Inflatable Vest Relieves Chronic Back Pain (NAPSA)—If you suffer from back pain, you have plenty of company. An estimated 20 million Americans suffer from this condi- tion every year. The good newsis that an ingenious new treatment may provide somerelief. Back pain is the most common cause of disability for Americans under 45 and until recently it was a difficult problem to treat. Treatments for low back pain can include pain medication, chiropractic visits, massage and acupuncture. Unfortunately, some back pain does not improve with these treatments. Of the five million Americans who suffer chronic back pain, about one million may require surgery. But even surgery does not always provide a solution. This was the case with Dan Fairbairn of Denver, Colorado. Fairbairn’s chronic back pain led to ruptured discs and diskectomy surgery, in which some of the disks of his spine were removed. New Treatment Helped After surgery, Fairbairn still experienced chronic pain that threatened to keep him from working. He heard about a vest known as Orthotrac™ Pneumatic Vest, a non-invasive treatment designed to relieve back pain and checked to see if his insurance covered it. “A few weekslater, I got a prescription from my doctor, and I was faithfully wearing it twice a day,” said Fairbairn, who noticed immediaterelief from the pain he had been experiencing for years. Traction While Standing The vest was invented by Matt Dunfee in 1995, after he suffered a herniated disc. Because travel- RELIEF—When the vest is inflated, 30 to 50 percent of the patient’s body weight shifts and relieves pressure on the spine. ing to get traction treatments was so time consuming, he decided to invent his own traction device that he could wear while working. Dunfee’s invention was patented as the Lumbar Orthotrac™ Vest, which is now marketed exclusively by Orthofix, Inc. When the vest is inflated on the patient, 30 to 50 percent of the patient’s body weight shifts and relieves the pressure that would otherwise compressthe spine. In a recent test on 300 people who wore the vest for eight weeks, 67 percent showed significant improvement. For more information, call Orthofix at 800-535-4492 or visit www.orthofix.com and www.treatmyback.com.
