Back in Action
The Original Backnobber® II is an effective tool to self-manage muscle discomfort.
BY DENISE M. MILLER, OTR/L
Throughout the course of our lives, we'll experience some muscle pain and discomfort. This pain and tenderness may be a direct result of injury or disease, or it may occur after a strenuous sport activity, lifting or repetitive work. Whatever the cause, patients must learn to manage their pain and muscle discomfort.
To help achieve this goal, we give every patient in our return to work program the Original Backnobber® II, by Pressure Positive Co. in Gilbertsville, Pa. The massager's natural "S" shape allows users to apply pressure to muscles as long as needed to achieve pain-reducing effects. To use, patients hook the tool over their shoulder or under their arm and massage it into any posterior muscle, including the neck; shoulder; upper, middle or lower back; hips; buttocks and thighs.
Combined with proper stretching and strengthening exercises, the Backnobber complements therapy processes and produces noticeable effects. For example, out of 100 participants in our return to work program, 93 percent returned to their jobs after 12 work hardening and work conditioning sessions.
During sessions, we teach patients to use the Original Backnobber II and to incorporate stretching and strengthening into their daily activities. Our short-term goals are to restore function, improve posture, and decrease pain and discomfort. Long-term goals include helping patients become active in their recovery from injury or illness.
The structure and consistency of the 12 sessions gives patients the ability to achieve job-related goals. The Original Backnobber II provides them with a technique to manage pain long after the formal treatment process is over.
Using the massager, we can be creative in our treatment approach and focus on helping people change poor behaviors. During therapy, for example, we educate patients on how to maintain proper posture through all daily activities. Using the Original Backnobber II helps us do this because it has a positive effect on how people stand, sit or lift throughout their day. With less pain, patients are more likely to assume proper posture. And when they work in proper posture, they're less likely to re-injure themselves or experience symptom exacerbations.
Because the tool is easy to use and complements the therapy process, patients also are more likely to integrate it into their daily activities. In addition, the Original Backnobber II is equipped with a mechanism that allows users to take it apart for easy transport and storage.
When patients return to work, we often visit them on-site as part of our discharge process. I can't tell you the number of times I've gone to their workplace and found the Original Backnobber II. This is quite rewarding since the device is being used as part of their continuum of care.
In fact, after co-workers experience the massager's effects on their tired and sore muscles, they want to know how they can purchase one too. Sometimes I even get more business at patients' worksites by teaching employees how the tool can help prevent injury.
These experiences give me confidence that my patients can manage their pain long after our 12 sessions are over. With the Original Backnobber II, we can reduce muscular pain, while enhancing patient's abilities to achieve a comfortable lifestyle.
Denise M. Miller, OTR/L, manages the return to work program at Glendale Adventist Medical Center in Glendale, Calif. She's also the chairperson of the Work Programs Special Interest Section of the American Occupational Therapy Association.
This article appeared in Advance For Directors in Rehabilitation
3/01/2004 ; Vol. 13 •Issue 3 • Page 68
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