Living pain-free: Franz's fight against chronic back pain

Reduced quality of life due to back pain

Around 1.5 million people in Switzerland are affected by chronic pain. Of these, one in three suffers from chronic back pain. Franz Roos was one of them for many years. His ordeal began in his youth with persistent lower back pain and ultimately led to back surgery. Find out in the interview how the trained draughtsman, bricklayer and foreman became pain-free and what he advises other people with chronic pain.

Back patients give up their hobbies due to pain

Back pain robs those affected of a lot of energy and severely impairs their everyday life. Especially if it is so severe that it radiates to the head or feet. As a result, club sports such as football are suddenly no longer possible, or people give them up in order to avoid more intense back pain the following day. The latter was often the case for Franz Roos in his younger years. Sometimes his pain was so severe that he avoided other, non-physically demanding leisure activities altogether. It is therefore not surprising that chronic pain also affects the psyche. This makes it all the more important to tackle the problem proactively, seek therapeutic advice and diagnose the cause of the pain as quickly as possible.

What therapy do sufferers use to alleviate their chronic back pain in the long term?

Franz Roos is now pain-free - but the road to getting there was arduous and required a lot of patience and self-discipline. After numerous therapy visits and a back operation, which brought relief but not freedom from pain, he finally found his sustainable recipe for success. In this interview, he reveals which therapy methods helped him achieve his goal and which lessons other sufferers should take to heart.

«If I had known back then how effective targeted back exercises and heat therapy were for me, I might have been spared an operation.» – Franz Roos, trained bricklayer, draughtsman, site manager and administrator

Franz, do you know what triggered your chronic back pain at the time?

«My back was put under a lot of strain early on due to the recruit school and my work as a draughtsman, bricklayer and foreman. When I later moved to the office, I no longer challenged my back daily by lifting heavy loads, but the office job did add new back strains. I was also struggling with persistent tension in my neck and shoulders due to the constant, long periods of sitting. The bad posture at the computer also increased the pain in my lumbar spine.»

What did you do to alleviate the lower back pain?

«I often went to the physiotherapist and also tried out various conservative treatment methods. Unfortunately, the pain became more and more pronounced, particularly in the lumbar spine, and the restrictions in everyday life became greater. Consequently, I saw an operation as the only way to finally regain my quality of life. So in 1990 I underwent surgery on the L4/5 disc.»

How did the pain develop after the disc operation?

«Immediately after the operation on the intervertebral disc, the pain subsided somewhat, but it still restricted my everyday life. The scarring as a result of the operation was probably responsible for this.»

Which form of therapy did you make the best progress with?

«I tried a lot of things to become pain-free: These included strength training in the fitness centre and physiotherapy exercises, chiropractic and heat therapy. I quickly realised that heat, regular exercise and intensive physiotherapy were the best way for me to relieve the pain. And by "intensive" I mean that it wasn't enough just to attend the weekly sessions with the physiotherapist. To become pain-free, I had to stick strictly to my therapy plan and do the necessary exercises at home every day. This included targeted strength and stretching exercises in the lumbar vertebrae, neck and shoulder area.

My great suffering and the restrictions in my everyday life were motivation enough to show the necessary discipline. At first it was only small steps towards improvement, but they motivated me to keep at it. After a few months of intensive physiotherapy with back exercises, I made significant progress and about two years later I was actually pain-free. The pain relapses steadily decreased - a feeling that felt like Christmas to me!»

Pain-free after many years - congratulations! And how do you treat occasional pain relapses?

«As I knew that heat relaxes and can relieve pain, I set out to find the right heat therapy for me, starting with bathing cures. However, I realised that this type of heat didn't help me. On the contrary, the pain actually got worse after each bath. I also used heat ointments and chemical heat plasters. These didn't have the desired effect either, as they only seemed to treat my areas of pain very superficially. As a result, these therapies unfortunately had no effect on me apart from a cosy feeling.

I finally came across the battery-operated Calopad therapy device, which I liked from the outset simply because of the environmental idea of reusability. At first I was unsure whether the device with its promised deep heat could actually do more than conventional heat plasters. But I was surprised: Calopad turned out to be the only heat therapy that could effectively and sustainably alleviate my pain relapses with just a short application. I was amazed that I could feel the heat deep in the muscle and noticed a significant improvement after the first 10 minutes. Today, I successfully use Calopad 1-2 times a day via the Calopad Physio app in addition to my physiotherapy exercises when I have a pain relapse.»

What do you like about Calopad pain therapy?

«What I like about Calopad is how easy it is to use and that I can apply it anytime and anywhere. I notice how the heat works deep in the muscle. This is particularly beneficial for me when I have pain relapses, because the deep heat makes the pain disappear after 30 minutes at the latest and relaxes my whole body.

As a long-time, sometimes more, sometimes less disciplined strength training practitioner, I was extremely pleased when I discovered the Calopad Therapies app. I particularly appreciate the large catalogue of exercises and the fact that the Calopad health coach regularly reminds me of my therapy exercises. If I have any questions, I can contact him in the chat at any time - that's great added value for me! I would describe the combination of heat with the targeted physiotherapy exercises as a recipe for my long-term pain relief.»

What do you like about Calopad pain therapy?

«Apart from 1-2 relapses a year, I am now pain-free. However, this means that I have to keep at it and consistently carry out the necessary physiotherapy sessions, now about twice a week. I know that now: Sufficient exercise (biking, jogging, strengthening gymnastics, Blackroll) and targeted, regular physiotherapy exercises help me to remain pain-free in the long term. However, if I do experience relapses of pain, I use my Calopad pain therapy device 1-2 times a day for about 1 hour. I can easily pursue my leisure activities or office work - without any restrictions!»

What advice would you give to people with chronic back pain?

«I have the right therapists to thank for the treatment success I've wanted for years, who drew my attention to the right therapies for me at the right time, as well as the realisation that new forms of treatment are worth testing. Equally decisive was a large portion of perseverance, patience and - despite limitations - maintaining a zest for life!

That's why I advise back patients to take an active approach. In my experience, exercise and warmth work wonders. Light jogging, strength training, cycling and physiotherapy exercises help to relieve the pain in the long term. In acute cases, I recommend targeted, pain-relieving therapy with Calopad . The most important thing, however, is to stay positive despite everything, because life is beautiful!»

Pain-free thanks to the therapy mix of exercise, heat and physiotherapy

The interview with Franz Roos shows once again: people with chronic back pain should definitely take a proactive approach to their problem in order to quickly find the most sustainable form of therapy for them. One hour with a physiotherapist per week is often not enough. The fastest progress in therapy is achieved by those who also strengthen the musculoskeletal system with targeted back exercises at home.

Calopad success stories like these also prove that the combination of physiotherapy supervised by professionals and therapeutic deep heat is the optimum therapy mix for lasting pain relief. At the same time, you are best equipped to deal with relapses of pain if you have a mobile pain therapy device such as Calopad to hand. This allows pain to be treated with heat and exercise if necessary and, in the best case scenario, back surgery can be avoided through consistent use. For Franz Roos, this combination of targeted physiotherapy exercises and deep heat is the key to a pain-free everyday life.