Does the back bridge really fix back problems?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bararontok
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Bridge
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
Sign up Log in
2 replies · 3K views
Bararontok
Messages
296
Reaction score
0
It claims to be able to fix problems such as slip discs, scoliosis and lordosis, setting the spine back into a normal position by simply lying down on the curved surface and letting it stretch the spine. Is this really true?

Source:

http://www.backbridge.com/
 
Biology news on Phys.org
If you spend all day sitting with bad posture, and/or all night sleeping on a mattress that is too soft, I guess it won't do you any harm to have a good stretch. Whether you actually need the gizmo to have a good stretch is a different question.

But if I had a specific medical problem like a slipped disk, I would certainly get it fixed professionally rather than just try one of those - even though the professional treatment may be "only" physiotherapy, not surgery.
 
I would be very skeptical that this device does much of anything until there are independent reviews of this as a therapeutic device for specific conditions.

I know that it's reasonably common for physiotherapists to place people with back pain on a foam cylinder and have them roll up and down and I believe that the idea there is that this acts much like a massage, relaxing muscles that are in spasm and therefore returning the spine into a more neutral alignment. I suspect that the idea behind the device in question here is much the same and therefore it's not unreasonable to expect that it would provide some temporary relief under similar conditions.

For chronic conditions where the integrity of a vertebral disk has been compromised, for example, I don't see how such a device could lead to any long term benefit. And the potential for delaying treatment by a competent professional could do more harm than good.

I'm sure there's a joke in here somewhere about a lighter wallet aligning one's spine.