Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Back Pain - there's an app for that

Regular readers of this blog will know that from time to time I suffer from lower back pain.

I don't think it's directly caused by Laser sailing (although that may be a contributing factor.) The pain can be triggered by the silliest things like putting my socks on or reaching for a weed in the garden. (A doctor recently told me that primary care physicians hear stories like that all the time.)

But I think the last two bouts have been brought on by my bad posture while spending way too much time hunched over a computer writing blog posts and other stuff.



/Pam over at the Improper Course blog (where did they get that name from) posted some advice on the issue the other day at No More Back Pain. And there's plenty of other advice on the Internet including many videos on how to contort yourself into various poses and if you only do them for 6 hours a day, 365 days a year you will never experience back pain again.

Do this for 6 hours a day 
and never experience back pain again


Or you could go to a doctor who will chop off parts of your spine, or stick together parts of your spine, or replace parts of your spine, or implant some doohickey in your spine. You know the old saying: If all you have is a scalpel, the solution to everything is back surgery. (Or something.


Back surgery

Or if you are not into knives then you can go to a man or woman with big hands called a "chiropractor" who will push and pull at bits of your back and make it crack a lot and then give you a bill and never tell you that you would have got better anyway without having him or her crack your bones.

Your chiropractor with her previous patient


But now there's a better solution. At least for people like me who mess up their backs with bad blogging posture. There's an app for that. Or to be more accurate a device and an app. It's called the Lumo Lift.

The Lumo Lift is a small device that you place on your clothing near your collar and it detects the curvature at the top of your spine. When you slouch, your spine curves, and the Lumo Lift gives a small buzz to remind you to straighten up.  (Just like your Mum and your schoolteacher and your drill sergeant used to.) The Lumo Lift can also track your physical activity like the Fitbit and other gadgets.

Wow. What will they think of next?

Attractive young lady wearing a Lumo Lift

Check out all the details and buy one for everyone you know who has bad posture at www.lumobodytech.com



Full disclosure: I did not receive any bribes or payments or free samples to write this review and to be honest I have never even tried a Lumo Lift so I have absolutely no idea whether it really works or not, but it does sound like more fun than back surgery. All opinions are my own (except when I used cut and paste.)


10 comments:

/Pam said...

I was just saying I needed someone to remind me to sit up straight about 100 times a day. They should have just called it Mom.

George A said...

Along with telling me not to slouch will it remind me to keep my shirt tail tucked in and not to wear those ridiculous, low hanging plaid shorts outside the house?

George A said...

Oh, and how 'bout reminding me not to wear a ball cap backwards?

Tillerman said...

I think Pam and George are on to something. We don't need a Lift app we need a Mom app. It's only a matter of time.

George A said...

You could probably retain my mother-in-law for a modest fee if that would help.

Tillerman said...

I'm no marketing expert but somehow I don't think an app called George's Mother-in-law is going to sell.

George A said...

Perhaps more marketable than a DIY back surgery app. Just tossing ideas around. Battery life might be an issue with the M-i-L app as reminders/updates would be both frequent and constant. This discussion kinda reminds of that old computer joke about the problems surrounding the installation of software called "Girlfriend, ver 6.0".

Tillerman said...

I installed Wife 1.0 over forty years ago. Best thing I ever did.

Pandabonium said...

Exercise is good. Diet is important too. Don't eat things that will clog your arteries with plaques which will prevent your back from receiving nutrients with adequate blood flow. See Michael Gregor, MD's video about this: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/cholesterol-and-lower-back-pain/ . Peer reviewed studies referenced below the clip.

PS Wearing a ball cap backward may be a genetic defect. :(

chiropractor sydney said...

Pack pain can be release by doing remedial massage therapy and physiotherapy.After that you should do physical exercise regularly and routine base.

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