I have been shopping for a lumbar support to use while sitting at my computer. Do they really help?
A recent study showed that healthy subjects with no back pain who were required to sit motionless for two hours complained of low back pain. Pain was improved with both a lumbar support that could inflate with a fixed amount of air and a lumbar support that was able to inflate and deflate alaternately. Given the cost and availability, a standard lumbar support is shown to help reduce low back pain while sitting for two or more hours.
Yoichi Aota, MD et.al. Effectiveness of a Lumbar Support Continuous Passive Motion Device in the Prevention of Low Back Pain During Prolonged Sitting. In Spine. November 2007. Volume 32. Number 23. Pp. E674-E677.