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With back pain having a negative impact on many people's lives, a new device is promising relief without surgery.

Back problems made getting in the car and driving a painful and frightening ordeal for Mary Heckman, of Elizabeth.

"One day I was driving home, and went to take my foot off the brake to move it to the gas - it was totally numb," said Heckman.

With an hour commute to work, she had to do something. Medicine, physical therapy, injections and surgery helped to a point, but it was driving that brought her symptoms back.

"Every time I went back to driving, the numbness came back, the pain came back," she said.

Heckman says her chiropractor gave her a prototype of the RevitaBack, a belt worn with a harness when you sit.

"It was the first time I drove home in almost three years with no numbness. When I got out of the car, I could actually walk straight up and go up the stairs," said Heckman.

However, she admits that it's a little tricky to use in a car and feels like a girdle.

"Once you're in the chair and it's attached, it's really comfortable," she added.

In their quest to better understand non-surgical treatments for back pain, Allegheny General Hospital doctors have partnered with the makers of RevitaBack to do a small pilot study.

They are testing whether it reduces pressure on the spine by helping you sit up straight.

"My mother always told me to sit up straight," said Boyle Cheng, Ph.D., of Allegheny General Hospital neurosurgery. "So, growing up we always asked, 'Why should I sit up straight?' And there was not a real good answer other than, 'Mother told you too.' So, we wanted to find out if in fact we can prove that particular statement."
 

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