Lumbar Belts Fail to Prevent Back Pain or Back Pain Disability – (03-08-01)



Lumbar Belts Fail to Prevent Back Pain or Back Pain Disability

Despite their widespread use and general acceptance, several large studies have not demonstrated any benefits from the use of back belts. One of the reasons for this is that many may use the belt and consider themselves safe from poor lifting habits. This is NOT true. A back belt is supposed to be used as a reminder when you exceed or perform certain undesirable movements. I believe many may cause their own injuries thinking that back belts make them “super” lifters, immune from injury.

Back Letter 16(1):1, 6, 7, 8, 2001 According to a large new prospective cohort study conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) back belts do not prevent back pain or back pain disability, according to James T. Wassell, PhD, and colleagues. (See Wassell et al., 2000.)”In the largest prospective cohort study of back belt use, adjusted for multiple individual risk factors, neither frequent belt use nor a store policy that required belt use was associated with reduced incidence of back injury claims or low back pain,” Wassell et al. conclude. (See description of Wassell study on page 6.)The study found no beneficial effect of belt use in any group: among employees with and without a history of back injury, employees with consistent belt-wearing habits, or employees with the most strenuous jobs. The study had some obvious strengths. In addition to its large size, it included subjects from a wide geographic area. The investigation had concurrent comparison groups and detailed exposure information, and was able to control for a wide variety of potentially confounding factors.”Results based on these multiple analyses of data all converge to a common conclusion: back belt use is not associated with reduced incidence of back injury claims or low back pain in material handlers,” according to Wassell et al.

James Bogash

For more than a decade, Dr. Bogash has stayed current with the medical literature as it relates to physiology, disease prevention and disease management. He uses his knowledge to educate patients, the community and cyberspace on the best way to avoid and / or manage chronic diseases using lifestyle and targeted supplementation.







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Category: Low Back Pain
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