Dr. Werner Michael Heller has worked as a chiropractor treating neuro-musculoskeletal conditions for over 20 years. In conversation with bellicon, he explains why movement is often the better path for chronic back pain than rest – and how he uses the bellicon in his practice.
"I'd had a rebounder standing in my practice for years already," Heller says. "But it mostly just sat there as a prop, because the squeaking with every movement bothered me. A patient's wife pointed me toward the bellicon. To this day I find the device, thanks to its soft swing, very functional and valuable." In his practice, he set up a dedicated training room with bellicon mini-trampolines, where an instructor works with patients specifically on tone, relaxation and balance.
Back in 2016, Heller and bellicon ran an accompanying study: 25 participants from two practices with chronic musculoskeletal complaints trained on the bellicon. "We found no objectively measurable changes in posture or movement control," Heller explains. "What stood out, though, was that the standardized pain questionnaire (Bournemouth Questionnaire) showed significant changes. In particular, avoidance patterns – the fear of triggering further pain through movement – decreased markedly, and patients also felt significantly less restricted in their leisure and social behavior." His conclusion: through training on the bellicon, patients were able to improve their pain situation.