The Original Boston Overlap Brace Review "BOB"

BOSTON OVERLAP BRACE - "Proven to Relieve Pain"

”The potential for effective treatment of back pain in active children and adults with the BOB

was confirmed by extensive clinical trials”

      Lyle J. Micheli, MD, Director, Division of Sports Medicine, The

     Children’s Hospital Boston, MA USA

”The Boston Overlap Brace is a proven orthosis for relieving pain from numerous spinal indications”

      John E. Hall, MD, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Harvard

     Medical School, MA, USA

Back Ground

Originally called the ”Modified Boston Brace”, the Boston Overlap Brace (BOB) represents a major refinement of the well known Boston Brace system and was initially designed in response to the need for a bracing system to treat high school football players seen at the children’s hospital in Boston,usa

These young athletes suffered from a number of football related back injuries, principally spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis. Initial clinical tests (on the football players, as well as on other sports participants with a variety of back injuries)showed the BOB to be effective in improving patient comfort and mobility in over 90% of cases.

Further clinical research and development have resulted in the BOB of today, which has proven to be a useful addition to the armoury of the physician managing back pain in the adult patient.

 

HOW IT WORKS

The Boston Overlap Brace (BOB) works in a simple yet remarkably effective manner. First, the sturdy but comfortable polyethylene frame, which can be padded with an optional thermobonded liner, safely positions the lower back region until there is sufficient muscular relaxation to alleviate most of the pain.

At the same time, the frontal enclosure of the brace works to compress the lower abdominal muscles in order to control lordosis of the spine through use of the various anterior/posterior shapes that may be required.

Repeated testing and evaluation confirm that the BOB’s combination of intra-abdominal pressure,

attainment of an antilordotic posture of the spine and the spinal distraction effect, results in significant improvement in back pain for most patients.