Lumbar Rolls – Support Your Back!
In clinic, here at Lushington Chiropractic, we are often asked about the best types of lumbar supports to use at work or in the car. This post will hopefully give you the information to decide which type of lumbar support you may need, and will explain why we recommend them in the first place.
Why use lumbar support at all?
There are many reasons to invest in a lumbar support, not least because sitting is one of the worst positions for your lower back to be in. This is due to the fact that sitting flattens the natural curve of your lumbar spine and puts increased pressure on your discs. For people with sciatica caused by a lumbar disc bulge this usually aggravates their leg pain as it intensifies pressure on the nerve roots. Sitting also worsens the pain of people who have a history of pelvis ligament sprain because it pulls the delicate and weakened ligaments at the back of the pelvis. Often, women who have had a child in the last few years fall into this category because of the changes that the pelvis goes through during pregnancy and childbirth. Under these circumstances, hormone changes (including the release of relaxin) cause the pelvic ligaments to stretch and become weaker and painful.
Prolonged sitting
Sitting for any length of time causes constant overpressure on these injured structures which slows healing. This can mean that sciatica takes much longer to centralise (improve and the pain reduce in the leg) and that the pelvis doesn’t stabilise and heal as it should after an injury. Lumbar supports help by gently pushing the lower lumbar spine back into a more natural position, similar to the one that it would be in if you were standing, and by stopping the spine from being in a flexed position for a prolonged period of time. In addition, we often advise people to avoid sitting on the sofa when possible, particularly early in their course of care, and to keep moving or go for a walk immediately after their chiropractic adjustments.
So to summarise, lumbar supports are useful for anyone (I have one in my car and we have them on all our office chairs in the clinic!), but particularly for those who have been diagnosed with pelvis sprain/instability or lumbar disc bulges and sciatica. We offer McKenzie rolls as they are comfortable and can be taken from the car to the office chair, and clipped on using a strap. However, you can buy whichever type you wish but I’d recommend the round rolls as they give most support.
Thanks for reading
Want to find out more about low back pain?
We have a huge variety of blogs on low back pain. If you’ve found this blog helpful and would like to find out more, then please check out one of our other blogs on low back pain below.
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