How to relieve lower back pain without the need for painkillers
<p>If you’re suffering from lower back pain that just won’t go away and have tried everything to get rid of it, don’t despair – we may have the perfect answer.</p>
<p>At the turn of the 21<sup>st</sup> century, semi-retired Wanganui farmer Colin Cox learned from his friend and fellow farmer, the late Sir Peter Elworthy, a remarkable fact: possum fur is hollow. The only other animals with hollow fur are the Polar bear and the Arctic fox. Being hollow, Colin reasoned that possum fur, when worn directly against the skin, would trap heat and keep the wearer warm. It is this warmth that helps relieve back pain. Soon enough, the idea for the Painaway Possum Fur Pain Relief Belt was born.<strong> </strong></p>
<p>After a lifetime in farming, Colin’s back was suffering badly so, alerted by Sir Peter’s information, he made a possum fur pad that he could rest against when sitting down. To his surprise he found that when he got up, rather than the pain being more intense (as was usually the case), much of it had disappeared.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Colin then made some rudimentary belts from treated possum fur, which he gave to friends with back pain to try. Invariably the feedback was that much of their pain was taken away when the belt was worn, fur against the skin.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7829757/colin-cox.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/3a7c2771b77347bba39867481c14e09b" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Colin Cox, inventor of the Possum Belt</em></p>
<p>The science behind Colin’s discovery is simple. Because it’s hollow, possum fur ‘breathes’. This is the main reason it provides pain relief when worn against the skin – when other fibres do not. Possum fur provides thermal stability to the area of the body where it’s positioned (eg, lower back). This helps to maintain a stable temperature about two degrees warmer than the skin surface. Possum fur also prevents perspiration, condensation and stickiness building up on the skin, as its hollow fibres assist evaporation of surface moisture. If other fibres (such as wool) are worn directly against the skin, there is initial warmth – but before long, with heat build-up, the skin perspires and the wearer’s back becomes sticky and clammy.</p>
<p>Now that he was finding success with his discovery, Colin needed to spread the word. Ideally he wanted a prominent person, a celebrity, known to have a back problem. While out bowling one afternoon a friend came to the rescue with just two words: ‘Mahe Drysdale’.</p>
<p><strong>The Mahe Drysdale story</strong></p>
<p>In 2010, up-and-coming Olympic rower Mahe Drysdale was laid low with osteoarthritis. There were days when his back pain was so intense that he could not train. He’d tried everything for relief but nothing worked and his rowing future looked very bleak.</p>
<p>In 2011 Mahe learned about the possum belt from Colin, was sceptical, but agreed to trial it. To his amazement (and obvious delight) much of his pain went away. Wearing the belt, Mahe was able to resume training and just 12 months later he astonished the world by winning gold at the 2012 Olympics.</p>
<p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.452px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7829759/mahe-drysdale-showing-off-gold-medal-2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/e4d52fee2d76498b9a52739095e0b91d" /></p>
<p>Then, four years later, in 2016 he repeated the win by gaining gold for the second time.</p>
<p>Mahe admitted that without the Painaway belt he could not have trained, let alone entered and won the Olympics. He has now worn the belt virtually 24 hours a day for the past eight years. He was wearing it when he won in 2012, 2016 and will undoubtedly be wearing it again for 2020’s big race.</p>
<p><strong>Other success stories</strong></p>
<p>Besides Mahe, Painaway has many other success stories of people who have suffered chronic back pain for many years (in some cases over 60 years) and who are also obtaining varying degrees of relief.</p>
<p>A lady in Rotorua was on 2000mg of pain-killers a day and was about to undergo back surgery. She was given the Painaway belt by her partner and two days later was off painkillers and free of pain. She then cancelled her back surgery and dropped her highly addictive medication.</p>
<p>Fraser Gordon is a 67-year-old working farmer from Taihape. More than 30 years ago he wrecked his back lifting sheep. During many years of intense pain he tried various remedies but nothing seemed to work.</p>
<p>Some years ago he came across the Possum belt and decided to give it a try. In his own words ‘the results were incredible’. When he wears the belt he has virtually no pain and when he doesn’t the pain returns. Since first getting the belt Fraser has bought another 20 or so to give to friends and relatives with back pain.</p>
<p>An Auckland lady, Isapeli Aholelei, suffered for years from severe osteoarthritis, which caused her considerable pain in her lower back and also affected her sleep. She recently purchased a Possum Fur Pain Relief Belt. Very quickly her pain started to go away. She now wears the belt both during the day and also to bed. When asked to say how much relief she got, she replied that her arthritis back pain had dropped by about 40% since wearing the belt and that she was also able to sleep much better at night.</p>
<p>A “good night’s sleep” is something that many users report. Take the case of former soldier Don Merito. As a Vietnam veteran there were many occasions during training and active service where Don and his comrades jumped from helicopters and moving vehicles, carrying heavy packs. This resulted in severe, long-term, chronic back pain.</p>
<p>Despite years of acupuncture, osteopathy, massage and chiropractic treatments to relieve the pain, nothing ever really worked and results were always only temporary.</p>
<p>With his belt, Don says he has finally found something that, combined with exercise, enables him to live for the first time in many years without pain. He now enjoys working in the garden (which he could never do before for more than a few minutes), doing household chores and, for the first time in years, having a good night’s sleep – all painfree and “absolutely wonderful”.</p>
<p><strong>Clinical studies and the belt</strong></p>
<p>Clinical studies carried out in 2014 show an average pain relief of 25%, with many people reporting up to 60% or more. Some even say they achieve 100% relief!</p>
<p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7829758/possumbelt-infographic.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/cbe7e622b50941f294c687502f8982ec" /></p>
<p>The belt consists of a rectangular piece of quality fur (each possum yields enough fur for one belt), sewn to a black, 18cm-wide wrap-around stretch Neoprene belt. This is then held together with a Velcro fastener.</p>
<p>The Painaway belt costs just $285 which, for those with severe chronic back pain, is a bargain. On the other hand, if you are a SuperGold card holder then Painaway offers a 10% discount – which reduces the price to $256.50.</p>
<p>Use the coupon code SUPERG (when ordering online) to get the discount. If you need a little extra time to pay, the company also offers an instalment plan of just $67.50 month over four months for over 65s, or $75 month to all others.</p>
<p><em>To find out more about this life-changing product, go to <a href="http://www.Painaway.org.nz">www.Painaway.org.nz</a> or call 0800 115 241 or 027 471 2242 for a free brochure or to order over the phone.</em></p>
