Clinical trials were undertaken to establish whether using the BackShape back support has a general effect on back pain over time, in addition to the known benefit of giving some immediate relief.

  Volunteer subjects with back pain of various severities were recruited by advertisement to take part in the trials.

  To ensure neutrality, they were not told that it was an Open Ergonomics product, and badging and labeling were removed from the supports used in the trials.

Subjects completed a pain diary at the end of each day for two weeks, one week with their normal routine, and one week using one or more BackShape supports (one on each suitable seat).   The pain diary contained a pain scale from 'no pain' to 'the worst pain I can imagine'.  It was a line on which subjects made a mark corresponding to their experience that day. The marks were measured and scores recorded as a percentage (this is a widely used technique called visual-analogue scaling).

  Results are reported for all 19 subjects.

  Average pain scores were calculated for the 95 subject days in each condition.

  On average, subjects reported 44% less pain during the week in which they used the back support.

The 10 subjects who gained the greatest benefit averaged a reduction of 82% in back pain, indicating that for many people BackShape gives a very substantial relief.

Four subjects reported no benefit or increased pain. This is in line with other research which suggests that either a single shape and size of support cannot suit everyone, or that some back pain is not linked to seated posture at all. However some comments from these subjects suggested that they could have improved the benefit, by closely following the instructions for use in relation to height adjustment.

Pain relief was greater after two days than at first, suggesting that the body's repair processes were being facilitated by the support.

  A statistical T-test and an Anova test were performed on the data to determine the scientific reliability of the results. The test results indicate very high reliability - if the trial were repeated, the same result would be found more than 99.9% of the time.

These findings indicate that there is a general benefit from correct back support while sitting, which lasts longer than individual sitting periods.

Here are some of the comments made:

"Over the last week I found that this support helped me greatly especially in my car, and at work. It reduced the pain in my back, and made sitting and driving a great deal more comfortable." Mr K Houghton of Loughborough.

"The support feels very comfortable in the car and I will definitely keep using it." Ms N Cozens of Loughborough.

"Initially you look at it and think it won't help, but using it you feel the difference." Mr Shadrach of Loughborough

"The support definitely helped to reduce my back pain. I haven't had to take any pain relief whilst using the support." Ms A Neal of Whitwick

"Sometimes it was so comfortable, I forgot it was there." Mrs T Davies of Barrow-on-Soar

ALL the subjects (even those who reported no benefit) said that they would recommend BackShape to other back pain sufferers.

For details of the Back Support click here

See also this UK Government research into back pain and back supports