Doctors often recommend that patients with post-operative back surgery or back pain wear a waist brace, so why should they wear one? How to wear a waist brace correctly? It is a question that patients often ask, here I will discuss this issue with you. 1.Why should I wear a lumbar girth? After lumbar spine surgery, under the protection of the lumbar girth, the muscles of the waist can be relaxed, and the waist can be reduced by 25% to complete the patient’s daily activities, which is conducive to the recovery of the muscles of the low back. In addition, wearing a lumbar girth correctly can effectively limit the forward flexion and back extension activities of the lumbar spine, which is conducive to the recovery of the lumbar spine after surgery. However, the lumbar girth cannot reduce the gravity coming from above the body, so it is still important to avoid excessive lumbar activities when wearing a lumbar girth after surgery. For non-surgical patients, the same principle, wearing a lumbar girth can partially replace the muscles of the low back to maintain the daily activities of the body, improve the stress condition of the muscles of the low back, so that the muscles can be relaxed and slow down the back pain. In addition, the unstable activity of the spine is a major cause of low back pain, and wearing a lumbar girth can largely limit the activities of the back, thus relieving the pain of the back. 2.How to wear a waist brace? First of all, for the choice of waist circumference, the waist circumference should be high enough, the height should be up to the lower edge of the rib cage and down to the bottom of the iliac spine, do not use too narrow, too short waist circumference, so as to avoid excessive lumbar convexity and abdominal tightness. It is also not advisable to wear a waist brace that is too tight, so as not to increase the pressure on the abdomen. The patient should feel more comfortable after wearing it and the waist circumference is most suitable. In addition, the lumbar girth should not be worn for too long. If it is worn for a long time, it will make the patient dependent, which is not conducive to the recovery of the lumbar region after surgery. Generally speaking, the patient wears it for 1.5 to 3 months after surgery, and the longest time should not exceed 3 months. Wearing it for too long is prone to lumbar muscle weakness, muscle atrophy, and restricted spinal movement. If it is a patient with simple back pain, wear the waist circumference for 1-1.5 months. 3.Do I have to wear the waist circumference all the time? The waist brace for post-operative patients is not meant to be worn 24 hours a day. When lying in bed, there is no pressure on the waist, so there is no need to wear a waist brace. You will need to wear a waist brace whenever you get out of bed and move around until 3 months after surgery. In addition, when you are not wearing a lumbar brace in bed, you can exercise your low back muscles (refer to my article “Neck and Low Back Exercises (Little Swallow Fly and Five Point Support)”), so that the combination of exercise and wearing a lumbar brace will be more beneficial to the recovery of your back after surgery.