For sufferers of lower back pain, which according to the UK governments own statistical office, the NSO, affects some 60% of the adult population, there are many back pain products available from pharmaceutical back pain treatment to physical manipulation, acupuncture, electrical nerve stimulation, even magnets and aromatherapy. All will claim to be a panacea for back pain and all will deliver varying degrees of effectiveness.
Back pain, sometimes known as sciatica, is becoming alarmingly endemic in Western society, probably as a result of increasingly sedentary lifestyles, with less and less manual occupations, which previously conditioned and exercised our bodies. Indeed, increased leisure time has not, unfortunately led to an increase in sport or general fitness enhancing pastimes.
It could be argued that the reverse is true, as the proliferation of passive activities or 'home entertainments' such as computer games, the internet, coupled with more and more 'junk food' diets, is inevitably leading us into even poorer levels of condition in the lumbar region.
So great is the problem, that in the UK alone, some 150 million man days are lost each year in industry, as a result of absenteeism attributed to lower back pain. It may be that this figure is exaggerated by the incidence of 'swinging the lead' by some employees, using this as an excuse for additional 'holidays'. However, how many times do we hear work colleagues, complaining of lumbago or sciatica, but committed enough to carry on working through it!
For the individual, lower back pain often leads to despair and depression, because of the seemingly often unsuccessful treatments offered for the back problems. A visit to the increasingly overworked GP will usually result in the prescription of chemical painkillers and rest. Continued discomfort, and further visits to the doctor, may lead to a referral to a physiotherapist or chiropractor, and, others may seek alternative methods of back pain treatment, such as acupuncture or shiatsu (acupressure).
Each of these methods will generally provide relief, although the continued prescription of painkillers is being increasingly questioned by more enlightened, health conscious people, concerned about the 'chemical masking' of pain brought about by a physiological condition, and the potentially damaging effects the continued use of pharmaceuticals.
The more enlightened, may turn to alternative forms of treatment, such as shiatsu (acupressure) or yoga. These ancient healing philosophies practiced and developed over many centuries, are becoming increasingly accepted after years of dismissiveness brought about by our inability to evaluate it within the framework of 'conventional' western medicine. Both western and eastern methods are effective, but to the ordinary back pain sufferer, the frequency and cost of continued treatment may be prohibitive, and indeed for many, may lead to despair due to the seemingly impossibility of long term relief in their condition.
A new back pain product, LumbaCurve has recently been launched to help lower back pain sufferers, already only too familiar with the above gloomy scenario, to get rid of back pain. The LumbaCurve project began several years ago with a chance conversation over a drink between two schoolboy friends, one a Dutch based acupuncturist, specialising in the relief of back pain, and the other a Manchester telecommunications consultant.
The casual discussion centred over the high incidence of back pain related absenteeism reported in telephone call centres, often caused by poor posture and badly designed pc work station ergonomics. This led to debate over the relative merits of conventional western back pain therapy, the type of alternatives offered by the East and the feasibility of a back pain device that could combine both philosophies.
The following day the possibility of developing a previously unheard of back pain therapy device incorporating East and west techniques was even more exciting and the decision was made to form a partnership to pursue this venture was made there and then.
The initial design attempts were based around the concept of passive gravity assisted traction (PGAT), combined with the effect of acupressure stimulation. The purpose was to provide vertebral separation, allowing spinal decompression, whilst avoiding direct pressure on the spine and sacrum, which would cause pain in the very area where relief was being sought.
The first prototype was only partially successful, since concentration on developing a channel to allow the sensitive spine to float freely, caused the design to be compromised in terms of the physical surface area necessary around it. This meant that although there was back pain relief, no therapy was being applied by failing to create a spinal stretch. It was known that most complaints of lower back pain were commonly associated in the lumbar region and 90% of sufferers were affected between the fourth lumbar and first sacrum joints. This consideration prompted a dramatic reduction in the overall length of the next prototype, which created a 'fulcrum' around the focus area.This was the breakthrough that would provide the passive yogic stretch facility.
The next element to be considered was the area adjacent to the channel. The edges were shaped to replicate the thumbing action used by shiatsu practitioners to balance the meridian energy along the inner aspect of the spine and to provide joint mobilisation, a technique employed by physiotherapists. The curved surfaces area and sloping edges were shaped to encourage a multidirectional stretch in the focus area and emulate a 'hand palming' effect along the outer meridian and apply physio massage to the erector spinae muscles.
Progress was painfully slow at times, because each version of LumbaCurve was entirely handmade by trial and error, and preceded a rigorous testing regime at each modification stage. Its outlandish shape, best described as organic, was evolving through functional requirements, and would have been virtually impossible to design using even the most sophisticated computer aided design. Any dimension or radius or angle was effectively unknown and it was only by constant trialling each shape modification that the optimum dimensions could be determined.
Indeed, in order to derive the exact dimensions for the development of production tooling, the entire unit had to be reverse engineered by a process of laser scanning to determine its three dimensional co-ordinates as an 'x y z' point cloud in order to transfer this detail onto CAD systems to derive CNC programs. For this complex procedure the combined expertise of Lancashire based Northern Technologies, the digital engineering resources of Liverpool and Salford University, together with Stodt laboratories in Holland were utilised.
The final design; complete with hand guidance, buttock support and non skid feet, had evolved into a functional, futuristic sculpture. After five years it was felt that the design team could no further, trials were conducted on eager volunteers around both England and Holland, yielding very successful results.
What started as a simple idea, had turned into a painstakingly complex project. Yet the final output is a back pain product that is simplicity itself to use---Just lie on your back, slide LumbaCurve under the lumbar area, and, with minimal effort and time, as part of a self help regime, the results can be extraordinary.
