For sitting and reading in bed, as a second pillow
For a comfortable reclining in office chair or low sofa (using two units together, one as headrest and the other support the back)
User Guide
Unfold the backboard, bend the wing with loop stripe at the end, fix to the hook stripe at the center, now the wing formed a triangle.
Bend the other wing without loop toward the middle in the same way.
Pull the strap through the ring and tighten it until the curve forms (the curve is adjustable)
Put the backboard against your back with the lower end always close to your buttock. Test it and adjust the curve till you feel comfortable.
P.S.: To be used as a headrest, pull the strap out and hang the half with Velcro on the top of chair, and use your back and second Dr. Ku?backboard to stabilize the hanging half at seatback.
The natural causes of backache in Human Being -A guide for choosing a back support-
Dr. Mingchou Ku, the designer of Dr. Ku back support
Evolution from four legs to bipedal walking, human spine subjects much greater pressure from gravity is obvious. Following the development of agriculture and industry, human beings were tightening to the crop fields and factories. Most of the works need to carry and lifting heavy loads, the back subjects to acute injury and chronic stress and strain. Back pain is still the most common occupational injury in modern days.
According to large scale investigations in 20th century, about 80% of people suffered from episodes of acute back pain or called lumbago. In information age of today, most laborers sit in front of computer screens with no more hard laboring. It seems we have escaped the destiny of back pain from heavy work as our ancestors. Unfortunately, back pain prevalence doesn decrease at all. The agony still haunts people today and our descendents. This time, not the injury from outside, it is the bad posture and weakness of muscles of the back induced the tragedy. Stooping back and lack of exercise are working through leverage which multiplying the load added to the lower spine. The effect is equal to heavy lifting with arms.
How to protect the back and prevent injuries are the most important things an office worker has to learn before he started his career today. Understanding how the force transmitted through our body, how the leverage works through our spine is the basic learning. And the sitting posture is the first lessen.
We all know that standing upright is important. But how about sitting, the most used posture was seldom standardized. Our ancestors has been sitting on some kind of chairs for hundreds to thousands years, sitting is an instinct for everyone. Nowadays, we sit for eating, reading, writing, resting, working and now typing in front of a computer monitor. There are different types of purposes with different kind of chairs, with different shapes of human bodies. The combination can be enormous. To standardize it is not practical. Only students in classrooms are asked of sitting upright. Sitting upright was looked as with or without spirit, seldom knows sitting upright can save energy of back muscles. If you want to sit long without fatigue, sit upright can help you. People think stooping the back can relieve the fatigue. Yes, it take off the load from the back muscle, but increased the load on the ligaments connecting the vertebral blocks and the disc( a cushion confined within a circumferential wrapping ligament works as a limited mobile joint). Long term imbalanced posture can steeply increase the tension of ligament over the apex of curve. The tension on ligament may induce strain or even injury. All injury resulted in inflammation (part of human body repair process), not all inflammation healed without sequels. Actually, many inflammation of the spine are subclinical, that means no pain was felt, awareness was not aroused, so no change of posture was felt necessary. The inflammation continues and a process which similar to a cascade that induce new bone formation at the junction of ligament and bone. When the new bone formation accumulates it can be visible on X ray films, doctors call it a spur (it can also stabilize the joint, and so preserved in the evolution). A long spur may impinging on a spinal nerve, causing neuronitis frequently called sciatica in the lower limb. Severe nerve impingement is the main cause of limb weakness and walking disability in the old age worldwide. But the gnawing, twitching, lightening or pin pricking pain and numbness is the most annoying symptoms of it.
The protection of the back from injury, acute or chronic is upmost important. To keep the back upright can prevent the stress and strain to the ligament of the spine. Traditionally, a custom-made back brace is most effective. However, the discomfort from confinement by the metal ( mostly aluminum) and textile can be acceptable at standing, the impingement to the anterior ribs and pelvis can be annoying with sitting or bending position which we practice the most of time.
At sitting position, the pelvis bending forward and moving the lower spine in the same direction which flattening the lower back. A firm forward pushing force is needed to correct the loss of natural gentle forward curve of lower back. Most of cushions are too soft to support this need. When we feel fatigue, we tend to recline to the back of seat. If the seat could not give support to the lower back after small amount of tilting, the upper back support the body, and the lower spine where most of back problem origins is hanging free in air like a suspension bridge. The ligaments at the back of vertebral bodies received the most tension, and the front part of vertebral received most of compression force. Without external support, the above mentioned tissues received all the leverage multiplying force which may initiate the above mentioned pathological change. People called this degeneration or senile process. But actually, it can be prevented. With a good support at the back, while you are tired from upright sitting, the force was transmitted to the support. The choice of a good support and adaptation into a habit of life can greatly prevent you from the senile process which seems so natural.
Since the void at the back while sitting and reclining is changing with posture, a good support should be mobile to support the lower back with the change of posture. However, no support can automatically adjust itself to fulfill the need. It is too complicated and too expensive to design one for it. Even the most expensive car with powered back cushion has not includes one. The possibility to be adjusted by the user should be offered. However, most of the seat cushion or back support manufacturers only offer fastening belts for fixation and nothing for mobilization consideration.
A good support should also be adjustable for the curvature, since the back curve is not all the same, especially the aged people. With more back pain, more stiffness in the back. An adjustable support will make the sitting more comfortable.
For those who are always on the move, how to prevent back pain seems not an issue for the designer of the back support. However with more and more people facing meetings after meeting, moving for room to room, building to building, city to city, airport to airport, it is an issue. Not to mention those who already suffered from episodes of back pain or some even already has some surgery done. A good support instead of medical brace is gospel for them. It should be small in size, easy carry, low-weighted and still give full back support.
The folding back support here is the only one meets the above mentioned criteria. It is the brain child of an orthopedic surgeon who also suffered from back pain off and on. Now he want to share his innovation with his patients and all people who care about the health of their back during work, on the move, couching in their living room or sitting in front of your computers till late in the night.
點擊這裡下載背靠解說投影片
Uses
