Low Back Pain and Paralysis Caused by Injuries to Spinal Alignment
Lumbar support braces have not established themselves as a safe treatment method for the prevention of lower back pain and should not generally be recommended as the first line of defense against such pain. However, there is suggestive evidence that spinal supports may reduce lumbar movement for extension and twisting, but not flexion; however, the overall functional implications of these devices are unclear. They do seem to have some benefit in relieving tension on the lumbar spine.
Current recommendations from the American College of Rheumatology suggest that prevention is the best approach to lumbar support, rather than treating symptoms. Spinal decompression may be useful in combination with other treatment modalities, but the underlying cause of the pain must be identified and treated, or there will be no benefit. The idea is that once a bone has been fractured, it cannot heal itself and will remain dormant, causing weakness throughout the body. It is only when a fracture heals that it is time to apply lumbar support braces or a bone scan.
In the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the APA (American Psychiatric Association), which defines lumbar supported position as one that facilitates a degree of flexion, either backward or forward. Anterior compression of the pterygoid muscles has been shown to increase the risk of a vertebral fracture. The pterygoid muscle and the adjacent ribs provide strong counterbalance to the weight of the skull. This provides more structure to the skeleton, especially the vertebral column. Compression of the ribs and pelvic girdle during sitting and falling can also increase the risk of fracture. Thus, in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the condition of the lumbar spine is described as having subluxation of the lumbar spine with resultant regional weakness.
It was not known how the change in function of the parasympathetic nervous system plays a role in the development of lower back pain. But the changes noted in people who developed lumbar supported position suggest that the spinal cord is involved in the process. The changes noted include: decreased transversal movement of nerve roots; altered nerve fibers located between the spine and pelvis; decreased amount of blood supply to the lower back; and abnormal thickness of the cartilage. However, all these findings are still consistent with lumbar supported posture for osteoporosis. Hence, it is believed that low back pain and its related paraplegia arise from an altered state of intervertebral disc space pressure.
It was also not known that spinal alignment could alter the location of the sacroiliac joint. For those people, who use back belts to support their body weight, do they actually improve their status? Several researches revealed that, lumbar supported position reduces weight gain due to decreased metabolic activity. Moreover, people, who are using back belts to avoid muscle fatigue during physical activities, showed significantly less muscle soreness than those who are using normal chairs. In addition to this, prolonged use of back belts resulted in less disc compression leading to less soft tissue swelling and less softening of lumbar supported discs.
In summary, while we cannot discount the fact that spinal alignment can be important for preventing lower back injury, we can also agree that it cannot work alone. There are several other factors that have to be taken into consideration like the appropriate selection of lumbar support type, regular spinal exercises, wearing of adequate cushioning, maintaining the right body weight and so on. If you want to protect your spinal bones from degeneration and osteoporosis, then you might want to consider some of the above-mentioned options. Kindly visit this website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_brace for more useful reference.
