Types of Back Braces and Benefits

Wearing the right back brace helps you to reduce pain and carry on with your daily activities without hindering the healing process. Here’s what you need to know about the types of back braces that are on the market.

Your body is an amazing work of art and science. Even when it has been injured, it’s designed to protect critical components during the healing process. That’s what happens when you experience muscle spasms after joints or soft tissues in your back are injured. The muscles contract to protect the spinal column and joints.  The problem is that these muscle contractions are extremely painful, which temporarily limits your mobility.

Upper Back Braces

Upper back braces support the thoracic region of your spinal column.These braces often come in the form of posture correctors and shoulder supports since many types of upper back pain are caused by poor posture.

Who Benefits Most?

While upper back pain isn’t as common as lower back pain, a person who has acute upper back pain has usually suffered an injury. Full-coverage upper back braces are used to treat pain that’s related to light wedge fractures, occipital avulsion fractures, and other forms of spinal injuries. People who have degenerative conditions such as arthritis and spinal stenosis also benefit from full-coverage thoracic braces.

Less severe upper back pain should also be addressed before it leads to bigger problems. Posture correctors help people who have less severe upper back pain to improve their posture and overcome discomfort.

How and When to Wear It

Full-coverage thoracic back braces that are prescribed by your healthcare practitioner come with their own sets of usage instructions. Most orthopedic specialists recommend that patients use these braces full-time, except when sleeping or showering.

Mid-Spine Back Braces

Mid-spine back support braces support the correct alignment of the dorsal and lumbar spine. They are designed to put gentle pressure on your spine to relieve pain from muscle spasms. These types of braces also fall under the category of Thoracolumbosacral Orthosis or TSLO back braces.

Who Benefits Most?

Orthopedic specialists recommend mid-spine back braces to people who have vertebral displacement. Vertebral displacement happens when vertebrae in the back move out of alignment by degrees. It can be caused by trauma, age, or when a tumor is present. People who’ve had recent back surgery in the lumbar area of their spine also benefit from wearing a properly fitted mid-spine back brace.

How and When to Wear It

When mid-spine back braces are used to limit the movement of the spine after an injury or surgery, a physiotherapist or orthopedic specialist will fit you for the appropriate brace and show you how to wear the brace properly. You can expect most healthcare professionals to gradually reduce your wear schedule over time.

Softec Dorso is a mid-spine orthosis that was developed based on the research of spinal expert Professor Jurgen Harms. This back brace has jacket styling and a support system that stabilizes the area between the thoracic and lumbar spinal columns.

Lower Lumbar Brace

Lower back pain is the most common type of back pain that today’s orthopedic specialists treat. Lower lumbar back braces work like a corset to stabilize the lower back and reduce the occurrence of muscle spasms in that area.

Who Benefits Most?

Lower lumbar back braces help to stabilize muscles for people who experience persistent lower back pain that’s coupled with surrounding muscle weakness. These back braces provide essential benefits to people who suffer from facet syndrome, lumbago with myostatic inadequacy, and poor posture.

How and When to Wear It

A lower lumbar back brace should be centered at your back and the side flaps folded in to fasten the brace. These braces usually have straps that can be adjusted to create a better fit.

Orthopedic specialists prescribe lower lumbar back braces as part of more comprehensive treatments. Your doctor will show you how to don your back brace properly, how to clean it, and under what circumstances that it needs to be worn. If your doctor prescribes this back brace for post-operative healing, it’s common for you to wear the brace for three to eight weeks. If you’re taking precautions after a muscle strain or injury, your doctor may tell you to wear the back brace for just a few days.

• The Lumbo Loc is a premium back brace that supports the lower lumbar region of your spine. The brace is styled as a wide belt that fits around your torso to stabilize movement and shore up weak muscles in that area.
• The LumboTrain back brace fastens around your waist to support lower back muscles. The comfortable fabric belt features adjustable Velcro enclosures and breathable materials for effective, all-day support.

Sacrum Back Brace

A Sacrum Back Support Brace address pain that stems from the very base of your spinal column. These back braces fit tightly around your hips to support the muscles near your tailbone.

Who Benefits Most?

If you suffer from lower back pain due to sacroiliac joint disorder, sacrum back braces help. People who have sacroiliac joint dysfunction experience pain when they stand up, walk, and get into and out of bed.

Some women who have recently given birth develop sacroiliac joint dysfunction. If you’ve been involved in an accident that caused injury to your pelvis and hip area, you have a high chance of developing problems with your sacroiliac joints.

How and When to Wear It

A sacrum back brace is usually worn as a belt that encases your hips to treat sacroiliac joint disorder. This condition heals over time with proper care and under the right conditions.

A sacrum belt compresses the sacroiliac joints together, and the body regenerates the strained ligaments that surround the joints. This regeneration process takes three to six months to complete. That’s why some orthopedic specialists recommend that patients wear their sacrum belts 23 hours per day for at least three consecutive months. When choosing the right sacrum belts, comfort is key.

Popular Brands

• The Sacroloc back brace wraps securely around your pelvis to offer pain relief and improve circulation for prompt healing. The brace is designed to massage sacroiliac joint trigger points with the proper use of its adjustable tension straps.
• The SI Joint Belt is a compression brace that treats pain associated with damage to sacroiliac joints. The brace is adjustable and fits most bodies. It also comes with removable, contoured pads that support healing at multiple stages of recovery.

Conclusion

Whether you’ve hurt your back in a car accident or are suffering with a degenerative disc disease, Back Braces can offer welcome relief. To get the best results, consult your physical therapist, chiropractor, or orthopedic specialist to get professionally fitted for your new back brace.