Bupa launches breakthrough treatment for back and knee pain

Bupa is making APOS Treatment for knee and lower back pain available in the UK for the first time. The breakthrough treatment can eliminate the need for prescription pain relief for seven out of 10 people.

The APOS Treatment (which stands for All Phases of Step Cycle) combines two simple principles for treating lower back and knee pain: realigning the body as it walks and introducing a mild instability, which encourages the retraining of the systems that stabilise the joints. This means it improves joint function and reduces pain.

APOS is a non-pharmaceutical, non-surgical solution which heals as you walk and fits easily into people’s everyday lives. New research reveals around 22 million people suffered back pain in the last year – just under half of all UK adults (45 percent) More than one in four UK adults - nearly 13 million people - suffered from knee pain in the last year Over 80 percent of the people with back or knee pain still suffer some pain after undergoing treatment recommended by a healthcare professional. The APOS Treatment: can reduce the intensity of knee pain by an average of 66 percent after just eight weeks can eliminate the need for pain relief for lower back pain sufferers in seven out of 10 cases can significantly improve joint function and enhances patients’ quality of life and has a high success rate: 86 percent of people who have experienced the APOS Treatment would recommend it to a friend or relative.

The APOS Treatment has two key elements: The APOS WalkrightTM, high-tech footwear which is individually adjusted to address patients’ specific pain needs, and a six-month programme of care that provides ongoing clinical and computerised assessment of your walking pattern and readjustments as your needs change. The launch could be a major breakthrough for around 22 million back and 13 million knee pain sufferers in the UK, more than 60 percent of whom have suffered pain for more than a year (64 percent back, 61 percent knee) and around four-fifths of whom still have some pain following treatment recommended by a healthcare professional (82 percent for both back and knee sufferers).

The new research also reveals that amongst the UK’s lower back and knee pain sufferers: 

• around a half of sufferers feel that treatment options are limited (54 percent back, 47 percent knee) 
• a third of back pain sufferers and around three in 10 knee pain sufferers feel disappointed by existing treatments (33 percent back, 29 percent knee) 
• over 80 per cent of those who have used or received some kind of treatment do not think that pain killers are very effective at treating their back or knee pain (84 percent back, 85 percent knee) 
• whether or not a treatment is non-surgical is an important factor in treatment selection for around eight in ten of those who have used/received some kind of treatment (82 percent back, 77 percent knee) 
• around two-fifths agree that their pain has a significant impact on their quality of life (41 percent back, 39 percent knee) 
• in the last year, around half of those who have taken any time off work due to their pain have taken a week or more off (49 percent back, 51 percent knee).

The APOS Treatment was first invented in Israel in 2005 at the acclaimed Assaf Harofeh Medical Centre. Since then, 12,000 people have undergone the APOS Treatment.