Dr. Stefano Sinicropi, M.D.

We’re a proponent of proactive interventions when it comes to back pain treatment, but we also understand the potential that passive treatments have to aid in your recovery efforts. One such passive treatment is a spinal support belt. The soft or rigid spinal belts provide some additional stability to specific areas of your back and can also make it easier for you to naturally have ideal posture and spinal alignment. Again, a device like this shouldn’t be the only type of treatment you pursue if you’re dealing with dull or chronic back pain, but new findings suggest they may be effective as part of a larger treatment plan for nonspecific back pain.

How Effective Are Spinal Support Belts?

To learn more about the effectiveness of spinal support belts, researchers in France tracked 168 adults between the ages of 18 and 75 who were dealing with unexplained back pain for between one and six months. Participants were divided into two groups:

• A soft support belt group, who wore the device alongside their usual medical care during daily activities for 4-8 hours a day for 12 weeks (not worn while sleeping).
• A control group that received their usual medical care but did not wear a belt.

At the end of the 12 weeks, researchers noticed some interesting findings among the two groups:

• The belt group had a greater reduction in pain, both at rest and during activity.
• The belt group relied less on medication (50.6% needed medication during the study compared to 67.6% in the control group).
• Anti-inflammatories were used by 18.5% of people in the belt group, compared to 36.5% in the control group.
• On a standard disability scale, the belt group improved by 10 points, compared to 5.3 points in the control group.
• Doctors rated 71.8% of patients in the belt group as improved, compared to 44.9% of those in the control group.

Moreover, the belt was safe for participants, as no serious side effects occurred during the study. The results suggest that a nonrigid lumbar support belt worn during daily activities may help improve outcomes when paired with a standard course of treatment for unexplained or nonspecific back pain. Researchers hope to conduct larger trials and studies involving sham belt devices to determine how much of a benefit actually derives from the belt compared to the placebo effect, but as it stands the results are encouraging.

So if you are looking for a cheap, low-risk device to potentially make it easier for you to manage symptoms associated with your back pain, talk with your doctor about the right soft spinal support device for your situation. Or better yet, connect with Dr. Sinicropi and let him work with you to determine the right course of treatment for your unique back issue. For more information, give Dr. Sinicropi and the team at Midwest Spine & Brain Institute a call today at (651) 430-3800.

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