Gear: LumbaCurve Review “We put this back pain relief tool to the test”
By Samantha Peliza
I recently suffered from an acute lumbar injury. It started to creep into my life slowly over the course of a couple of long stressful months int the office (the joys of working for fitness mags!) where I found myself sitting at a desk for long stretches of time. A short sharp shock in the form of a back seizure at my desk one morning and a trip in an ambulance, resulted in time off work and weeks of restricted movement and plenty of physio and osteopathy treatment.
This is where the LumbaCurve cam into my life. LumbaCurve is designed to combat backpain. It provides a passive gravity assisted traction (PGAT) – put simply it gently stretches the lower back, causing the vertebral joints to separate. On first viewing of its hard, streamlined design I was curious to see how something that has been specifically engineered and shaped for the back would work as one size fits all.
Before taking it home to trial fully I sat with it behind my back whilst at my desk which felt fully supportive. However, this isn’t the recommended use of the LumbaCurve surprisingly as it worked better than any of the other aides I have used bought to date. (All they need is to add a couple of straps to it.)
I got home and read through the documentation, which gave some interesting overall information on the design of it, and its many benefits. See more on the instructional video. Then I attempted to do the exercises as guided on the printed instructions, but not confident in my own ability, I turned to the video.
What’s good about the exercises is that there’s only a few to learn, they only need to be done for a few minutes at a time and they are gentle on the body.
Although it takes some getting used to in the first couple of minutes, and through initial practices of the exercises to be sure you’re getting the technique right, the result was a very impressive level of relief in my back. This was not just the affected area but also around the hips, lower ribs, and the lower back in general. This is not something I have experienced with any of the other aides and exercises I have become accustomed to. It was as if it had opened up or stretched it but without any pressure or stress.
Over the coming weeks I continued doing the exercises, which became second nature and vastly contributed towards the improvement in my back. It’s something that anyone can use and it has definitely improved my ailment. I even enjoy just having it there to lie on, in peace. I’m still on the road to recovery and not yet able to run but power walking and cross training have taken a big role in my life and I hope to be pounding the pavements in the not too distant future