we’ve got to think of the the underlying problem there rather than trying to get a quick relief. You know, this is, as with any kind of rehabilitation approach to low back pain management, low back pain, it’s got to be a patient and well managed approach because you just don’t get quick results. You know, as we’ve said before you, you don’t suffer from a low back pain very often just because of an acute event. So why will a kind of a quick, vigorous approach solve that problem? It won’t. So, foam roll is not a bad thing. We’re saying, but they’ve got to be applied in the right way. That’s the take home message. Exactly. So take that foam roll and when you’re using it, just ensure that the very base to the base of the spine that kind of flat bone sacrum is in contact with the foam roll and make sure your heads also in contact with the foam roller so you need to get the right one. And just relax. Allow that mid upper back to just relax backwards over the foam roller Maybe Spread your arms out to the side, make that kind of angel position. But don’t force that stretch. We’re not saying force your body over that just allow it to relax deep breath in, deep breath out and allow that body to relax over that foam roller. This is to encourage some movement, it’s not to really force or push any movement through the rollback. So foam roller, not necessarily a bad thing just got to be used in the right way. So what about some of these new devices? Jacob what what are your thoughts on those kind of posture related devices or I’ve seen another one that, that you can actually stick to the lower back. And what that’s trying to do is you’re in a neutral position. And then as you bend forward, or you’re flex out of that neutral position, you get feedback from this device that you’re going to use losing that neutral position within your spine. So first thoughts or immediate thoughts might be well, that could be a good thing.

Jacob Steyn 11:57

Yeah, I think it’s a tricky one. Because like you say, the first impression you get is, is that it’s a good idea. Because even if it’s not just pulling you into a better position, it’s telling you when you go out of a good position into a bad position. But the problem I have with especially, well, any any posture corrector is, you know, we want our posture to be dynamic. We don’t want it to be a static, perfect posture the whole time. we’d like it to we’d like it to alternate between. If you’re sitting you know, you want to slouch a little bit, you want to sit upright, you want to move the bond forward and really recline back into your chair, especially when your spine is healthy, when it’s a different story when we have an injured back. But the point is that if we use a posture corrector that’s giving us feedback, for example, if it’s that advanced, and you’re getting feedback the whole time forcing you into the perfect posture, they’re not perfect posture. If it’s continuous, it’s going to be a problem.

Ben James 13:04

Yeah, sure. Okay. So this is interesting, because, therefore potentially this could be this could be beneficial for somebody that has a real lack of awareness of what a neutral spine is and what a healthy position of their spine is, or, indeed has suffered from injury or suffering from back pain, this could be something or a tool that could be beneficial at the outset, or initially for a period of time. Are we saying, or are we saying avoid them at all?

Jacob Steyn 13:36

Yeah, like I said, I said, tricky in the beginning, because again, not I think, you know, if you think about it, you could you can imagine that someone in that position would benefit from it, but I would rather want to see someone having that awareness, that self awareness by themselves, you know, so maybe if you haven’t injury or you’re recovering from something that you do set a timer on your computer or your laptop. So after 20 minutes you, you change your posture, or you might take a micro break, or you get up and you do a specific stretch that’s activating the muscles that are not being used when you sit down. And that that’s much an act of approaches, you know, better that’s much better than rely, I think, people my feeling goes out to you’ve got a posture corrector and that’s gonna solve the problem. That’s gonna solve the problem. So you put all the expectation of getting better or solving the problem on the pasta. Correct. And I think that’s, that’s….

Ben James 14:40

So this is danger. As a danger this becomes a bit of a crutch or it becomes a bit of a, again, a gimmick that it’s going to give you a quick result or is going to solve the problem as opposed to the realities of having to invest some time in learning what a healthy neutral spine is, and learning to activate the muscles appropriately and learning to brace appropriately and building or insurance in that core muscles appropriately. That takes time it takes effort. And so people maybe think, well, if I can use a device, and it’s going to do things quickly, then

Jacob Steyn 15:17

yeah, I’m done. And don’t forget the micro breaks. You know.

Ben James 15:21

And also the other. The other element, I guess, when we’re looking at these devices is we’ve got a, I’m not aware of a service that comes with these devices that ensures that actually you set that at the right kind of baseline, shall we say, in terms of neutral spine. So if you’re attaching that product to your back, and you are bent forward or in a flexed position that is not necessarily healthy, and that you consider as neutral and the right posture to be in and that’s a problem because all the time you’re trying to get yourself into a bad posture rather than a good one. So there’s another element to it. That that is also important to consider. But I think like you say it’s, we don’t want, we want people to understand their back and understand the importance of neutral spine and learn what that neutral spine is. And by putting reminders on your phone throughout the day, to sit up straight, and to just have that micro break, that’s going to be far better than having a device, it’s going to potentially keep you in a sustained posture and potentially a sustained poor posture.

Jacob Steyn 16:31

And there’s another point that I thought about, and that is actually the illusion that you’re being pulled up right by, especially an upper back posture corrector because it’s pulling the shoulders back. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re extending through the thoracic spine. So it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re actually becoming more upright. When you pull the shoulders back and I see that with a lot of my patients. I you know, they say, Oh, is this a good posture and the first thing they’ll do is pull the shoulders back. And then my typical reply would be, look, I don’t want you to pull the shoulders back, because that’s just as taxing on the muscles between the shoulder blades than it would be, for example, if you had tight pecs or chest muscles in the front. So coming, coming back to that, that good posture that you just talked about, we want extension, we want you to lift the chest bone into being more upright, and doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the shoulders. And I think that’s what people see is they see, oh, this, this, this posture, corrector is pulling my shoulders back, and then I think that’s going to help you to be more upright, and that necessarily isn’t being upright.

Ben James 17:44

Now Exactly, exactly. So they I mean, I think the take home message with regards to some of these devices, then is that they’re not going to necessarily be a huge risk for you in terms of causing injury. Previously, we talked about black belts, actually, they care increase your risk of a bad injury if indeed you haven’t suffered from a back problem. Previously, these devices aren’t necessarily going to do that. There’s simply no evidence or research I’ve read, that could lead to that. But it’s trying to use a product for a quick fix, rather than invest in the time to learn and understand the body and and you need that education and that knowledge. Again, that’s hopefully whether some of the information and content we’re sharing on the on the website comes into play to help with that journey. But the take home message really here is that you’re probably wasting your money with these devices. Really? Yeah. And if you invest the time, you’re going to get a much better result.

Jacob Steyn 18:42

Exactly. Go for the active approach. Take your time. hire somebody if you need to, to help you to figure that out. And once you’ve learned that you understand your body then you will take that with you with yourself in everything you do.

Ben James 18:56

Sure. Okay, so let’s let’s move on to talk about some of the back supports for for your seated posture, for example, we know there’s some, some good ones out there that McGill low back support, for example, which is a device that really, you’re when you’re in a seated posture goes in that base of the back and you can you can pump it up so you can put more air into that cushion to support the variations of lordosis within the spine. Well not all the same. Some of us have more of an arch in the back than others. And so what are your thoughts on on those kinds of devices take up in terms of that support in that seating posture.

Jacob Steyn 19:35

I personally think they’re great. I have one I have the McGill lobeck support and or at least the one that’s recommended by by Professor McGill. And it really makes a difference it really I really feel like I’m getting that support. You know at my lower part of my spine when I sit in a chair. the only the only thing I have to say about that is that What I have sometimes with some of my patients is they they’ll drive quite far. And they’ll say, Oh, you know, I, I use it for a little bit and then it was uncomfortable. Just as you would sit in a normal chair, in front of a desk, if you’ve set for maybe half an hour, 40 minutes with a lumbar support, and it becomes uncomfortable, that probably means that you need to move.

Ben James 20:26

Well, I was going to say my I was going to play devil’s advocate and say, Well, why why should a low back pain support for for sitting in a chair be beneficial when something like one of these kind of posture related devices that helps to keep you up right is we’re saying avoid, but what you’re saying again, is that maybe it can be part of a rehabilitation program, but it again is not something that is just going to solve your problem.

Jacob Steyn 20:55

Absolutely not that I think you need to see it as an support to the type of chair that you have, you know, or the type of body type or spine you have. Some people will feel that it’s, it feels great. And other people will say, Well, you know, I really doesn’t feel nice.

Ben James 21:15

Yeah. And it’s interesting because I think despite the advances in technology, I still haven’t come across many chairs that have a really good kind of ergonomic structure as it were, or designed to support that lower back. So, you know, something like this, particularly for people that are sat at desks a lot of the time, this, this could be a real benefit, as well as in driving in the car. And particularly if you’ve, you’ve been suffering from a back problem. This just helps you with that kind of lower back lordosis and reaching that, that neutral spine because it’s just so easy to begin to slouch in that chair. But actually, you still should be putting reminders in your phone to take those microbes. And to be aware of your posture, rather than just be complacent and relying on a product again. So again, as always, may be beneficial to support your treatment and management about pain, but it’s not going to resolve or be the solution in isolation.

Jacob Steyn 22:17

And I think if you go for a lower back support, then it’s a good idea to get one that you can pump up, or deflate. Because that’s what I find, you know, I paid quite a lot of money for one of those. And I thought I asked myself, that’s it, whether it’s worth it. But the fact that you can deflate and pump it up, it really makes a difference. Sometimes you feel like I need more support or sometimes you feel like I really just need a little bit.

Ben James 22:42

Yeah, and a better to invest in something that’s a bit more expensive, that can be adaptable to you, rather than get something that is cheaper and ultimately isn’t necessarily appropriate to you, but actually, you end up using it and and really, it’s not giving you the relief or certainly you Not allowing you to be in the neutral spine that really where we want to encourage and want to ensure everyone is is aware of. So, I think, you know, the McGill design specifically is is a very good one. I’m sure there are others, I’m not aware of any specific brands or otherwise, but we’ll definitely put in the shownotes a link to that particular one because I think that could be really beneficial for a lot of people, it’s something that you can, you can take on on the plane, you can take on the bus, or the train, it’s, it’s not a big device. So it’s something that can, can be taken and be flexible for for your different jobs, routines, etc, etc. So we’ll put that in the show notes, but again, don’t become Reliant and complacent on it. And with it, you’ve got a look at the rehabilitation program and developing that core strength and being more aware of your your spine health if you really gonna resolve and manage a problem long term. So moving on, what about desk? These sit to stand desks? Because a lot more companies now seem to be supporting the use of sit stand desks. And again, it’s not a direct support for the low back. It’s not helping to brace the back. It’s not. But actually, these are really beneficial in promoting spine health.

Jacob Steyn 24:22

Absolutely. Yeah.

Ben James 24:24

You’ve got one yourself, too. Yeah.

Jacob Steyn 24:27

Yeah, yeah, I got one. It was quite an investment. And I was very excited getting it. And, you know, having had very bad back injury in the past. I don’t like to be in one position for too long. So that’s why I was so excited about this desk. And yeah, I think the main thing is that it’s just the alternation between different postures. Just it’s the same thing we’ve been saying the whole time and this podcast, if you have the possibility to change your posture from one way of setting to another way of setting, it’s great, but if you can go from sitting to standing, and you know, I can think of three main different ways of standing, which already changes the pressures and the, the pressure in my back, then it just allows me to go for so much longer and still feel good.

Ben James 25:29

Yeah, and there’s another element to this actually, which which kind of HR managers and, you know, for those that work in for businesses that that have suffered a bad back and feel that something like this could be beneficial in terms of trying to get support for the introduction of such a product in the workplace, even if it’s for you as an individual. These things actually, evidence shows that that they can help you be more productive. So not only is it a benefit for the lower back, but actually you you’re you tend to To be more productive at work, because a are in less discomfort, and you’re getting that varied posture. But again, in terms of your direction of attention, and things, these things are our evidence shows are beneficial in that regard. So if you’re trying to sell it into the company, then maybe speak to HR and look up online, how they can help you be more productive, because it’s going to help you get it in there and get support for it, then then all the better. So let’s just summarize those, those keys. I mean, there’s a lot of different devices out there and let’s let’s be honest, and you know, they’re, they’re not designed, they’re not specifically medical devices. So actually, these companies from a commercial point of view are promoting instant relief from back pain, instant solution, instant rate resolution from back pain for some of these products. So be aware of that that’s another point because they don’t need specific evidence to be able to market and promote these products. So you’ve got to be aware of that these are not classed as medical devices. And so there’s not the need. And the, I guess, the rules and regulations in place to, to ensure that evidence is that in support these products, so you’ve always got to take some of these advertising messages with a pinch of salt. Now, some of these devices can be beneficial, you’ve got the foam rollers or variants of as long as you’re using those appropriately, then they can be beneficial for for management, low back pain, but really, that’s in terms of increasing mobility in the upper mid to upper back. That’s the aim of those and make sure that that foam roll is is in parallel to the spine, it runs along your spine in your head and your lower back is supported on that product that can be useful 510 minutes, stretching a day could be hugely beneficial and supporting the management of your low back problem. Then we’ve got some of the other devices some of these new attacks analogies that are meant to help with with posture and manner help to, to remind you of the way that you see it in and the slouching, not necessarily hugely negative or going to increase your risk of a problem. But really, it’s a lazy approach. And you’re probably better spending your money to get some proper advice about your back health and proper advice regarding the exercises than you are invested in one of these products. Then we’ve got things like lower back supports for for seated posture, they’re really hugely beneficial in terms of helping you to keep that neutral spine when you’re sitting at work. But again, as always, set those reminders on your phone and make sure you’re learning about your back so that you’re developing that core strength that goes with the use of the supports because they’re not going to solve the problem alone. And then a high low desk or sit to stand desk could be hugely beneficial because it just allows you to move appropriately no one posture is healthier than the other. It’s a variable posture. And so sits the stand is is really beneficial and can make you more productive. So lots of other products on the market but there’s just a an example of a few of them where and we’re not should be considering or not considering their use. Jacob anything else you feel it’s worth adding on this subject before we look to close on this particular episode?

Jacob Steyn 29:24

Not really been I think you’ve summarized that very well.

Ben James 29:28

Okay. Well, listen, guys take home messages. Any product is not a solution in itself in isolation, a back pain product or even drugs, medication and not the solution to your labor problem as always, and we reiterate this message, you’ve got to learn and understand how your back works. You’ve got to learn and understand what a neutral spine is and how to brace that back and start to develop healthy habits in terms of your movement and key movements and start to develop that core strength. If you do that. Then you never have to rely on a back support or device and you never have to pay that money for that product. And you’ll get the reassurance that you can manage your problem in the long term yourself. And that is hugely, hugely valuable for people out there because it really does give you that confidence that you can manage back pain whenever you experience it. So as always, thanks for listening. Thanks, Jacob. And we always ask get on over to iTunes as we develop the show. Any ratings and reviews help. They help find other listeners help to solve their back problems help to grow the show, and head on over to the website. We’ve got a free book to help you start to take control your back pain within seven days. What do you need to know to start to take control yourself. So as always, thanks for listening. And we’ll be back again soon.

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