BackBridge By Dr. Sinett

First, some context. I have had degenerative disc disease in my spine for over 20 years, which has gradually gotten worse over the years. I experience a range of pains (sharp pains, shooting pains, aching pains, etc.) at various times in varying degrees from my neck to my lower back. But the pain I have most often (now every day) and which is most bothersome is in my mid and upper back between my shoulder blades, which sometimes feels like a knife or two is stuck in my back between a couple ribs to--now every day--an INTENSE aching pain, especially later in the day and at night.Over the years at times when the pain has been more frequent, I have gone to physical therapy (PT), and other times on my own have done some of the PT exercises or done yoga, particularly several poses or movements that are very similar to many of the PT exercises. These exercises are helpful in sometimes eliminating the pain for periods of time or at least reducing the frequency of experiencing it, primarily with the lower back pain, but not so much with the upper back pain. One of things I discovered over time to ease the upper back pain was arching my upper back while standing, or doing this on the floor on my hands and knees, or leaning over backwards over the arm of a couch, and in the last few years using a hard foam roller (like the ones used to massage muscles by rolling your leg [or other body part] over the roller on the floor) to lie on it and roll back and forth some and, in particular, arch my back slightly, and with the weight of by upper body pressing down this sometimes "cracked" my back like if a chiropractor did an "adjustment." But using a hard foam roller to do this was a little awkward, uncomfortable because the roller is--well--hard, and was becoming less easy and effective. So I started looking at different devices to achieve the same effect.There are several different devices that use a hard plastic piece that you wedge into a frame on the floor creating an arch to lie over. I was a little skeptical of these, and reviews I read were mixed. Enter the "Backbridge by Dr. Sinett." I was a little skeptical of the Backbridge, too, but it offered 4 different degrees of an arc (where the other devices only provided 3), it looked very easy to adjust, and it seemed safer than lying on a springy piece of plastic wedged between two rungs on a wood or plastic frame, so I decided to give it a try. I received the Backbridge one evening after work (with my back aching as usual). The Backbridge is made of a firm (but not hard or uncomfortable) foam material, and the 4 different levels interlock. I watched the instructional DVD and tried it out. I was surprised how even just using the single Level 1 piece, which has a very gentle arc to it, I immediately felt relief of my upper back pain and a couple vertebrae even "cracked." Since then I have used it almost everyday at night and sometimes in the morning too. It consistently, immediately stops the pain in my mid/upper back. The instructions say to lie on it for 2 minutes; I usually lie on it for about 5 minutes +/- because it feels good to relax over it, and I want to give my sore pinched nerves a little extra time to be un-pinched and recover.A few other points. The DVD also has a set of exercises that one can use with the Backbridge; these are the exact same exercises that I was given to do when receiving physical therapy (although without using the Backbridge), and if you have chronic back pain, doing these exercises (and doing more repetitions than shown on the DVD) will greatly help eliminate or at least reduce and better manage back pain. The Backbridge works by curving your upper back in the opposite direction that your spine usually curves (I think the medical term for this is "lordosis'), thus taking the pressure off of the pinched nerves that branch out between each pair of vertebrae. I have to be careful when I first stand up again and do this slowly, because usually at first I feel some pain as the vertebrae again press on the nerves, but after a few seconds or a minute, things readjust and I feel no pain and the aching I felt before lying on the Backbridge is gone!! Finally, some reviewers said the Backbridge didn't help them. One should consider what type of back pain one has, and what is the cause of it. If one only has lumbar/lower back pain, I don't see how this device would help much. Or if you have an acute injury, you should check with your doctor or physical therapist, it may not be helpful in some instances. But for me, with chronic, intense back pain in my mid and upper back between my shoulder blades, this works wonderfully.!

Uncomfortable for us, too rigid. Impressed how easy to return.

Several years ago, I started experiencing sharp pains in my neck and lower back that got worse over time. Some days it was difficult to walk or even move my head. I saw a couple of doctors and they gave me a list of stretches to do and told me to take ibuprofen. I thought I was going to live with the pain forever.I was given one of these to try and was very skeptical to say the least. However, I stuck with the regimen (2 times a day for 2 minutes at a time) and my back pain was greatly reduced within 6 weeks. After a few months, it was almost as if I never had a problem. It has even helped my sciatica.I started on the first level and made it to the last level in about 7 months. I still use it, but only once a day, and sometimes I even skip days. But if I go a week or two without it, the pain starts to creep back. (I still have to be careful about what movements I make because I can still easily wrench my back, but I have no trouble running or turning my head anymore.)There are very few things I fully endorse, but I believe in this product so much that I bought one each for my mom, brother, and sister this last Christmas. It's crazy that more people don't know about it. Even crazier is that some people I've told don't believe me. Or maybe they don't want to invest in it. If you have back pain but don't want to spend the money on this thing, put it on your Christmas or birthday list. Seriously.

It is OK

received the backbridge exactly one month ago. I use it in the morning and then before bedtime.it is an awesome yet simple contraption that allows you to work so many parts of your bodyby itself or with other equipment. I purchased it to relieve lower back pain and open my hips.it does both those things while at the same time I'm getting a workout on my core and my legs.I'm strengthening my back, opening my hips, increasing my flexibility and going through some seriousbreathing exercises. the only downside to it is that there isn't a companion book or website to show thenumerous uses that can be derived from the backbridge. I contacted dr sinett and he told me that somethingis in the works and should be available shortly. that would be perfect!

I have not observed any improvement with this devise and I've used it for several weeks. I hope I will notice some improvement but so far nothing. I will try a bit longer.

These are easy to use. Glad we found these. These also are not as hard surface as the wood back bridge, but just as effective.

I have used a similar product before, but the Back Bridge is a much better design and I am very pleased with the results when using it.