belt support for back problems??

[stepfen]

What if he moves the one(s) on his back over closer together but with even distribution, to either side of him?

I suggested this to him (I like my weights on my sides - behind me they interfere with my plate and I don't like the feeling), he tried it once but said he doesn't like it (no more details)

 

[chillyinCanada]

Well, we haven't had a doctor step in here yet, but I can't see why he shouldn't try the back belt during the dive if he thinks it will help. I'd worry about deterioration of the belt myself, but oh well.
Get his weights into his weight pockets and trim pockets, see how that goes for him.

Get yourselves a big wheel wagon for transporting your gear from the car to entry point.

 

[chillyinCanada]

He is using this BPW :
View attachment 621738

So far he is being using weight belt - not the pockets shown - and he likes his weights right behind him. There are also 2 trim pockets that he could add at the tank bands if needed but he is not using them yet.

Is he diving sort of head up, feet down?

So hard to believe that he's wanting to wear his back belt but won't move his weights.

Now that I see his rig I understand why he's using a weight belt.

 

[Bob DBF]

Coincidentally he is also using weight belt (with about 6kg of weight for a 5mm full body wet suit). I will suggest to him to try his BPW weight pockets.

I use a 7mm farmer John, so the weight is greater, I found that moving about half the weight to the wing and placing the belt weight on the hips rather than the back helps a lot. A BP/W is a good start, and the heavier the plate the better, in an old style stab jacket with all the weight on the belt was a bear.

 

[lermontov]

Hello everybody,

A friend of mine is having back problems and diving occasionally makes things worst for him. Top side he is using a wide elastic belt kind of support that according to him helps a lot.

Is there anything similar to be used underwater?? He was actually thinking/planning to use the same thing u/w. Anything else to help him??

I haven't seen any such discussions here. Maybe because I don't have back problems (thanks God) I just don't see such posts??

Cheers

you can get a velcro type support strap called a kidney belt riders use on Motocross riding

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hello everybody,

A friend of mine is having back problems and diving occasionally makes things worst for him. Top side he is using a wide elastic belt kind of support that according to him helps a lot.

Is there anything similar to be used underwater?? He was actually thinking/planning to use the same thing u/w. Anything else to help him??

I haven't seen any such discussions here. Maybe because I don't have back problems (thanks God) I just don't see such posts??

Cheers

It's probably not the diving itself but the moving around topside and walking through surf with all of that extra weight. Has your friend seen a physician and had radiographic imaging for this? Back pain is pretty broad and could encompass a lot of different things. Some of them a back support might help, others not. Also, if he hasn't given himself time to recover, he could be re-aggravating the injury every time he dives.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[stepfen]

Thanks for all the input. I don't know how much he has investigated it. For sure he has done physiotherapy etc (hence I guess a doctor was involved).

He is having problems for years (well before he started diving) and it is not due to diving. In anyway he doesn't dive that often - we've had maybe 3 dive days over the last 6 months or so because our schedules don't match.

Now is a good period for us, but he won't risk making things worst hence he won't dive unless he feels fine.

The belt will be used as an extra precaution measure in the future (once his condition improves).

 

[dmaziuk]

Thanks for all the input. I don't know how much he has investigated it. For sure he has done physiotherapy etc (hence I guess a doctor was involved).

My PT regimen was a specific subset of "core" exercises, but then I got back into the pool and been doing half a kilometer dolphin kick in swim fins every time ever since. Mine was the usual: slightly squashed intervertebral discs in lumbar region, and apparently the only back support that works for those is to pump up the surrounding muscles so they'd take up more of the load.

 

[tarponchik]

I have lower back issues, dating back to my mid-20's (I'm now 70).

In addition to doing 100 crunch sit-ups everyday, plus some related stretches, I always wear a support belt when I am doing anything strenuous around the house, such as mowing or gardening.

For diving I have made a couple of accommodations.

First, since I wear a weight belt, I have added two trim pockets to my BCD tank strap, and have moved weight up off my lower back, as well as improving my profile in the water column.

Second, I have moved up to a 5mm full wet suit (specifically a BARE Velocity). I find that the thicker neoprene helps my lower back and provide a portion of the support that the belt I wear on the surface does.

I had previously considered using a support belt under my prior 3mm wetsuit, but thought the trim pocket/thicker wet suit approach addressed the issue more appropriately for diving.

I am confused. First, how can 5 mm suit help? A thicker neoprene requires heavier weights, so it should make things worse. Second, how the integrated weights can help? Their weight will pass on to your shoulders and ultimately will end up on your back. The simple weight belt should work better because it puts the weight on your hips, not on your back.

Finally, the tank + reg + BCD combo weights about 45-50 pd, which is about 3.5-4 times heavier than the weight belt an average guy hangs on himself. So I'd say this is what hurts your back, not the lead weights.

 

[ibj40]

I am confused. First, how can 5 mm suit help? A thicker neoprene requires heavier weights, so it should make things worse. Second, how the integrated weights can help? Their weight will pass on to your shoulders and ultimately will end up on your back. The simple weight belt should work better because it puts the weight on your hips, not on your back.

Finally, the tank + reg + BCD combo weights about 45-50 pd, which is about 3.5-4 times heavier than the weight belt an average guy hangs on himself. So I'd say this is what hurts your back, not the lead weights.

You are correct if you are only considering the total weight and not where it is being placed, and my position in the water column.

If I stood on a scale, regardless of the location of the weight, at my feet, it all weighs the same.

However, the way I have it organized, only the weight on my belt hands from my lower back; the tank/reg/BCD/trim weights hang from my shoulders, and even while standing, that mass passes through my lower back, in lieu of hanging from my lower back.

I also have the weights on my belt positioned at the front near the buckle, in order to have that weight balanced against the weights on the back of the BCD.

Plus, I did not come up with this setup on my own. It came about following an extended conversation with an instructor who I had been diving with for over a decade. He also had lower back problems, and it was based on his recommendation that I moved weigh from my belt to my BCD.