This article is one of a series covering back pain — causes, symptoms, and the treatments we use at Back and Body Medical in Midtown Manhattan. For the complete overview, see the full guide:
→ Back Pain Treatment in New York City — The Complete Guide
Back pain is what we do. The vast majority of conditions we treat all result from back injuries or pain. Our collaborative care of chiropractic, physical therapy, cold laser therapy, medical massage, stim therapy and so on is all designed to be flexible to provide tailor made care to your condition. This along with prescribed exercises and stretches are the main factors to get patients out of pain.
There’s another element that we can help with as well and that’s support braces. Braces are designed to provide support to the afflicted joint and to give muscles a rest while the brace takes over and helps.
So with lumbar support braces, they are worn around the lower back and wrap round. They compress the area of the body but also decompress the joints in the spine to provide relief. Muscles are supported as well to give them a rest and this helps reduce muscle spasms which also creates problems.
There are several types of back brace. Some are elastic in nature and are very flexible and more comfortable to wear. The other end of the spectrum is the hard back and front type brace which provides a very rigid support and prevents the wearer from moving. This helps to keep the wearer in check to enable healing.
While you can get braces from most pharmacies, this type tends to be cheap in nature and really only designed for short term wear. They can get uncomfortable more quickly, which ultimately means the sufferer may not use them much. This defeats the purpose. So with our braces, while they are more expensive, they are built so much better and provide that extra comfort meaning you will wear them more often and thus help accelerate healing. They may also be covered by insurance as well.
Therapy along with stretches or exercises and a lumbar support brace gives you a great chance of returning to full fitness and being out of pain sooner rather than later.
If you are in pain, come and see us, we can help. Schedule an appointment today.
Dr Shan Sivendra MD is the founder and medical director of Back and Body Medical in Midtown Manhattan. A board-certified medical doctor, certified acupuncturist, and Director of House Physicians at St. Barnabas Medical Center, Dr Sivendra has been practicing in New York since 1995.
He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Saint Barnabas Medical Center (affiliated with Mount Sinai School of Medicine) and received the Resident Research Award for three consecutive years.
Dr Sivendra has a background spanning internal medicine, pain management, and conservative spine rehabilitation, and was licensed in both the US and the UK.
At Back and Body Medical, he leads a multidisciplinary team of chiropractors, physical therapists, and acupuncturists dedicated to helping patients recover from pain without surgery or unnecessary medication.
Further Reading: Back Pain