Pain in your lower back or lumbar spine can all but knock you out, leaving you incapable of moving, sitting or standing without experiencing sharp spasms of pain as the damaged nerves around the area revolt. But movement is important to recovery for anything from a pulled muscle to sciatica, not to mention that we can’t very well shirk work and other daily activities to stay cooped and helpless in bed – and we don’t have to. With some rehabilitative bracing, we can go about our everyday lives while protecting our back and aiding it in its recovery, given that we pick the right brace.
After all, we don’t want something cumbersome and uncomfortable if we’re going to have it on for hours on end at work, whether our job involves sitting at a desk at a stretch, heavy lifting, or standing and walking for extended periods of time. The best back braces are low-profile, discreetly disappearing under your work clothes or attaching without fuss over them, but still providing the adequate support that keeps your spine’s movement limited enough to prevent flare-ups of pain, helping correct your posture and speed up recovery. Here are our picks of the braces that fit the bill.
KEN’S PICK
ComfyMed Premium Quality Back Brace
We love the flexibility of this brace, the unisex design and wide range of sizes letting anyone of any body shape wear it and ease up their back pain in an organic, safe way. The removable lumbar pad pillows your lower spine, helping maintain and support its natural curvature, enabling pain relief and recovery. Unlike many braces which tend to leave you overheated, this back brace is soft and breathable, comfortable and lightweight to have on throughout the day whether it entails long hours sat at a desk, driving, or bending and lifting. The brace also comes with sheer straps connected to D-shaped metal rings that let you stretch and adjust the belt and cinch it to your preference, molding to the natural curves of your body and providing the optimum support, durable Velcro fastenings letting you secure it all in place.
The belt attaches back to front, the design tapering around the stomach area letting you sit without the belt digging into your tummy, while the extra width at the back holds up your lumbar spine and tail bone with appropriate support and protection to manage and reduce pain. The clever structuring of the brace works such that it won’t roll or bunch up, or otherwise budge no matter how long you have it on or how active you are while wearing it. With hundreds of testimonials swearing by the effectiveness of this brace in relieving back pain and naturally curing it, this user-friendly brace is easy and effective to strap on at home or at work, elastic but resilient, the soft, comfortable fabric simple to wash out and re-use.
KEN’S BUDGET PICK
Mueller 255 Lumbar Support Back Brace
We have no end to our accolades for this product, from its pocket-friendly price point to how it hits all the right nails on the head as a low-profile back brace. With a dual layer design that gives you the most support, the structure of the belt allows you to adjust the fit to your body shape and comfort, the outer straps stretchy and accommodating to help you position it as you need around your lower back and stomach. The belt also comes with removable lumbar cushioning to bolster up your lower spine and keep it aligned, helping correct and support your posture and providing the desired compression allowing you to heal. Tough Velcro holds the belt in place throughout the day, while in-built molded plastic helps keep the belt’s shape, preventing it from bunching up or crumpling. Constructed out of soft, breathable fabrics including polyester and nylon, the brace is comfortable and lightweight to have on, not risking leaving you feeling too warm or stiff, letting you move around normally and without inhibition. The unisex design and versatile size ranges make this the ideal choice for anyone afflicted with back pain to give a go as a natural – and effective – therapy option.
Tough Velcro holds the belt in place throughout the day, while in-built molded plastic helps keep the belt’s shape, preventing it from bunching up or crumpling. Constructed out of soft, breathable fabrics including polyester and nylon, the brace is comfortable and lightweight to have on, not risking leaving you feeling too warm or stiff, letting you move around normally and without inhibition. The unisex design and versatile size ranges make this the ideal choice for anyone afflicted with back pain to give a go as a natural – and effective – therapy option.
RUNNER-UP
ComfyMed Breathable Mesh Back Brace
If you live somewhere warm and having a stifling belt attached to you all day is the last thing you’d want, this is the brace for you. Decked out with the same features winning us over for our top pick, the highlight of this belt is the breathable mesh situated at the back, making for proper ventilation and not leaving you sweaty and overheating. Double pull compression keeps the pressure off your lower back and supports the muscles around your stomach as well, sturdy Velcro fastenings holding the belt in place. The dual loop wraps it close and tight around your body, delivering the right balance of support and stability to help you go about your day without worrying about aggravating your back, keeping the pain on a manageable if not indiscernible down-low.
Unlike our top pick, though, this does not come with additional lumber cushioning, though the reinforced structure of the belt, soft and yielding to wear but sturdy enough to keep your posture correct and your spine immobile, works just as well to give your back pain a full shot at recovery. The dual loop wraps it close and tight around your body, delivering the right balance of support and stability to help you go about your day without worrying about aggravating your back, keeping the pain on a manageable if not indiscernible down-low. Unlike our top pick, though, this does not come with additional lumber cushioning, though the reinforced structure of the belt, soft and yielding to wear but sturdy enough to keep your posture correct and your spine immobile, works just as well to give your back pain a full shot at recovery.