Really need your expertise, or if nothing else, your opinion.  

I bought an Ultra Glide at Wal Mart, a long time ago. Do not use it, space is cluttered up. I was working too much. It is the cheap version of that thing that Chuck Norris advertises. One thing that might be really good for your back is that it can also be set up like a slant board and you basically traction yourself by laying on it. Many people swear by that kind of spinal decompression. The one I have has different levels of intensity, and different types of exercises. It came with a video.

have you tried a recumbent bike?

Have you gotten those resistance bands and tried pulling them while seated in a good chair?

I know that those back exercises sometimes seem counter productive.

Good luck - and keep me posted, I could probably use something too.

Hi ambie! I know what you're talking about but I don't
know what it's called. But, before you go out to buy
any piece of equipment first you need to check with your
doctor and physical therapist to see what they think
would be the best thing for you so that you don't do any
more damage. You just can't pick a piece of equipment
without them saying that it is ok. You don't want to make
your back worse. I think I know the piece that you are
talking about. It rocks you back and forth without putting
strain on your back. But I don't know what that is going
to do for you. What are you trying to increase? The
strength in your arms? You really must talk to a
professional before even thinking about getting any
kind of home equipment.

Well, Have you thought of a Thighmaster? I know what your thinking.A thighmaster? Yes, a thighmaster is not just for the legs it is also good for the chest and arms as well. You can do many different exercises with a thighmaster. I recently just bought one and also bands that I can use to strengthen and tone. Well, I do hope you find what you are searching for to help you. Good luck.

You might like an inversion table. I got one after checking with my doctor to see if it might help. I'm a little afraid of it, because if I'm not careful, I can end up hanging upside down and I'm afraid I might not be able to get up. There are adjustments on it, that you can set so you only go so far, but I don't trust it, and will only do it if someone is here with me. With any exercise machine, you should try and check it out first to see how it makes you feel. You might also try some easy ab exercises, which you can do without a machine. If you have strong abs, your back has more support, and it will he less painful when you stand or walk for a while.

good day, first of all, the advise that i will be giving is simply a suggestion. next i hope that you speak with your doctor again, an orthopaedic specialist or a rehabilitation medicine specialist (physiatrist) about non-surgical palliative modalities for your condition. now on to my suggestion... proper posture is usually what will help in back problems, with injury to the spine this will be difficult to do especially if you are diagnosed with compression or burst fracture of the spine, those conditions depending on their severity warrant some sort of surgical intervention. so the basics are to keep your back maintaining their natural curves by being conscious to keep your posture and avoid slouching. non-impact exercises will help, like taking up swimming, this will help strengthen your back as well as your abdominal muscles. but physical therapy is still better in promoting back and abdominal muscle strengthening. finally if it is necessary; at the consultation with your doctor try asking about the benefits and risks of having or wearing a brace for your condition. they usually call it a thoraco-lumbar orthosis and see if these devices can help or if they will cause more problems. good luck and please see your doctor again, if need be, seek a third or fourth opinion.

I can sure sympathize Pam. I have a very difficult time exercising. I have problems in my lower back with Degenerative Disk Disease, I have Psoriatic Arthritis in my hips and shoulders and Fibromyalgia. I can't stand on my feet for more than about 20 minutes at a time. It is a constant struggle to try to get some exercise since most days I simply can't do it without causing problems extreme pain with the arthritis or taking days to recouperate because of the fibro.

The only piece of exercise equipment I can still use (I used to be an exercise nut and dancer before all this hit me) is my stair stepper. I have to set it to minimum resistance since I can't do the full leg motion. That way I can just move my legs a few inches up and down and still get a decent cardio workout for about 10 minutes. It has hand rests like handlebars so that helps me take some pressure off my lower back. I also have several resistance bands that help me stretch.

I absolutely love to dance so sometimes when I'm having a particularly good day I just put on some good dance music and dance around the room for as long as I can stand it.

I have pain all over and in my back if I carry anything or work at anything. The only things I can do is some easy Yoga stretches and walking. Many days I can't do either. I'm on prednisone to help with the pain, but don't start it because you get hooked and now I have osteoporsis, too.

Part of my pain was from an accident hitting my back about 20 years ago. I passed on surgery, too. Too scary. Don't bother with the physical therapy exercies. They just made me worse and hurt like heck.

Well, i don't know what kind of problem you have, i have a broken vertebra in the lumbar zone (I think is the 4th), and also have a notable deviation on the middle zone of my back. This gives me a lot of pain because i get huge muscular contractures, and if the muscle is so rigid it can press my nerve on the lumbar zone and that hurts a lot more. I haven't been in surgery, and the only solution I've found is make all days exercises that improve the flexibility of the muscles, so they don't stay rigid, and with that i kill all the pain.

Once i have very good flexibility I can try make muscles grow, but unless you have great flexibility don't try making this kind of exercises (muscle grow) with weight, because you are going to make the muscle even more rigid.

I don't recommend buying any machinery unless that your traumatologist or your kinesiologist recommends you. Because you don't need any machine to make elongations and flexibility exercises, and that's what you need.

There are machines used by kinesiologists to help you, but all of them must be used by medical experts, so its better that you go to some kinesio center and be assisted by this people.

I hope to be clear, english is not my primary language so I have a short vocabulary, hope that you understood me.

Regards

For walking, a treadmill would do, but then if you walk fast, it would put a strain on your back. It seems that you could try the ab lounge, or the glider, but by the reviews it looks as if they blame the ones with the bad backs as the problem, as if it was your fault that you were in the car accident.
Shows how discouraging it is to get something that will help you. The best bet would be to see your doctor or go to a physiotherapist. He or she will probably get your an appointment to someplace where you can take the exercises or will recommend a machine that is best for you. Reading the advertisements do no good because they lump the ones who had bad backs due to laziness along with those who were injured at work or with accidents in the same category, and they assume that it was due to the former.