7THSIN wrote:Stereo wrote:A back protector is not there to protect you from bruising... it is there to stop your back bending the wrong way.........
I think you'll find you've been slightly misinformed.
He's contracted the purpose of a back protector down into a single sentence, leaving out a few things, but he's left the most important bit in; back protectors minimise the likelihood of spinal injury by damping spinal movement ahead of everything else.
Yes, back protectors are designed to flex in only one direction, but I challenge you to find me a back protector that I cant bend 'the wrong way' by using my hands.
If manipulated slowly enough, the spine can almost be bent back on itself without sustaining injury. What bruises spinal cords, ruptures discs and so on is when *adjacent* vertebrae move too much relative to one another and/or if they move too quickly.
A segmented back protector prevents this by coupling several vertebrae together and by compressing the abdominal cavity with the girdle belt. Any bend is slowed down and spread across the whole spine.
They do help prevent hyperextension of the spine, but the main purpose is to cushion impacts and spread them over a larger area.
1. No, that is not the main purpose (how often do you hear about someone hitting their back in a stack).
2. Impact distribution is what the segments of a back protector achieve, anyway. A hit is spread out over the full length of a segment, and because the segments interlock, any hit is automatically spread out across the whole length of the back.
Reducing bruising and damage to your back, ribs and internal organs.
Internal bruising protection is entirely the job of the girdle belt.
