I was first introduced to the DDS 500 Brace at a company training. Disc Disease Solutions sales manager Steven Fontana had flown out to our corporate headquarters in Kansas City, KS, to educate our staff on how this new brace works so we could best represent it to our client base. As Steven began to explain how the brace creates decompression of the spine by lodging up under the rib cage and pushing down against the pelvic girdle, my interest immediately began to intensify.
I approached Steven after the training to inquire about getting one. I explained to him how I had been suffering from chronic back pain for the last 8 years (since my spinal compression fracture) and was on the verge of agreeing to back surgery.
Steven was kind enough to leave me with a sample brace and I began wearing it that day. I was very anxious to see if it would do what Steven claimed it would do—decompress my spine.
I had a 3 day ministry convention coming up where I would be standing in a booth long periods of time. I figured that would be the ultimate test for the DDS 500.
Well, it has been a month since I first started wearing the brace and I can honestly say I am very blessed to have received it. My back pain is pretty much eliminated. I still wear the DDS 500 from 2 to 4 hours per day. If I have a particularly long day on my feet, or have to do a lot of walking, or any serious lifting (not often, but occasionally) I still feel that old ache… but it is SIGNIFICANTLY improved. So much so, that I have really put off the idea of surgery.
I used to have nights when I couldn’t sleep, even with pretty heavy doses of anti-inflammatory medication, and sometimes even with prescription pain meds. I have not had a sleepless night (well, at least from back pain) since about a week after I began wearing the DDS 500.
I wore the DDS 500 for most of the time that I worked the 3-day ministry conference. I wore it under my polo, over a t-shirt, and it was quite comfortable for the extended hours I worked our booth. I am gearing up to work another 3 day festival on Labor Day weekend, and will be counting on my DDS 500 to pull me through again!
I have been very impressed with the amount of traction that it provides, without being uncomfortably tight. This is very important to me due to the fact that I wear an insulin pump. The infusion of the insulin along with the inserted blood glucose sensor has to have a very good amount of circulation through the area of interstitial fluid below the surface of the skin. What I have found with other “constriction” braces, is that they tend to inhibit the circulation of the interstitial fluid in and around my infusion sites, which would cause problems with the overall blood glucose control. I have been an insulin dependent diabetic since I was 8 years old. I have to be VERY careful about controlling my blood glucose levels, and this brace allows me to function comfortably at work, keeping my glucose under good control, while also providing much needed relief and allowing healing to take place in my back.
Thanks again to Steven and Disc Disease Solutions for providing this incredible product to me. I’m serious… I LOVE it!
Jim Gillespie
Knit-Rite Customer Service