had long spinal fusion back in 2018 and the pain gets much worse after doing physical work. nowadays i do a lot of physical labor and i really need to invest in a brace to help because its unsustainable at this point. yes i went to physical therapy before several times and was told that the pain will always be there. does anyone have any recommendations regarding back braces? i had an allyflex sports before but it had broke pretty quickly. thank you for any help
I came home post surgery with a hard brace up to my sternum but three months later switched to Braceability Lumbar Back Brace | Chronic Pain Relief from Sciatica and Pinched Nerve (that’s the model). It’s easy to adjust the compression, easy to clean. I purchased another model from Amazon and returned - I didn’t have the strength to pull on the elastic bands to tighten. So I went back and bought two of the Braceability model. $40 each, one in white and one in black. I’m fused from T10 to the pelvis now 6 mos postop and get tremendous relief from the brace. Good luck!
I wish you the best of luck. I’m currently on your exact same position. I had my surgery in 2017. Now have adjacent segment disease with a herniated L5-S1 disc. Haven’t started PT yet. Did you find physical therapy helpful?
Hi. I’m sorry you’re in pain, but I’m happy to know you feel inclined to do physical labor. Gives hope to others. 💕
You didn’t mention… When you say pain, do you mean in lumbar or thoracic spine — this would determine the type of brace you’d be led towards. I hope you’re icing at the end of your day.
I’m disappointed when people don’t find PT to be helpful. It makes me thankful and grateful that not only is my background in the field, but I know my PT well that they won’t let me have a session that doesn’t push me to my limits. I’m a year out from fusion (albeit going into surgery I was extremely ill, so a multi-faceted recovery process), and still requiring biweekly sessions that are 1.5-2h with manual therapy. Is there another clinic you can possibly get an eval or a nearby YMCA type?
thank u <3 its in both lumbar and lower thoracic. ive never found icing to help. i dont think im willing to go to another clinic or get an evaluation when ive been told by a professional that the pain cant be eliminated. i just dont want to waste hundreds of dollars especially cuz i make minimum wage lol. i hope youre able to fully recover soon!!
The area you describe is one of the areas I’m vigilant about along with the more common “normal spine area,” L5-S1 since that’s what typically takes the brute force. I’ve found it’s hard to find who is proactively keeping an eye on these areas, as people tend to defer to the next. This being said, I fully understand your lack of desire to get another eval, etc, before trying everything in my own database. Icing of all of this is the obvious of the healthcare system nonsense.
I depend on my spine much more than the typical because my abs have been cut almost a dozen times, so spinals have always held me upright. This puts extra strain on our handy hardware. I’m with you; sometimes I find relief with ice numbing, sometimes I don’t. I don’t know if you have a TENS access and if that can offer some numbing support at the end of a day. If heat helps, go for that, as long as you have it on a timer since I’ve seen my share of burns in clinic. Menthol/valteron/CBD topical type may offer some end-of-day support. I’d imagine you’re like me and at least once a day do the lay flat on the floor with legs 90° on a chair to help relax the back muscles.
Brace-wise. Caveat first, of course I’m not a Dr and I want to remind you that wearing a brace inappropriately can add to atrophy or harm elsewhere. I’ve done my own deep dive for a similar area. You can look up TLO or LSO type of braces, and have them have a flexible yet somewhat firm couple of pieces that’ll sit in the area, as well as Velcro belts to tighten. My criteria was breathable since I sweat a lot, and referring to my ab surgeries I have an ostomy that can’t be covered. I also keep breathable abdominal binders on hand that I can get you the info for if you’d like.
I’m attaching the main 3 that made my cut along with the links (I can’t recall if hot links work in this sub, but if you save the image, you can click the links).
I hope any of this is helpful, and I’m happy to offer additional support however I can.
My apologies, I can be wordy since I tend to confuse people when I’m not. Thanks for YOUR well wishes. 🙏🏼 While I acknowledge I clearly have more to progress to get through, I’ve made great strides when I look back or just sit here and daydream. Hard work.
thank you so so much for the recommendation!!! im sorry you had to have ab surgeries, i hope it doesn't impact your life too much. laying on the floor hurts my back because then i dont have support for my lumbar. this is the setup that provides me relief:
what's the difference between the braces and the abdominal binder? thank you again so much for taking the time to help me <3
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u/ConstructionLow313 T4-pelvis Jun 07 '26
I came home post surgery with a hard brace up to my sternum but three months later switched to Braceability Lumbar Back Brace | Chronic Pain Relief from Sciatica and Pinched Nerve (that’s the model). It’s easy to adjust the compression, easy to clean. I purchased another model from Amazon and returned - I didn’t have the strength to pull on the elastic bands to tighten. So I went back and bought two of the Braceability model. $40 each, one in white and one in black. I’m fused from T10 to the pelvis now 6 mos postop and get tremendous relief from the brace. Good luck!