Back Pain The story of and photographs of President John F. Kennedy rocking in a rocking chair are known to most people. His doctor had prescribed rocking for his chronic back pain. Research shows that the spinal cord can only work in one direction at a time, thus, when the brain is sending motor impulses down the spinal cord to make the legs rock the
chair, pain impulses from the back are blocked, and are prevented from reaching the brain which lets the muscles in the lower back relax. This effect is accomplished with any rocking chair or glider and not by typical recliners or fancy orthopedic or massage chairs.