Banish Low Back Pain with AlterG
January 28, 2016
AlterG TreadmillAthleticsExerciseHealth and MedicalInjury PreventionPhysical TherapyRehabilitation
Ok, raise your hand if you’ve ever suffered from low back pain. Now keep it up if that pain has lingered in some form, haunting your every-move like some sort of nagging “ghost of injuries past” that you just can’t quite shake completely. I’m betting there are a lot of hands up out there (you can put them down now; we don’t need any rotator cuff injuries). So, for all you low back pain troopers, there’s good news! You are not alone; and misery loves company, right? Research shows that low back pain is responsible for more disability than almost 300 other conditions, globally, and that a staggering 10 percent of people around the world suffer from lower back woes. Luckily for you guys, an exciting new study points to a relatively simple solution: exercise. In Prevention of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, published in the most recent issue of the JAMA Journal of Internal Medicine, researchers investigated the efficacy of various interventions in the prevention of low back pain. Their conclusion? “The current evidence suggests that exercise alone or in combination with education is effective for preventing low back pain. Other interventions, including education alone, back belts, and shoe insoles do not appear to prevent low back pain.”
So, what are you waiting for? Get up and do some jumping jacks and you’ll be cured in no time. Except that probably sounds like a nearly impossible task. Indeed, exercise is pretty much the least appealing activity for anyone who is currently engaged in a pitched lumbar-battle, and for good reason. For most back pain patients, exercise is not simply a matter of fighting through discomfort, but rather one of safety, as gait symmetry is often thrown off to a large extent and balance is compromised. That’s where your friendly neighborhood cosmonauts, here at AlterG, swoop in to save the day. Our Anti-Gravity Treadmill™ uses NASA differential air pressure technology to provide gentle and precise support, alleviating the pain and strain associated with exercise for the millions of people around the world suffering from any number of weight-bearing issues, including low back pain.
The AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill
In fact, we have two separate case studies that showcase the unique rehabilitative value of the AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill for low back trauma. In each case, the subject suffered a serious lumbar disc herniation, such that even simple walking was intensely painful and unsteady. With the AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill, however, both of these patients were able to exercise in a comfortable, supportive, fall-safe environment, allowing them to practice their natural gait patterns and regain full mobility in a shockingly rapid timeframe. For one of the subjects, who happened to be an ultramarathon runner, the AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill took him from a nearly incapacitated state all the way back to running 80 miles per week, in just 6 weeks. A mere 3.5 months after his initial injury, he set an age group record in a 50km trail run! Exercise is truly a wonder-drug, and a spoon full of AlterG can help make that medicine go down smoothly, so that you can “mobilize your mobility” to work for you, not against you.
Behold, the power of exercise!
The above cases are but a taste of the immense smorgasbord of possible conditions that can be treated with AlterG-assisted exercise. Check out more of our case studies, and see how the “proof is really in the pudding” when it comes to our impressive and diverse clinical record. If chronic pain has turned exercise into the “Brussel sprouts” of your daily life, let AlterG be the tasty bacon bits that turn those sad sprouts into a delicious revelation. Experience what it’s like to “train, not strain” with AlterG, and unleash the restorative power of movement. Find an AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill near you and “do the moonwalk” with us! It’s not just rehab anymore; it’s a revolution.
Have you had success using exercise to conquer low back pain or another chronic condition? Tell us your story in the comments!