A physician at Back Pain STL examines your back, decides whether this belongs in your plan and writes the order. A trained technician carries it out exactly as written. Nothing starts unless a physician is in the clinic and free to come to you right away.

What is it?

You stand with knees slightly bent and hands on the rails while the platform runs in short sets, with rest between. Your technician watches your posture and balance the whole time. About 10 minutes in all.

How does it help a sore back?

Deep in the low back sit small muscles, such as the multifidus, that hold each vertebra steady. Research has shown they can shrink and switch off after a back pain episode, while the big muscles on the surface take over and stay tight. That swap is one reason a back that has hurt once tends to hurt again.

The fast, gentle vibration makes those small muscles contract on their own. Repeating it over visits helps them remember their job, so the big muscles can relax.

What does it feel like?

A quick, soft buzz through your feet and up your legs. Keep your knees soft. You can step off or ask to stop at any time.

One-on-one. For the full session your technician stays at your side, logging the exact minute it begins and ends.

Who should not have it?

• Pregnancy
• A pacemaker or any implanted device
• A blood clot in a leg, or a recent fracture or surgery
• A history of seizures
• Recent eye surgery or a problem with the retina
• Kidney stones or gallstones
• Feeling dizzy or unsteady that day

Your technician reads the safety questions out loud before every visit. If your answers have changed, the physician decides before anything starts. You can ask to stop at any point.

More on this site: why back pain flares, when back pain takes your function.

Other treatments in the program

• Heat or cold
• Traction chair
• Laser therapy
• Shockwave therapy
• TENS

This page is part of our physiotherapy program for back pain, where a physician orders, supervises and re-checks every step.