Bodystance Backpod - Premium Device for Costochondritis & Tietze Syndrome | Physio Designed | NZ Made | Posture Corrector & Back Pain Relief

Fantastic for the deep shoulder pain, middle of spine. Follow instructions and you will be happy with a week's worth of use

I’m really enjoying this. I have mild scoliosis and bulging discs in my neck and lower back. Sometimes my back just feels like someone needs to step on it to crack it or get rid of the pain. This product takes away that feeling. All I do is place it on the floor or a yoga mat and lie back on it. It’s so easy to use and has a comfortable shape to lie on. It’s small enough to pack with you on a trip. It can be used for different parts of your back as well.

Three years ago, I was dealing with debilitating right-sided chest pain. I went through a gauntlet of medical checks: my family doctor cleared my heart, a chiropractor provided no lasting relief, my plastic surgeon confirmed my 10-year-old breast implants were perfectly intact, and a clear MRI left me with zero answers. I was terrified, depressed, and unable to work out. Taking matters into my own hands, I found the "Bob and Brad" YouTube channel and realized my symptoms perfectly matched Costochondritis. I ordered the Backpod that same day. It arrived that night, and while it was a bit uncomfortable at first, moving side-to-side on it brought immediate relief. I used it daily for three months, and the pain completely vanished. Today, three years later, I only use it for the occasional tune-up and live completely pain-free. If you are struggling with Costochondritis, do yourself a favor and buy this immediately.

I am a heavy computer user and currently 50 yrs old. Masseuses call my shoulders rocks. One week into a big project, I developed back pain in the upper right area. Nothing new, but was surprised at how quickly it developed. Decided to be more proactive about fixing the issue with my back and spine (hump), so did some research online and came across the backpod. Week 1: Did two short sessions morning and night (~30 min each). The constant pain was relieved quite a bit after a couple of days. Showed obvious improvement in photo on day 7. Worked areas per instructions. Week 2: Evolved into one longer session (1.5hrs +). Spent more time around shoulder blades where I have persistent knots that developed over the years. Recall starting to have them in my 20s. Week 3: Continued to be diligent with daily use of the backpod though some sessions may only have been an hour. Started working from lower back where I have tightness and up spine, also spending considerable time around shoulder blades. Elongation of the spine can be seen in day 21. Week 4: From loosening areas on back, started feeling other areas that were still tight. Now I sometimes also carefully work around the whole back and even the ribcage at the sides/front. Week 5: Pretty much the chronic recurring pain and knots I have felt in the past has resolved. Back has loosened quite a bit. Week 6-7: Started skipping days and require less time using it. Graduated to using backpod at the sharper angle, horizontally. Focusing more on hump area. Day 60: Continuing progress is still happening but has been more gradual. Starting week 2, the time I spend each day using the backpod is quite a bit. I use it while watching/listening to tv shows and track time spent on each spot by doing a 10 count on each finger up to 10 fingers. Since I tend to count fast that ends up being somewhere over a minute on each spot. Low tech but does the trick. Covering a large area, I mostly don't repeat working on spots. Like with massages, it is a good to drink water afterwards to help flush out toxins released from the muscles. The big thing to note is that my initial results might be atypical or came quicker for the following reason: I prefer deep tissue massages that work through knots. The backpod allows me to do it on my own in a targeted fashion. So I work through the uncomfortable at times painful spots. You have control over how deeply you use the backpod. So it can be used in a gradual less painful way. Development after the first couple of weeks has become slower. It has been 60 days since I started using backpod. I have been skipping the occasional day and spending less time using the backpod. Due to the amount I work, it is more maintenance at the moment. At this point, I decided to start using a product that will work deeper into the my shoulders than the backpod, the Twin Block Pro by MassageBlocks. The backpod has been great to get me started. Now the rocks that are my shoulders need deeper work. My 84 year old father has had chronic back pain for a while and his spine has been curving from old age. Sent him a backpod, though wasn't sure he would use it. He uses it every few days and is getting better as well. Only taking a star off for the price going down to $69.99, when I bought two not so long ago for $84.99 each. But considering that it is price of one massage, still not bad. Tip: google "how to get rid of a neck hump" It is how I found backpod and you may find other helpful info / exercises. started using backpod 07.30.19. edited 09.28.19.

I hate spending $90 on a piece of plastic. Even more, I hate buying things that seem overpriced just to prey on the desperate. Because of that I tried to fabricate a makeshift Backpod from all sorts of things I already had, including a baseball (too small), a dome-shaped therapy device for my feet (bigger, but still too small), towels and pillows (too squishy) and a dome-shaped balance board for exercise (far too big). I tried to find 3-d printing instructions to make my own Backpod. When all of that failed miserably and I was miserable from the costochondritis, I bought this and am glad. About 15 yrs ago I injured my chest by falling upward on the stairs. It was the standard 6-8 months of pain and trouble breathing that the websites like WebMD will tell you costo takes to improve. I did get checked out by a cardiologist and a GI doctor, to make sure. There is nothing doctors do for costo, so I took Advil, rested, used heating pads, etc. I got weaker and weaker from not being able to breathe. People began passing me phone numbers to their doctors because they thought I was in critical shape. Back then you just had to wait it out. Now there is this. I had flare-ups of the costo from time to time over the years that weren't any big deal until this month when all I did was sit in the dentist chair for a cleaning. That somehow triggered another attack as bad as the first. I couldn't bear the thought of going through another 6 months. Luckily I'm already better after only 4 days with the Backpod. Four days! Actually I felt better after just one, and the range of motion on the shoulder/arm that had frozen up improved almost 100% overnight. Don't expect it to magically pop something into place. It doesn't work THAT quickly, but it does work quickly. I see others saying they had 80% pain reduction in two weeks with at least one 10-min session every day. I'm on pace for that 80%. Mornings right when I get up are still awful, but using the Backpod for ten minutes lets me have a pretty decent day. I don't feel improved immediately after using it; the pain lessens gradually over the next couple of hours, so don't get discouraged. Go to the Bodystance site and read what they have to say about costo and what causes it before you buy. It makes more sense than anything my doctors had to say, which was...nothing. It is uncomfortable to use. Not the laying on it, which I find to be a nice stretch, but you have to adjust your body on it every minute or so to find the sweet spot, and that adjusting hurts (hard plastic near your spine). Getting down on the floor to use it won't be great for the elderly. I don't have a lot of advice there; the bed wouldn't work well because the device would sink in. Like anything that adjusts something in the body, the Backpod's not really for the faint of heart. But of course neither is costo. I normally wouldn't give 5 stars to something this costly and that attracts all the cat hair from the floor, but compare this cost to having six months of terrible pain. Compare it to the cost of one session of PT or chiropractic care or seeing specialist after specialist. Plus I'd rather this than take Advil, which was once billed as the miracle anti-inflammatory pill but now we know is not great for the heart or brain over time. Good luck.

Well, I used it for about 2 weeks off and on days, usually in the morning. I got it for costchrondroitis around my breast bone due to lifting weights. This device seemed to help a bit with that. Moderate pain and tenderness relief. A secondary and much better benefit was how it opened up my chest for better breathing. My wheezing has gone down dramatically. I thought I was going to have to live with that forever due to asthma. Maybe it was just bad posture all these years since I work at a desk. this was an amazing benefit, I must say. However, there are some downsides. It does hurt, a lot. I used it on the bed to cushion but it still hurt. I moved it around my back after 30 seconds or so like they tell you. I sort of got used to it after the 2 weeks but still painful. And i guess the give you a warning that it's only for the upper back, but I sort of went all over, until I read that warning. Also, I developed a huge boil on the middle of my back. Golf ball sized, literally. Finally getting over it now after draining and antibiotics. Not sure if it was from this device, or from using a back roller, or from sweating a lot at the gym or some combination of all that. I have since stopped using the Backpod. My posture is still good and my wheezing is still gone and my costochrondroitis is still relieved. Its been 2 months since I used it. So buyer beware. Be careful.

I hardly ever feel compelled to write a review (although, selfishly, I wouldn't be able to buy anything or eat anywhere without them!) but I do feel the need to share my support for this product. This was my second bout of costochondritis -- my first happened sometime two years ago, when my doctor diagnosed costochondritis after I had this nagging, lingering chest pain after a bad respiratory infection. I don't remember being told to do anything for it except take ibuprofen and wait it out for 6-8 weeks. I wasn't terribly active back then, the pain wasn't necessarily holding me back from any activity, and so I did as I was told, which was basically nothing. And eventually, it did go away. (Lucky, I know.) Since then I've become an avid surfer, surfing just about every day. I really consider it instrumental for my mental and emotional health. And so when this episode of costochondritis descended upon me, it hurt like hell to paddle or pop up, no matter how many Motrins I took before and after. That's when I began to do my research, and came to the conclusion that if I didn't give myself a chance to heal (by taking a break from surfing) then this costo could linger on for months or years. I forced myself to take a break, and let me tell you, between the chest pain and not surfing, was a painfully depressing period. I swear I needed to go back to therapy, take antidepressants again, something -- and it had only been a week!! One night, I watched a whole bunch of costo videos on youtube, trying to figure out how the heck I can exercise without aggravating my chest, and I came across a few helpful ones. One video detailed a good door jamb stretch for costo sufferers (with arms raised above head level); a few others led me to purchase this Backpod and a jar of Penetrex. So starting the very next day, I did that door jamb stretch several times a day, basically every time I could remember. And when the Backpod arrived, I would use it once in the morning and once in the evening. It was uncomfortable -- NOT painful, nor should it be -- but at the same time, relaxing? Somehow it just felt very therapeutic to lie on this oblong plastic contraption. I rubbed on the Penetrex 3-4x a day, as per directions, on my chest and along the spine of the affected side. Within as little three days, I felt a very significant improvement in my costo pain, so much that by the fifth day I dared to get back in the water (taking it easy of course). It's been a little over a week since I've owned this and I would say I'm 95% back to normal. I think the combination of rest (ugh), the stretches and the Backpod -- and maybe the Penetrex? -- truly worked for me, and I was able to avoid a much lengthier period of suffering. This will be my go-to prescription should I be so unfortunate to have it reoccur. I really sympathize with those that have been suffering with costochondritis for any significant amount of time. For something that isn't life-threatening, it can really be downright life-depleting. If you're on this sinking ship, and deliberating if you should purchase the Backpod, please just do it! With that and a little extra TLC you might just find the relief you're looking for.

I'm writing this in June of 2026. I got this thing in 2022 and I use it several times a week (sometimes twice a day if I'm having a lot of pain). This and my yoga wheel have allowed me to crack my own back and I am pretty sure they're the first things I would grab if I was being banished to a desert island. Is it pricey? Very much so... is it worth it? I personally think so. It still looks almost new.

So, the BackPod is basically a piece of hard plastic covered with a piece of softer silicone. On the surface, it is extremely expensive for 2 pieces of plastic. Due to an old but serious injury, I have a lot of tension in the middle of my back between my shoulder blades. My chiropractor can never adjust this part of my back given the tension that's built up over the years. I hesitated to buy the BackPod but decided it would be worth the price if it provided even a little bit of relief. And, wow, does it ever feel awesome. It is like receiving an acupressure treatment. My body relaxes and opens up. I get a zen-like feeling. It is extremely relaxing and pain relieving. After several weeks of use, I have been able even to adjust my own back, and when I go to the chiropractor, he's been able to get a lot more motion in that part of the spine. I use the BackPod whenever I start to feel the tension start to build. It provides an refreshing relief after prolonged computer use, so I reward myself for working hard by taking 15 minute breaks on the BackPod. It also really opens up the chest and has improved my posture. Combined with sessions on a Concept2 rowing machine at the gym, my posture is overall quite a bit better and I feel generally much better. So the price is quite expensive but the therapeutic benefits definitely make it worthwhile for me. The only negative I can say is that my wife, who has a problem around her scapula and shoulder, tried it several times, which resulted in dislocated some back ribs and causing quite a bit of pain. She had to go to the chiropractor to have those ribs set back in place. So my experience has been extremely positive but my wife won't go near it again. I really do think it comes down to the individual and their underlying condition. That said, I do recommend everyone with back pain to give it a try at the very least.

At first sight the Backpod may seem a little expensive for what it is, but after trying out all sorts of cures for Costochondritis I decided that for less than the cost of two physio sessions I would give it a try. I'm extremely glad that I did as it has helped me enormously. A little bit of background ... I'm a 58 year old female. All my life I have kept myself fit and healthy. Before November 2016 I was a regular at the gym, where I did a variety of strength and aerobic based exercises, I was a keen hill walker and led an active lifestyle. In November I went to my GP complaining of pain below the left rib cage. Over the course of several months gastric or heart related sources of the pain were ruled out through various tests (ultrasound, chest X-ray, ECG) and various painkillers were prescribed, which didn't really get rid of the pain and some had unpleasant side effects. Finally in May 2017 I was diagnosed with Costochondritis. I was advised not to lift or stretch and to rest as much as possible. I hadn't heard of Costo before, and neither had family and friends, so I started researching on the internet. I tried various recommended lotions and potions and various things like anti-inflammatory diets, and exercises, which didn't seem to give much relief to my pain. Not wanting to aggrevate my condition, or have any setbacks, the Backpod appealed to me as I could take things at my own pace. I started using it daily in July and it has certainly helped to free-up my ribcage. You simply position it under your back then lie back on it, starting with three pillows under your head, and over the weeks progressing down to zero pillows. It's September now and I have reached zero pillows in nine places on my back for a minute at a time. This means that the maximum time spent is less than ten minutes a day, which anyone could easily fit into their daily routine. Over the weeks I've looked forward to using it for the relief it gives. Don't expect results if you don't persevere every day. After this week I'll be using it for weekly maintenance only. I'm not 100% back to normal but I feel that massive progress has been made and I feel very positive that things will continue to improve. For example, as pathetic as it sounds, a few months ago I couldn't slice bread, chop veg, lie on my side, reach up, carry even the smallest weight, walk with arms swinging or drive without instant pain; now all of these things are possible. I'm extremely grateful to the New Zealand inventor of the Backpod, Steve August, for his helpful advice and encouragement, both before and after I purchased it. He suggested that a combination of Sports Massage treatment with the Backpod would be a good combination. He was right. Steve has made YouTube videos about using the Backpod (it also comes with a useful instruction booklet too) and his explanation of Costo makes sense to me.

I've been suffering from extreme thoracic and cervical pain for 5 years. I got this 5 days ago and my pain is significantly decreased. Turns out my incredibly tight and stiff thoracic was the main cause of my neck pain (despite many bulges in my neck). Also the numbness in my hands that I wake to every morning has noticeably decreased too. It remains to be seen if the changes will continue, but it is certainly positive so far. I highly highly recommend this this if you're suffering from pain in the cervical and thoracic spinal areas

I used this to solve chronic shoulder blade pain / costochondritis, after numerous manipulation adjustments by chiropractors and manual therapists failed to resolve my rib cage restrictions. (which by the way have cost me a lot of money.) I have used tennis balls, foam rollers and other tools prior to the Backpod but for me the tissue around the joints on my back really only started to loosen up once I started using this tool, although it took a while. This also meant that this tool was quite uniquely capable of heavily reducing accumulated kyphosis (rounded back) for my posture in general because of the effect it has on the tissue (which I think is fascia? I am not sure.) After lying on the backpod for extended periods I noticed a severely stretched mid-back which made me temporarily feel like a plank when I stood up, revealing a tightness I didn't even know was there. It feels like that stretch you do right after you wake up but then way more intense. I also feel like sharing after years of suffering from back pain that joint manipulation by practitioners is especially valuable when the injury is fresh, however, for a chronic issue manipulation alone is rarely enough. Nobody told me this until I dived a lot deeper trying to solve my thoracic problems mostly by myself, which unfortunately was necessary as the healthcare system (at least in Europe but I think everywhere) is far from perfect. Be wary of chronic manipulation plans. The Backpod is a valuable, unique tool and I am a big fan! Communication with Steve August (the creator of the Backpod) also did help me with some great advice and I thank him for his help. Thanks, Steve! Bless you

I'm truly disappointed that I didn't discover this incredible product sooner. For six long years, I struggled with costochondritis, attempting every medication available without any success. However, after just one day of using the backpod, all my pain vanished!. Highly recommend it to anyone battling with similar issues.