Unlike any other animal species, human beings are shaped to walk upright on two legs all their lives, and the human skeleton features an S-shaped spine, upright pelvis, long legs, and arched feed for a lifetime of walking upright. A few million years ago, our primate ancestors gave up their tree-bound vegetarian lifestyle to start running and hunting game across the plains of Africa, and they learned to walk upright and thus had an advantage. Still, walking on two legs takes a toll over time, and even today, many people around the globe suffer from chronic back pain, spinal distress, and arthritis in the hips, knees, and ankles. But only the most serious cases call for invasive surgery, while rehab tools and systems such as handheld algometers, chiropractic adjusting tools, and muscle strength testing equipment can be used to help a patient recover from back pain and joint distress without breaking the skin. How might this work?

Why Back Pain Happens

Many studies and surveys are done every year to track the state of public American health, and that most certainly includes rates of back pain and spinal issues. The numbers show that at any given time, some 31 million Americans are experiencing chronic back pain, and around one in three women and one in four men experience back pain off and on, if not chronically. Around 50% of all working class Americans admit that they get back pain symptoms each year, and experts say that around 80% of the entire population will experience back issues at some point in their lives.

Why is all this back pain happening? A number of causes have been identified, such as working years of hard manual labor jobs, such as construction. This puts some wear and tear on the spine and back muscles, and even in retirement, a worker may start suffering back pain as a result. Meanwhile, some surveyed Americans blame ongoing stress for their back issues, and pregnancy can put some strain on the spine, too. Getting into a car crash or sports accident can also injure the back and strain muscles, leading to pain. Lastly, bear in mind that simple old age can cause back pain too, since many years of walking upright and fighting gravity causes the spine to collapse on itself and bend forwards. This will not only alter a person’s posture, but also reduce flexibility, pinch nerves and muscles, and inflame joints. All of this is going to cause pain.

While surgery may be needed for emergencies, such as a slipped disc, non invasive rehab tools prove popular and effective for most other back pain cases, inside hospitals and otherwise.

Non Invasive Back Treatment

Americans have a great interest in non invasive medicine, since it does not involve taking drugs or having surgery done. In fact, the skin typically isn’t broken at all, and this is a common practice for back pain. In fact, back pain ranks second among all reasons Americans visit their doctors, and they can get referred to a chiropractor or a yoga expert who can help them. A chiropractor will use basic rehab tools and even their bare hands to readjust a patient’s bones and muscles, and doing this will relieve pressure on distressed nerves and muscles, not to mention relax those muscles and restore the patient’s flexibility and mobility. Signing up for private sessions at a yoga studio can have similar results, when the patient performs a variety of stretches and poses to loosen up the joints and muscles to clear up pain and restore flexibility.

Who else is using these rehab tools to help patients? In a hospital, physical therapists can help their patients recover with not only routine exercises, but also using handheld devices such as algometers to test muscle strength and help loosen up joints in localized areas. During recovery, a patient may perform exercises and stretches while a motion capture camera records their movements and feeds data to special software, and the therapist can consult those programs to track the patient’s progress toward recovery. On the physical side, a patient can stretch out elastic bands and cords, to demonstrate their current strength, flexibility, and arcs of motion, not to mention pain threshold.