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Back Braces and Elastic Support Belts - A Review
Lower Back Braces and Support Belts - How Effective are they?
Although recent studies have questioned the effectiveness of back belts and
braces in preventing injuries, they do indeed play an important role in safety
and accident prevention.
Long considered by many to be a useful tool in preventing back injuries in the
workplace, back belts and back supports have come under attack recently, most
notably by the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH).
The report, which suggested that back belts neither reduced nor increased the
incident rates of back injuries, has given some employers pause for reflection.
There is concern among some safety experts who support the use of back belts
that some employers, after reading the NIOSH report, will consider abandoning
their existing back belt programs.
Are back belts or other back support systems effective in reducing back
injuries? The evidence seems mixed.
Evidence Against Belts
Here are some of the most common points made about the ineffectiveness of
back belts and supports:
* They can cause workers to experience a false sense of security. "They can lead
employees to believe they are capable of lifting more than they actually can,"
explains George Swartz, former safety director for Midas International,
currently a safety consultant based in Davenport, Fla., and one of the nation's
leading experts in warehouse and dock safety.
* There is also a theory that overuse of back belts can weaken trunk muscles,
leading these muscles to become dependent on some type of external support. The
Back-A-Line belts have
been designed to specifically address this concern among other issues.
As noted earlier, the most recent and widely publicized study on the
ineffectiveness of back belts comes from NIOSH, which created the Back Belt
Working Group in 1992. The group's first study, published in 1994, concluded
that belts are ineffective in reducing back injuries. NIOSH's most recent study
reinforces this conclusion.
The study, published in the Dec. 6, 2000, issue of the Journal of the American
Medical Association found that wearing support belts while lifting heavy objects
does not prevent back injury or pain.
Workers in the study who used back belts had the same risk of injury and back
pain as those who never or rarely used belts.
Still, not everyone is convinced back belts are ineffective.
Injury Prevention and Pain Relief
Flexible belts in specific can be useful, according to Gary Shumate,
president of Chase Ergonomics in Albuquerque, N.M.
"Over half of back injuries are the result of unplanned situations," he
explains. "When there is a sudden loading of the spine, the body overreacts,
causing the back muscles to contract to the maximum autonomic response. Flexible
back supports significantly reduce this over-response. They provide a barrier
that automatically reduces the body's response to this kind of accident
situation."
Shumate also cites research suggesting that flexible belts can decrease
muscle force and fatigue, as well as redirect force from the lumbar spine area.
There is also some evidence that the heavier, more rigid belts can be useful
in certain situations. Such belts are designed to stiffen the torso, which
discourages over flexing and over-extension of the spine. This may reduce the
tendency to twist and bend sideways. "Twisting can cause a lot of lower back
injuries, and certain belts may help reduce this twisting by encouraging
employees to lift straighter," notes Susan Smith, assistant professor in the
department of health and safety sciences at the University of Tennessee in
Knoxville.
There is also something to be said for the use of belts as a reminder to use
proper body posture and mechanics. "Belts can be good reminders to lift
properly, as long as employees are trained how to do so in the first place and
then trained in how to use the belts properly," states Marjorie Werrell,
president of Ergoworks Consulting in Gaithersburg, Md.
For a support belt designed specifically to act on your posture to prevent
injury and pain look at our Back A Line
lumbar belts and does not
rely on compression.
What about the claim by some that belts can weaken trunk muscles, leading
these muscles to become dependent on some type of external support? "I am not
familiar with any reputable study that suggests this," replies Kent Wilson,
director of ergonomics for Ergodyne Corp. in St. Paul, Minn. "I am amazed that
people still bring this up. In fact, NIOSH's study, despite its results, agreed
that there is no muscle atrophy resulting from the use of belts."
The NIOSH Study
Critics of the NIOSH study claim that the agency was biased from the
beginning that it intentionally set out to disprove the value of belts. "In
1994, when NIOSH con ducted a literature search, the majority of the research
they reviewed recommended the use of back supports," explains Wilson. "But in
NIOSH's report, they simply said they disagreed with these studies. They were
unable to offer any of their own research suggesting the opposite."
Shortly after NIOSH's report, researchers at the University of Cincinnati
reviewed the same literature, then published a paper concluding that back
supports are effective and may be helpful in the reduction of back injuries.
Compiled from an article by William Atkinsen 2001
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