The most common injury in the work place was a back injury. Back Braces were the big “safety” feature in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s in helping protect workers backs when lifting objects. The problem arose when people would wear back braces for any lifting activities and gradually their abdominal core muscles became weaker and weaker because of lack of use. This led to people becoming more susceptible to having a back injury from performing even the most basic of movements. The question arose, “Are back braces bad for you?”
The popularity of back bracing has waned from this heyday, but we are beginning to see a resurgence of back bracing again. This time around many of them are more compression based wraps versus the more rigid support provided by the older back braces. The benefit of compression based wraps is they provide light support but encourage more abdominal muscle engagement to brace the back. In acute cases this can help people get over the “hump” with back pain. For people with chronic back pain, wearing a brace all the time could actually be exacerbating the injury. The important thing is to focus on spending time strengthening you back and abdominal core muscles