Everything You Need to Know About Back Brace for Lower Back Pain

According to N.I.C.E about 1 in every 6 individuals in the UK experience lower back pain at some point in their life. It is the most common cause of job related disability.

Lower back pain is very common condition due to bones, ligaments, tendons and soft tissue problems.

Have you ever suffered from lower back pain? The answer might be ‘Yes’ Are you thinking about wearing back brace?
In this articles you will know everything about “ Back Brace”.

What is Back Brace?

A back brace is wearable device that provides comfort and relaxation to muscles. 

Types of Back Braces:

Lower back braces comes in different compositions according to condition like back pain, recovery aid before or after surgery.

The main types are:

• Flexible Back Braces for Lower Back Pain:
  These are made of flexible materials like soft cotton, elastic blends or flexible rubbers. They relieve back pain by reducing the pressure on muscles

• Rigid and Semi-rigid Braces:

These are made of rigid material with hard plastic and sturdy layers of cotton and elastic blends. They provide stability to the spine, releases muscle tension, give significant support to the spinal structures and prevents movement of the spine.

What are Medical Conditions for using a Back Brace?

Your physical therapist may recommend a back brace for different health problems. Some of the health problems are:

 Herniated disc
 Degenerative disc disease
 Vertebral compression fractures

 Spinal stenosis
 Osteoarthritis of spine
 Isthemic spondylolisthesis
 Spondylosis
 Muscle tension and strain
 Post-operative healing
 Ankylosing spondylitis

What Are The Benefits Of Wearing Back Brace?

In addition to lower back pain relief, there are multiple benefits of using a back braces. Below is some of the benefits;

 Relief from Lower Back pain:
Wearing a back brace is a great benefit. It provides relaxation to the muscles and reduces the constant pain.

 Immobilisation:
Did you know, immobilisation is crucial for your back and spine?
Back braces helps to prevent unnecessary movements of the spine and provides relief from pain.

 Strengthen your Back and Spine:
Wearing a back brace can assist with building a strong back and core of your body. Actually, it works by properly aligning the body structures.

 Improvement in Body Posture:
A Back brace can help by supporting Musculoskeletal structures of the back and spine, hence it properly aligns the body and thus improves the body posture.

 Healing an injury:
During an injury to muscles or bones, healing is possible with minimum movements; there is proven benefits of wearing a back brace as they immobilise the bones and muscles.

 Easy to wear:

You can easily wear back brace according to your size and measurement.

 Holistic management:
As painkillers are used for lower back pain, they only provide relief from pain, wearing a back brace has multiple advantages such as; supporting the back, postural improvements, healing of bones and muscles and relief from pain.

How to wear a Back Brace?

You can wear a back brace with the following steps:

• Ask for help.

• Wear a shirt under the back brace.

• Keep your skin clean.

• Begin by wrapping the brace around your back with wings against either side of the trunk.

• Then join the two ends of the brace across the abdomen.

• Finally, you can make more adjustment to the pressure and tightness according to your body and comfort.

• Pain whilst wearing a brace can be avoided by first placing the brace under a chair with the wings open, so that when setting the wings are on either side of body the brace can stand up and secure the front of the brace.

• Regular cleanliness of braces can prevent the infection and irritation of the skin.

Take Home Message:

Working from home and in offices can cause certain musculoskeletal problems and lower back pain. To correct these issues back braces are very useful for lower back pain relief, providing support and spine stability. It is best to consult your physical therapist for recommendation on which type of back brace to use.