Called Spineangel, this medical device is the perfect posture trainer for patients suffering from recurrent back pain.

This is important because poor posture and movement are a major driver of recurrent back pain.

Have a look through the information on the link above on how it works, the published research and a number of remarkable case studies.

Spineangel Postural Training

History

Catherine is a 39 yr old business consultant who injured her back when emptying the dishwasher in 2008.  She has suffered 3 years of persistent right low back and right leg pain. The intensity of her pain was commonly 7/10 NRS and worsened by bending, sitting, home activities and gardening.

Catherine was able to flex to the knees only, when supporting her trunk weight with her hands. She had impulse pain but no neurological signs. Her range of lumbar extension was 50%. She was acutely tender to palpate over the low lumbar spine. Straight leg raise were bilaterally 80 degrees with no sensitisation.

Chiropractic manipulation and physiotherapy was of no lasting benefit.  She was not considered a surgical candidate by her medical team.

Diagnosis

Lumbar mechanical back pain with right sciatic irritation.  No psychosocial issues were identified as likely to be restricting her recovery.

Biofeedback

A  Spineangel® biofeedback device was clipped to Catherine’s belt for 10 days.  This provided biomechanical biofeedback in her work, home and leisure environments. Spineangel was set to enable full range of movements but to protect her against sustained flexed postures with the biofeedback enabling her to modify such activities while restoring function.

Catherine was able to clip the Spineangel® device to her belt daily without needing any professional assistance. This is possible because it is fully automated with no skin attached sensors or wires. The imbedded intelligence in Spineangel enables it to modify its biofeedback continuously based on any changes in spinal flexibility.

Outcome

Catherine reduced flexion loading significantly across a broad range of activities including meal preparation, house cleaning, dishwashing, lawn mowing, vacuuming, walking uphill etc. She continues to hear the biofeedback alarm during activities weeks after stopping wearing Spineangel®, further reinforcing the changes she made.

• Pain level reduction has been from 7/10 to 1/10
• Full spinal flexion, extension and side flexion.
• Renewed confidence in function, with empowered biomechanical awareness.

Current Subjective History

Maria is a 47 year old, 178 cm tall, primary school teacher. She is fit and healthy, exercising regularly with walking and kayaking.

On Jan 10^th 2012 Maria had an acute flare low back radiating bilaterally  down the posterior of her legs as far as the heals. Maria was unable to sit and struggled to do the normal activities of daily living with pain levels at 7/10 NRS. Maria admitted to some ongoing low back pain issues over the 2 years, but this tended to be local and settled without needing any medical intervention.

Objective Examination

Maria had grossly restricted lumbar flexion, was acutely tender to palpate the low lumbar spine and had bilateral restriction of SLR to 60 degrees, which was positive to dorsiflexion sensitisation. Reflexes and muscle strength were normal.

Diagnosis - low Lumbar soft tissue irritation, central and discogenic in nature.

Treatment

Leg pains settled with two treatments of gentle mobilisation and pain management modalities, along with strapping to prevent flexion stress, NSAIDS and pain killers. She was given standard biomechanical advice, for modifying her daily activities to reduce low lumbar flexion loads.

Relapse

However things flared badly a month later, with Maria being very distressed with an acute relapse including bilateral leg pain to the ankles again with gross flexion restriction and a bilateral SLR restriction to 70 degrees, but no neurological signs or symptoms. Pain levels were 8/10 NRS.

Spineangel®    ”Real World” biomechanical Management

Maria was fitted with a Spineangel® device to wear continuously for one week of biofeedback. This would enable her to make “real world” changes to her functional biomechanics. Changes Maria made through the biofeedback included modifications to grocery shopping, household cleaning and work postures. This involved better use of her leg power, and core stability muscles to reduce torso flexion loads on the low back, and making better use of sitting postures in the work environment.

Before being fitted with Spineangel®, Maria was completely unaware how often she bent down to the level of the children with their low desks and how much this was contributing her back pain. The gentle biofeedback provided by Spineangel was a constant reminder and now she either sits on a little stool or bends down on one knee.

On discharge Maria’s pain was at 1/10 with SLR to 90 deg on both legs. She still had some intermittent low back pain with prolonged sitting and this was addressed with seating alterations.

John Havill, Physiotherapist.

Spineangel Postural Training

Unbeknown to me, Tony took his one year old son Joshua to see Anne because he was a very agitated baby and as a photographer Tony was yearning to capture a smile. I’m glad he never asked for my opinion, because to be honest I would have been hesitant to recommend a one year old to a chiropractor. A very happy ending…Click on the image below and see what Tony created and emailed to me…

He's All Smiles Now

Workstation desk setup following ergonomic recommendations.

As part of our occupational rehabilitation services, we often go into businesses and provide advice and training for setting up workstations ergonomically.

The following is from an information sheet we often hand out which refers to the above image. Often poor postures can be corrected using Spineangel as a biofeedback learning device.

The following checklist will help people adjust their workstation so they can be comfortable and look after their bodies in their daily duties. It may be a good idea to work through it with a friend and observe each other’s body position, as often it is difficult to determine your own body position. It may take several tries to get the best set up, so give yourself some time to perfect the position for you.

Step by Step Instructions

CHAIR

• Feet should be comfortably flat on the floor or footrest
• Thighs should be horizontal and the lower legs approximately vertical. The chair should not place pressure on the underside of the thighs as this can cut off circulation to the legs. There should be a two finger clearance between the front of the chair and your knees.
• Set the tilt of the chair to horizontal initially, although you may choose to tilt it slightly forward for comfort
•  Adjust the back rest so that it provides support in the lower area or the back. To determine the position for this start with the back rest at its maximum height and sit right back in the chair. If this is not comfortable lower the height of the back rest and recheck for comfort. Keep doing this until the most comfortable position is found.
• Adjust the forward/backward position so comfortable pressure is exerted on the lower back
• Chair arms may support the forearms but may also limit access to the desk, so consider their use wisely. Some arm rests are able to be adjusted downward, out of the way of the desk, otherwise they may need to be removed or replaced with smaller ones if they are a problem.

DESK

• Once your chair is adjusted to the correct position adjust the desk if this is possible using the steps below. If you are unable to adjust the desk then you may require a footrest or to lower/raise the desk height.
•  The desk should be finger length below the height of the elbows, with the arms hanging in a relaxed vertical position.
•  The height should allow for sufficient leg clearance.
•  Use a higher desk for standing duties

KEYBOARD AND KEYING TECHNIQUE

• Place the keyboard as close to the front edge of the desk as is comfortable.
• Tilt the keyboard using the feet at the back if required. Most keyboard users prefer the position where the feet are down and the keyboard sits flat on the desk.
•  Place the mouse mat directly beside the keyboard on your preferred side.
•  Forearms as horizontal as possible, upper arms hanging vertically in a relaxed position.
•  Wrists should be straight or in a slightly flexed position.
•  Hands should be in line with the forearms.
•  Do not over stretch the fingers. Move the hand rather than stretch the fingers to the cursor and function keys in particularly. Do not twist the wrist when using the mouse, but ensure that the wrist is straight and that the whole forearm moves as a unit.
•  Ensure there are adequate micro pauses or chances for the forearms, hands and fingers to relax.

SCREEN

• When looking straight ahead you should focus on the top of the screen and be able to scan down with your eyes. This means that the centre of the screen will be usually near shoulder height.
• Place the screen at approximately one arm’s distance however; the individual’s eyesight will effect the exact placement of this.
• Position the screen to avoid reflected light.

DESKTOP LAYOUT

• Place the mouse and all items that are often required within comfortable reach.
• Place the telephone on the opposite side to which you write to enable you to take notes if receiving a large number of calls. If you are making a large number of calls you may prefer the telephone on your dominant side.

DOCUMENT HOLDER

• Place the document holder next to the screen and on the same level as the screen.
• Angled reading and writing surfaces are available to improve neck comfort if a person’s job involves a lot of reading or writing.

Information is owned by and Copyright to Lifestyle100 Pty Ltd t/a Lifestyle Therapies and Moving With Industry

I’m not sure how it stacks up against quitting smoking though?

Is pain keeping you from being active? The Lifestyle Pain Clinic can help with expert physiotherapy and the latest cutting edge treatment therapies.

Shane Watson, James & Dianne Hermans

Today, James and Dianne caught up with champion Australian all-rounder Shane Watson who has had his fair share of recent injuries. Shane’s sports physiotherapist recommended he start to use Q magnets to help manage his injuries. He has used Q magnets previously for back pain when on long plane flights with great effect.

While many elite athletes have embraced Q magnets to recover faster after injury, we find one of the best applications is for chronic pain. Q magnets are not for everyone, but patients that have not responded to conventional treatment often respond well to Q magnet therapy as an adjunctive treatment, see our chronic pain case studies for more information.

The Weekend Australian, 10th December 2011 had an excellent article “Medical maggot makes a comeback” – Treatments from the medieval medicine kit are gaining widespread acceptance.

The healing power of maggots!

An almost identical article could be written about the more credible forms of magnetic therapy. Maggot Debridement Therapy as it is called, is an extremely therapeutic, safe, painless, drug free treatment for wounds that are slow to heal. The specially bred maggots both clean the wound and speed up the healing. Who would have thought?