Soft lumbar belt may ease persistent back pain

Clinical takeaway: Consider a nonrigid lumbar belt as a short-term adjunct to usual care for adults with nonspecific low back pain lasting 1 to 6 months, as it may modestly improve disability and pain while reducing reliance on analgesics.

Nonspecific low back pain affects most adults at some point and remains a leading cause of disability worldwide. Despite widespread use of lumbar belts, clinical guidelines have generally not recommended them because of limited and inconsistent evidence.

In this multicenter French randomized trial, 168 adults with nonspecific low back pain of 1 to 6 months' duration were assigned to wear a nonrigid lumbar belt for 12 weeks in addition to usual care or to receive usual care alone. Participants in the belt group were instructed to wear the device during daytime activities for 4 to 8 hours daily.

At 12 weeks, functional disability improved more with the belt, with Oswestry Disability Index scores decreasing by 10.0 points versus 5.3 points in the control group. Clinically meaningful improvement in disability (at least 30%) was achieved by 61% of patients using the belt compared with 41% of controls. Pain outcomes also favored the belt: pain at rest fell nearly 20 points versus 11 points with usual care, while pain during activity declined about 24 points versus 14 points. Improvements in activity-related pain emerged by week 3 and were sustained through follow-up.

Medication use was lower among belt users, with 51% using any back-pain medication during the study compared with 68% of controls. NSAID use was also reduced, occurring in 19% versus 37% of patients, respectively. No serious device-related adverse events were reported, and only a small number of patients experienced mild discomfort or skin irritation.

“Lumbar belts may be considered as a nonpharmacological option to help manage pain and functional disability in nonspecific low back pain,” the authors concluded.

Source: Grange L, et al. (2026 Aug 19) JAMA Netw Open. Lumbar Belt for Nonspecific Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial