Lower back pain is one of the most common chronic pain conditions in the world, with the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting that over 619 million people were affected by lower back pain globally in 2020, with that number expected to increase to 843 million by 2050. Unfortunately, the consequences of lower back pain can be severe, preventing people from doing everyday activities like exercise and walking. The same WHO report found that lower back pain was the single leading cause of disability worldwide.
The truth is that living with conditions like back pain can make even basic daily activities like parenting, work, and exercise — even walking — difficult and daunting. A largely perpetuated myth about back pain is that “pain is just part of aging,” but that does not mean it should limit your life. Like most other health issues, early intervention is the best approach to prevent back pain from worsening, as it reduces the likelihood that costly or painful surgery will be required later to be fully addressed.
While there are treatments for chronic lower back pain, many patients hesitate to embrace them because of their consequences. For example, prescription painkillers can be addictive, while surgery can be invasive and often requires lengthy recovery periods and can have potential complications or other consequences. Other options, such as acupuncture and chiropractic care, may be effective for some patients but have little impact on others.
Thankfully, a new study published in the prestigious Global Spine Journal has shined light on a treatment that provides patients with significant pain relief and an ability to manage their chronic lower back pain: a non-invasive, personalized footworn medical device known as Apos. By using Apos for as little as one hour a day while they go about their daily routine at home, patients could notice substantial improvements in their pain.
A non-invasive treatment for lower back pain
Apos is an FDA-cleared, FDA-registered, and evidence-backed medical device for knee osteoarthritis worn on the foot. However, the company’s website states that Apos “can also be used as a general wellness device to help patients live well with chronic lower back and hip pain.”
Apos is customized to each patient based on how they walk, meaning that it is a personalized treatment designed to help their unique pain points and the root causes of their pain. Patients can use Apos from their own homes, meaning they don’t have to go to a physical therapy office or do exercises at home. And best yet, Apos is covered by many insurance plans. This means that Apos is an affordable, convenient solution to address pain.
This recent study in the Global Spine Journal shows great potential for using Apos to treat lower back pain. In the study, 162 participants were assigned to one of two groups — treatment using Apos or traditional physical therapy — and monitored over a period of 12 months against measures of pain reduction, functional ability, and quality of life.
The study’s results were encouraging. Patients in the group treated with Apos experienced an average pain reduction of 56%, compared to a 26% decrease in the physical therapy group, while members of the Apos group experienced better results in both daily functional ability and quality of life.
How Apos helps patients address their lower back pain
Unlike many treatments for chronic pain that seek to mitigate the symptoms, Apos seeks to address musculoskeletal pain at its root cause by improving the patient’s gait. Gait refers to how a person walks, and even slight changes in walking patterns can put extra stress on the knees, back, hips, and neck. Improving gait can help relieve a patient’s symptoms by addressing the root cause of their pain.
The device has convex pods that create micro instability that one doesn’t feel, but the brain does. These pods retrain muscles to adapt to a healthier walking pattern even while not using Apos, a phenomenon we call the carryover effect due to its ability to help patients alleviate their pain between periods of wearing the device.
Over 150,000 patients worldwide have already used Apos for years to retrain their gait and relieve knee, hip, and lower back pain, restoring their ability to go about daily activities more comfortably.
“Over 70 clinical publications back Apos®. The recent study findings underscore the long-term efficacy of Apos®, which exceeds the outcomes typically associated with non-surgical treatments for chronic low back pain, and the potential for Apos® to transform chronic low back pain management by offering a scientifically validated, non-invasive alternative that delivers superior outcomes,” said Ganit Segal in a press release about the study, MPE, MBA, EVP, Chief Science & Innovation Officer at AposHealth.
Original press release: https://cumberlink.com/life-entertainment/article_e9e5776f-16ef-58db-89e2-3a674805b482.html
