Can a lumbar back brace really relieve your lower back – fast?
Does it really stabilize your spine and prevent further injuries in your lower back? What’s the best way to use it?
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Most lower back pain sufferers report that using a lumbar back brace can be a real lifesaver and instantly and dramatically relieve lower back pain – without medication.
But most back pain experts agree that misusing this lumbar back support can make the problem worse.
That’s why we’ve decided to show you how to use a back brace in the best and safest way, and researched the best one in the market.
Overview
Lumbar Back Brace Benefits
A back brace is a lifesaver for people who can’t just stop all activities and rest until their lower back pain is resolved.
This simple, low-cost device can allow you to keep working, whether your work involves prolonged standing, lifting heavy things (very carefully though), driving, or just hunching over your desk for 8 hours a day.
Lumbar back support belts can bring instant pain relief for anyone suffering from Spinal Arthritis, posture-related back pain, herniated discs, pinched nerves, degenerative disc disease, sciatica, muscle strains, pulled muscles, spinal arthritis, or any other chronic low back pain.
How to Use a Lumbar Back Brace
A lumbar back brace is quite easy to use. Here’s how to place it and use it:
1. Wrap an adjustable back brace around your lower back or middle back and fasten around the waist and front.
2. Fasten the outer elastic straps around your waist and adjust as needed.
3. Now the back brace is stabling your lower back muscles and spine.
The Mueller back brace is a very well-made, high-quality back belt, that is relatively comfortable (as these things go).
It is definitely superior to some of the other braces on the market.
Here’s a short video demonstrating how to use a lumbar back brace:
Lumbar Back Brace Side Effects
Just like with any other back pain relief tool, abusing and over-using it can lead to the worsening of your condition. Never use a lumbar back brace for more than a few hours a day because it can contribute to muscle weakening and atrophy.
Using the back brace means less work for your core muscles and eventually, this lack of muscle movement can weaken them.
As for lifting, the back brace can cause one to feel overconfident and to lift more than they should and therefore contribute to injury or increased injury, so one has to use common sense.
The Best Lumbar Back Brace (2024)
It’s important to buy a back brace that fits you. If you don’t have the time to go and try several back braces physically, there’s an easy solution – Buy an adjustable lumbar back brace.
Through our research, the best one is the popular Mueller Adjustable Lumbar Back Brace with a removable pad
Check out the 5 different sizes HERE.
It is custom fit with dual, outer elastic tension straps and it fits waist sizes 28″ – 50″ (71-127 cm). The double adjustment feature is great.
When you tighten the first set of Velcro straps, it feels good, but when you tighten the second set over that, the resulting compression and support relieve those twinges of backaches right away.
Conclusion
The lumbar back brace can be your best friend on those bad days when you desperately need instant back pain relief (without popping more painkillers).
It will allow you a few hours of feeling normal and being able to do your daily activities.
The Back brace can become your enemy if you over-use it and count on it to solve the root cause of your lower back pain.
Regular core muscle exercises and proper nutrition should be a daily part of your life if you want to eliminate your back pain for good.
To your health and happiness,
The Back Pain Relief Products Team
References
1. van Duijvenbode I, Jellema P, van Poppel M, van Tulder MW. Lumbar supports for prevention and treatment of low back pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010;(2):CD001823.
2. Calmels P, Queneau P, Hamonet C, et al. Effectiveness of a lumbar belt in subacute low back pain: an open, multicentric, and randomized clinical study. Spine. 2009;34(3):215-220.
Sometimes I have to go rest on my bed for like an hour because of how bad my back hurts. You said that back braces can help people who don’t want to top what they’re doing to rest. My time of rest gets in my way so maybe a brace will let me do more every day.
Not sure this is the best for Sciatica, but it does help a bit. I have no lower back pain, just the buttocks, hip & down left side. Since not recommended to wear it for more than 1-2 hours at a time, can I use it all night when I sleep? Or can I just use the removable lumbar support on a lighter brace?
bought it today at Walgreens. 74 n pain since 18 from the wreck. Nerve blocks helped some. Put it on felt great. But glad I found directions. Short-term wearing. Not 24/7. Have 12 vertebrae messed up scoliosis facets going l then 1 going R. Degeneration in 3 places bursitis of groin. Ain’t doing pain meds. Make ya sick. So doing this in kitchen n walking etc then take off. Thk u. Whitedove
It seems that many of the difficulties in spinal health result from us trying to compensate our posture, stride, or movement to avoid pain from some initial trauma or injury. This means that we tend to exacerbate the problems over time and end up with symptoms of pain in different areas.
Have you found a tool like this brace to minimize the wearers’ unconscious compensation patterns?
Just curious.
Back support is the most widespread reason people wear back braces from sufferers with low back issues, support problems, and other troubles. Back support is more than just for the lower back—it can involve the mid- and upper back as well.
This isn’t a very accurate review. Stretchy back braces don’t provide enough support to relieve pain. If you go to a specialist post-injury or after surgery, they’ll recommend a brace that is an actual medical device. These ones cost more but are inflexible/inelastic enough to actually work.
Solid back brace review, one thing you forget to mention was the affect of wearing a back support all day long. Many physicians and orthopedic doctors recommend not wearing a back support for more then 1-2 hours at a time.
Well, actually I did, here’s a quote from the article:
“Never use a lumbar back brace for more than a few hours a day because it can contribute to muscle weakening and atrophy”