Low back and hip treatment device

A muscular therapy treatment apparatus for patient self-treatment, and a method for its use, in applying concentrated pressure to deeply positioned non-palpable muscles underlying other muscle tissue in the hip area of a patient. The apparatus comprises a rigid planar base support and a treatment member upwardly depending from the central portion of the base support. The distal end of the treatment member has a sharp beveled edge for applying pressure to the deeply positioned muscles in a maximum range of sixty to one hundred pounds of pressure, or more, to lengthen them and thereby provide treated patients with relief from muscular tension and pain which had been a result of excess contraction in those muscles. In the preferred embodiment it is contemplated for the distal end of the treatment member to be removably attached so that sharp edges of differing widths and length can be used for different treatment needs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to devices used for muscular therapy treatment of 
muscles in the hip area of a patient and which are associated with the 
lower portion of the spine, specifically to apparatus designed for patient 
self-treatment, and a method for its use, which has a planar base support 
with a treatment member upwardly depending therefrom, the treatment member 
having a sharp, beveled upper edge which can apply to deeply positioned 
non-palpable muscles underlying other muscle tissue, concentrated pressure 
in a maximum range of sixty to one hundred pounds of pressure, or more, to 
cause a lengthening of those of the deeply positioned muscles having 
excess contraction and thereby provide treated patients with relief from 
muscular tension and pain which had been a result of such excess 
contraction. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
People commonly experience musculoskeletal pain and muscular tension, the 
source of which can be related to sports activities, other strenuous 
physical activity, accidents, poor posture, medical conditions, as well as 
other causes. Such pain is routinely treated by a variety of procedures 
which include the use of anti-inflammatory drugs, narcotic medications, 
thermal devices to raise or lower the temperature of affected tissues, 
electric stimulation, ultrasound, physical therapy, and massage therapy. 
However, while use of these treatment procedures can be effective for the 
temporary relief of adverse symptoms and limited mobility related thereto, 
they are usually not effective in relieving the cause of the symptoms. 
Also, the drugs and medications can induce adverse side effects in 
patients. 
Muscular therapy is an alternative to the above-mentioned treatments in 
relieving musculoskeletal pain and tension. Unlike massage therapy which 
treats the muscle itself superficially, or physical therapy which works to 
strengthen weak spots, muscular therapy is the practice of repeatedly 
applying concentrated pressure to a muscle to release therefrom the 
build-up of lactic acid and other metabolic byproducts resulting from 
strenuous exercise, spasm, and/or tension. Upon such release, normal blood 
flow is restored to a muscle, diminishing pain and tension. As pressure is 
applied gradually and specifically to the point of spasm, sometimes the 
size of a small pea, three changes occur. First the muscle tissue 
lengthens, which is observable under a microscope. Second, the electrical 
activity of the nerve that innervates the area is reduced, a change which 
is measurable by EMG units, such as those typically used for biofeedback. 
Third, three acids are released, lactic acid, carbonic acid, and 
hyaluronic acid which result in the sting and discomfort felt by the 
patient during the application of the pressure. As this therapeutic 
process continues, the muscle tissues soften, the discomfort diminishes, 
and when all of the acid is removed from the muscle, one hundred pounds or 
more of pressure can usually be applied to the muscle with no discomfort. 
Muscular therapy takes an engineering approach to treating the body by 
viewing it as a series of cables and fulcrums. By identifying the muscles 
operating different fulcrums during a repeated activity, diagnosis and 
treatment of pain and limited mobility caused by the repeated activity can 
be provided through the use of physics and the repetitive application of 
concentrated pressure to specific muscles one-at-a-time to lengthen them 
so that associated joints can move with less restriction. Relief provided 
by muscular therapy is often immediate and allows the quick resumption of 
activity. Preventative muscular therapy and self-treatment can prevent 
problems from recurring. Also, with continued muscular therapy, muscles 
have a faster response time, greater stamina, more leverage, and increased 
power and accuracy. Further, people with a skewed center of gravity, both 
disease-related and that due to poor posture, can achieve better balance 
through muscular therapy. In addition, repetitive application of pressure 
to injured tissue, in addition to relieving pain and enhancing blood 
circulation, desensitizes it and helps to speed the maturation of scars. 
Traditionally, muscular therapy treatments have been performed manually by 
therapists using their fingers, hands, elbows, and the like, to press down 
on muscles to stretch them and enhance circulation therein. Muscular 
therapy is physically demanding on a therapist since in performing certain 
treatment procedures, such as when an attempt is made to loosen back 
muscles, the muscular therapist is required to apply pressures which 
sometimes exceed sixty pounds of pressure. As a work day progresses it is 
common for therapists to tire, and non-uniform treatments may result. Also 
as a consequence of the physical demands placed upon them, many muscular 
therapists have had to limit the amount of time they manually perform 
tissue manipulation. In muscular therapy applied to some parts of the 
body, patients can perform manual self-treatment with their hands, 
however, patients are prevented from effective self-treatment by hand 
manipulation of muscles in the side and rear portions of their hip area, 
due to the awkward angles required for a patient to reach such muscles and 
apply deep concentrated pressure thereto. The present invention provides a 
means for patient self-treatment of deeply positioned non-palpable muscles 
underlying other muscle tissue in a patient's hip area, such as the 
quadratus lumborum muscles attached between the transverse processes of 
the lumbar vertebrae and the crest of each ilium, as well as the 
piriformis muscles attached between the sacrum and the top portion of each 
femur, through the application of concentrated pressure which duplicates 
the type of pressure manually applied by muscular therapist hands. The 
present invention device does not tire during a day's work and will apply 
consistently uniform pressures. While it is known to have rounded devices 
with larger diameters, typically golf ball size, which can apply soothing, 
superficial pressure to such muscles, as well as devices which can stretch 
surface muscles in a patient's hip area, it is not known to have a 
treatment device which has a planar base support and a treatment member 
with a sharp beveled edge upwardly depending therefrom that can be used to 
apply deep concentrated pressure to muscles in a patient's hip area and 
wherein the application of deep concentrated pressure with the treatment 
device closely duplicates manual muscular therapy treatment procedures 
with muscular therapist hands, and further wherein the repeated amounts of 
deep, concentrated pressure being applied for periods of time approaching 
ten minutes causes muscles in the treated area, as well as muscles 
associated with the treated muscles, to lengthen and thereby provide the 
patient with relief from tension and pain which had been the result of 
excess contraction in those treated muscles. 
The prior art thought to be most closely associated with the present 
invention are the inventions disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,469 to Moeny 
(1993) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,612 to Benjamin (1978). The Moeny invention 
discloses a device which applies therapeutic pressure against the skin of 
a patient to compress tissues lying beneath the skin. It is contemplated 
for use in treating ailments responsive to accupressure therapy. The Moeny 
invention comprises a hand-held sensor which is electrically connected to 
means by which the amount of pressure applied can be measured. The Moeny 
invention differs from the present invention in that the Moeny invention 
has a blunt tip with which to contact a patient's skin and therefore it 
wouldn't be able to apply sufficient pressure to cause lengthening in the 
deeply positioned non-palpable muscles in the hip area of the patient, 
muscles such as the quadratus lumborum and the piriformis muscles which on 
an average human male are located approximately three to four inches below 
the skin surface. The action of the beveled sharp edge of the present 
invention creates concentrated pressure against a patient's skin of 
sufficient magnitude to reach and treat muscles positioned deeply beneath 
the skin. Also, the Moeny invention has no base support for its treatment 
member and therefore it must be hand-held against a patient's skin. As a 
result it would not reduce the physical demand placed upon the therapist, 
as does the present invention when the sharp upper edge of its treatment 
member is positioned between the patient and a patient support such as a 
chair, or when the patient lays in a supine position upon it, to apply 
deep concentrated pressure to the point of discomfort to deep muscles 
positioned between the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae and 
the crest of the ilium, as well as muscles between the sacrum and the top 
portion of the femur. 
The Benjamin invention comprises a tension relieving device having three 
elongated members positioned between two triangular-shaped end caps. Each 
elongated member has a longitudinal arcuate free edge which projects at a 
120.degree. angle relative to the next adjacent elongated member. Thus, 
the Benjamin invention has three arcuate edges for tension-relieving 
muscular treatment, particularly in the occiput area at the base of the 
skull. However, the arcuate edges of the Benjamin invention would prevent 
it from treating deeply positioned non-palpable muscles in the area of a 
patient's hip to the point of discomfort, particularly those muscles 
positioned approximately three to four inches below the skin surface. 
Also, the present invention has an advantage over the Benjamin invention 
in that the present invention has a broader base support to more securely 
position the treatment member during use to apply concentrated pressures 
between sixty and one hundred pounds of pressure. Further, it is 
contemplated for the present invention to include an embodiment where the 
distal end of its treatment probe is removable so that beveled sharp edges 
of differing widths and length can be interchangeably employed for more 
versatile treatment of patients. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a patient 
self-treatment device that duplicates the type of deep concentrated 
pressures applied manually by the hands of muscular therapists to 
non-palpable muscles deeply positioned in the hip area of a patient to 
reduce the physical burdens placed upon muscular therapists in applying 
the high pressures exceeding sixty pounds of pressure necessary to 
effectively treat such muscles to cause them to lengthen and thereby 
provide treated patients with relief from muscular tension and pain which 
had been the result on excess contraction in the treated muscles. It is 
also an object of the present invention to provide a device which can 
apply one hundred pounds of pressure, or more, to reach the quadratus 
lumborum and piriformis muscles which are located approximately three to 
four inches below the skin surface on an average human male. It is a 
further object of the present invention to provide a device which realigns 
the hip bones to relieve sciatica. A further object of the present 
invention is to provide a patient self-treatment device which duplicates 
manual muscular therapy treatments used in a patient's hip area, but 
provides more consistent and uniform patient treatments than human 
therapist hands which can become tired during the progress of a day's 
work. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a patient 
self-treatment device for duplication of manual muscular therapy 
treatments for the hip area that is made from materials which are low in 
cost, lightweight and thereby convenient to use, and easily cleaned 
between patient uses. 
As described herein, properly manufactured and used, the present invention 
would provide a compact, easy-to-use treatment apparatus for applying deep 
concentrated pressure to muscles positioned in the lumbar area of a 
patient to relax and lengthen such muscles and thereby, as the muscles 
relax, permit more freedom of movement of the lumbar area, the hip bones, 
and the upper leg. It is important to note that the present invention does 
not apply force to bones to coax them into place in an effort to realign 
them. Any bone realignment resulting from muscular therapy treatment is a 
direct and automatic result of the elimination of excess muscle 
contraction. The present invention can be built from a variety of 
inexpensive materials and since it has a simple structure which is easy to 
manufacture, it could be made readily affordable to muscular therapists 
for widespread application, as well as for widespread self-treatment use 
by patients. Since it is a rigid device, it would not fatigue and could 
provide more consistent and more uniform treatments than the hands of a 
human muscular therapist. One preferred embodiment of the present 
invention contemplates its base support and treatment member to be made 
from plastic materials as a one piece unit through the use of molded 
construction. Thus the present invention would be light in weight and easy 
to clean between patient uses. The sharp beveled upper edge of the 
treatment member allows the treatment member to apply high, concentrated 
pressure to deeply positioned muscles which underlay other layers of 
muscle tissue, such as the quadratus lumborum muscles which are attached 
between the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae and the crest of 
each ilium, and the piriformis muscles which are attached between the 
sacrum and the tip of the great trochanter of the femur. By relaxing these 
muscles and properly realigning bones in the hip area, sciatica can be 
relieved. The present invention can be used by a patient lying on a flat 
surface with the intended treatment area positioned upon the sharp upper 
edge of the treatment member, or by a patient sitting in a chair with the 
present invention positioned between the patient and the back or side of 
the chair. When a patient is in a prone position with bent knees, 
depending upon the body weight of the patient, up to one hundred pounds of 
pressure, or more, can be applied to muscles deeply positioned within the 
patient's hip area. Known prior art devices distribute applied forces, 
instead of concentrating them, and are not able to reach and treat the 
deep muscles positioned in the hip area to lengthen them and provide a 
patient with increased mobility and relief from tension and pain. It is 
also contemplated for the distal end of the treatment member to be 
removably attached so that sharp edges of differing widths and length can 
be used for different treatment needs. 
The description herein provides preferred embodiments of the present 
invention, but should not be construed as limiting the scope of the 
muscular therapy invention. For example, variations in the type of 
material from which the base support is made as long as the material is 
sufficiently rigid to perform its function and easily cleaned, the type of 
material from which the upwardly depending treatment member is made, the 
length of the treatment member, the thickness of the base support, and the 
process by which the base support and the treatment member are joined, 
other than those shown and described herein, can be incorporated into the 
present invention. Thus the scope of the present invention should be 
determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than 
the examples given.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention for treatment 
of muscles in the hip area of a patient and denoted by the reference 
number 10 as a whole. Hip muscle treatment device 10 comprises a rigid 
planar base support 12 and a treatment member 14 upwardly depending from 
the central portion of base support 12. The configuration and dimension of 
base support 12 is not critical to the present invention as long as it has 
sufficient dimension to hold treatment member 14 in a secure position 
during muscular therapy use. Also, the material from which base support 12 
is made is not critical to the present invention as long as it has 
sufficient rigidity to support treatment member 14 while it applies 
adequate pressure to contracted muscles in the intended treatment area of 
a patient to lengthen them. In FIG. 1 base support 12 is shown to have a 
square configuration and in the preferred embodiment it is contemplated 
for each of the sides of base support 12 to have a minimum length of 
approximately six inches and for base support 12 and treatment member 14 
to be made from plastic materials which are lightweight and easily cleaned 
after patient use. In the preferred embodiment it is also contemplated for 
base support 12 and treatment member 14 to be made as a single unit from 
molded construction. FIG. 1 also shows treatment member 14 having a distal 
end with a sharp edge 16. In hip muscle treatment device 10 it is 
contemplated for sharp edge 16 to have a beveled construction. Although 
not shown in FIG. 1, it is also contemplated for the distal end of 
treatment member 14, including sharp edge 16, to be releasably attached to 
the remainder of treatment probe 14 so that sharp beveled edges 16 of 
differing widths and length can be interchangeably used to treat differing 
patient needs. 
FIG. 2 shows a patient 18 positioned upon a patient supporting chair 20, 
with base support 12 and attached treatment member 14 positioned between 
patient 18 and chair 20. FIG. 2 shows the distal end of treatment member 
14 in contact with the lumbar area of patient 18. Although not shown, it 
is also contemplated for patient 18 to lie upon a flat surface with the 
present invention positioned between patient 18 and the flat surface and 
sharp edge 16 in contact with the hip area of patient 18. When patient 18 
is in a prone position with bent knees, depending upon the body weight of 
patient 18, pressures at least exceeding sixty pounds of pressure, and 
sometimes pressures exceeding one hundred pounds of pressure, can be 
applied with treatment member 14 to muscles deeply positioned within the 
hip area of patient 18. 
FIG. 3 shows the lumbar region of patient 18 having the piriformis muscle 
30 attached between the sacrum 24 and the top portion of the femur 28. 
FIG. 3 also shows the quadratus lumborum muscle 34 attached between the 
12.sup.th rib 36, the transverse processes of lumbar vertebrae 32, and the 
upper crest of the ilium of hip bone 26. Although not shown, in the 
average human male, the quadratus lumborum muscle 34 and the piriformis 
muscle 30 can be located between approximately three and four inches below 
the skin surface of patient 18. In the preferred embodiment it is 
contemplated for the height of treatment member 14 to range between 
approximately two-and-one-half inches and three-and-one-half inches. 
To use the present invention, patient 18 would be placed upon a patient 
support, such as chair 20 or a flat surface such as a floor (not shown), 
with base support 12 in contact with the patient support and the distal 
end of treatment member 14 in contact with the intended treatment area in 
the lumbar region of patient 18. With patient 18 in proper position, sharp 
edge 16 will apply deep concentrated pressure to muscles in the treatment 
area of patient 18, such as the quadratus lumborum muscle 34 which is 
attached between the transverse processes of lumbar vertebrae 32 and the 
crest of the ilium of hip bone 26 or the piriformis muscle 30 which is 
attached between the sacrum 24 and the femur 28, to lengthen them for 
automatic realignment of hip bone 26 as a result of such lengthening, as 
well as elimination of pain previously associated with the treated area 
due to excess muscle contraction. Depending upon the body weight of 
patient 18, pressures at least exceeding sixty pounds of pressure, and 
sometimes pressures exceeding one hundred pounds of pressure, can be 
applied with treatment member 14 to muscles deeply positioned within the 
hip area of patient 18. It is contemplated for patient 18 to remain 
positioned against sharp edge 16 for periods of time not exceeding ten 
minutes. Relief of pain and increased mobility will often immediately 
follow muscular therapy treatment. Use of hip muscle treatment device 10 
duplicates manual muscular therapy treatments performed by muscular 
therapist hands on deeply positioned, non-palpable hip muscles of patient 
18 and thereby reduces the overall risk of muscular therapists to injury 
resulting from repeated application of over one hundred pounds of 
concentrated pressure to muscular tissues which is sometimes required to 
lengthen deeper muscles underlying other muscle tissue and located 
approximately between three and four inches below the skin surface of 
patient 18. Use of the present invention does not reduce the quality of 
treatment provided to patients, and it enables patients to administer 
uniform and effective self-treatment to muscles attached to their spinal 
vertebrae.