Back Support Belts - Maternity Belts, Lumbar Supports & Lower Back Braces

Industrial supports help protect your back in the work environment, but not in the way you may think. Although most major research on back support belts preventing back injuries has been inconclusive, some studies have revealed that workers tend to use better lifting posture when wearing lumbosacral supports. They also show that back support belts reinforce workers performing twisting lifts. Nevertheless, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) maintains that the best way to prevent workplace back injuries is to remove hazardous situations that require workers to make repeated and strenuous lifts. But many workers like the additional support that the belts provide.

Regardless of your occupation or health status, you may need a back support belt in various situations. One of the most obvious is when you experience back pain. Since lumbar support belts compress your body’s abdominal region, they create intra-abdominal pressure that reinforces muscles, maintains spine alignment, and eases lower back pain. In addition, many people use back support belts to improve their posture when lifting heavy objects. Since they restrict you from turning, bending, or lifting in a way that could injure your lower back, these belts encourage you to use good posture and remind you to employ correct lifting techniques. To help reduce lower back pain and discomfort, pregnant women can benefit from wearing maternity support belts. In addition, back support belts are a good solution when you need to suppress back pain to increase your mobility.

A 2016 study published in the Annals of Physical Rehabilitation Medicine Journal revealed that lumbar support devices, rib belts, and back braces help reduce pain and increase function among people ailing from back pain. Although back support belts are not a cure for back problems, they supply enough support and compression to promote healing. These belts compress your abdominals to take pressure off the ligaments, muscles, the spine, and the lower back discs. Plus, back support with thermal features increases the therapeutic benefit for your painful back.

Prolonged wearing of a back support belt can weaken your core muscles and cause chronic back problems. This potential risk is why you should limit your lumbar support belt wearing time to two days in a row for back pain unless your physician advises otherwise. Also, if you use a lumbar support belt at work, you should limit your wearing time to about two hours, or only when lifting objects.

Wearing a back brace too tightly can result in skin irritation or skin abrasions. You can avoid this problem by adjusting your belt to fit snuggly. But you shouldn't tighten the brace to the point it is painful or difficult to breathe. It also helps to have a shirt or other clothing between the brace and your skin. Also, back braces include straps that allow you to fine-tune the fit anytime during the wearing period.

By applying compression to the midsection, abdominal binders assist patients in recovering from abdominal surgeries, including cesarean section, hysterectomies, exploratory laparotomies, bariatrics, and spinal surgeries. Binders also help prevent patients from developing pneumonia, deep vein thrombosis, and muscle atrophy. Abdominal binders are available in elastic and non-elastic versions through quality treatment supply retailers like ScripHessco.com.

Also known as belly belts, pregnancy support belts are rigid straps surrounding a pregnant woman’s abdomen to support her back, hips, pelvis, and abdomen. Belly belts relieve pain and pressure on expecting mothers' ligaments, bladders, and veins by distributing the baby’s weight over their abdomen.

Pelvic support belts typically get the most use from pregnant women during the second and third trimesters for back and abdominal support. However, many women wear pelvic supports during the post-delivery months to readjust to their regular clothing.