PUTTING BACKS ON TRACK

By WENDY COLE/BURLINGTON

Ooohh. Owww. You can just about hear the collective groans. In leaning over to pluck the latest wonder treatment for wrinkles or hair loss off store shelves, baby boomers keep being reminded of another skirmish in the Sisyphean battle against time: their aching backs. About 80% of all men and women will suffer from back pain at some time during their lives, and an estimated third of those between the ages of 40 and 55 are struggling with it right now. But doctors can definitively diagnose the problem in only about 10% of cases. Curing the ache is even trickier. Surgery, for example, rarely provides significant benefit, according to a 1994 Federal Government report.

But the 35-to-50-year-old set refuses to give in to complaints its forebears accepted as the price of getting older. No one knows that better than the purveyors of products designed to ease or ward off cricks in the lower back. Consumers spent some $2.5 billion last year on such gadgets, and entrepreneurs expect business to get even better. Says Virginia Rogers, president of Relax the Back, the nation's largest back-products chain (55 stores, $30 million in anticipated sales this year): "When I got into this business eight years ago, I expected most of our customers to be senior citizens. I was wrong. It is the baby boomers who insist on comfort and feeling good. And they are willing to spend money for it."

Are they getting what they pay for? It depends on their expectations. Gizmos ranging from water-filled pillows to "magic finger" neck massagers to racks that let sufferers hang upside down can indeed provide some relief to a nagging back. "There is no evidence that they prevent a recurrence of back pain," says Dr. Gunnar Andersson, chairman of orthopedics at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago. "On the other hand, there is little risk that any product will cause serious harm. Perhaps what feels good should be good enough."

Deciding just how to feel good is getting harder, though, as new back relaxers keep coming on the market. Three of the hottest products showing up in catalogs and stores:

The Somatron Recliner Cushion ($895) looks like a plush gymnastics mat; in fact, it's designed to increase circulation and relax tight muscles by vibrating in response to the sounds emanating from a stereo or TV set. It works, says inventor Byron Eakin, based in Tampa, Florida, because music is more likely than mechanical vibrations "to achieve the mind-body connection." Well, maybe. "For some people it could be a soothing anesthetic," acknowledges William Valusek of the American College of Chiropractic Orthopedists. "For others it would merely be irritating."

Living up to its name, the Thumper Mini-Pro ($229) pounds on the back instead of rubbing it. Invented by nonpracticing chiropractor Ed Noble of Toronto, the Thumper is currently being rolled out at Sharper Image and Brookstone stores. How it works is no secret, say the experts; the device temporarily masks back pain with a more powerful sensation.

More scientifically credible, though, seems to be the BackCycler ($199). Created by Dr. Rowland Hazard, a professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation at the University of Vermont in Burlington, it's essentially a portable air bag that automatically inflates and deflates on a two-minute cycle, flexing the spine during periods of prolonged sitting. Consumers seemed to love it in marketing tests, which has helped persuade United Airlines to install the device in the business- and first-class seats of 40 planes. They should be flying by late summer. The BackCycler is also being studied by GM and John Deere.

That doesn't mean the BackCycler or any other product offers a permanent cure. As Dr. Richard Deyo, professor of medicine at the University of Washington, points out, "When people test a new gadget, they usually feel better." The effect may soon wear off. Moreover, say doctors, a product that eases the pain of one person may do nothing for another with identical symptoms. Besides, what makers of expensive back-pain devices often neglect to tell consumers is that time is often the most effective treatment of all. On average, back pain will go away by itself within three weeks 75% of the time and within three months 95% of the time.

It's also possible to help keep back pain from recurring, but that calls for something many people aren't ready to deal with. "The one thing we know generally helps is exercise," says Deyo. "However, this requires exertion, not passive gadgets." Remaining active may be the least expensive route to preventing and conquering an aching back. But it's a safe bet that gadget-loving baby boomers will stick with higher-tech, higher-priced solutions instead--and that the back-pain industry needn't worry about a recession anytime soon.