Health & Safety

Last updated: 14 August 2026 · Applies to Lumba for iPhone

Lumba is not a medical device. It gives general exercise guidance. It does not diagnose anything and it does not replace a doctor or a physiotherapist. Stop exercising and seek medical advice if you feel sharp pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, dizziness, or if your symptoms get worse.

Who should check with a professional first

Please get clearance from a healthcare professional before starting the programme if you:

are pregnant, or have given birth in the last six months;
have had surgery in the last six months;
have osteoporosis, a diagnosed spinal condition, or a disc injury;
have numbness, tingling or weakness in an arm or leg;
have pain that wakes you at night, or that followed a fall or accident;
have any change in bladder or bowel control.

The app asks about these during setup. If you tell it one applies to you, it will say so — please take that seriously rather than skipping past it.

Exercising safely

Work within a pain-free range. "No pain, no gain" does not apply to back rehabilitation.
Use the Too hard control during a session — the plan adjusts rather than pushing you.
Move slowly and breathe. If you are holding your breath, the movement is too hard.
Lumba cannot see you. It cannot tell whether your form is correct or whether an exercise suits your condition.
Mild muscle fatigue the next day is normal. Sharp, radiating or worsening pain is not — stop and get it looked at.

How the posture score is calculated

You take one side-profile photo. Apple's Vision framework, running entirely on your iPhone, locates body landmarks and the app measures four values from them. Each is scored out of 100 and the four are averaged into your total.

Category	What is measured	100 points	0 points
Head position	Craniovertebral angle	50° or more	40° or less
Shoulders	Ear-to-shoulder offset ÷ torso height	0%	15% or more
Upper back	Shoulder-to-hip line vs vertical	5° or less	15° or more
Pelvis	Hip-knee-ankle line vs vertical	0°	12° or more

The scan detail screen inside the app shows you each measured value next to its target, so the number is never a black box.

What the score is and is not

It is an in-app indicator for comparing your own scans over time. It is affected by your clothing, the camera angle, the lighting and how you happened to stand in that moment.

It is not a clinical assessment, not a diagnosis, and not comparable to another person's score. A low score does not mean something is wrong with you, and a high score does not mean you have no risk of back pain.

Legal terms

Your use of the app is governed by Apple's Standard End User License Agreement, and by our Privacy Policy.

If you are under 18

The programme is available from age 13 and starts one step gentler for that group. Growing bodies tolerate load differently, so go through it with a parent or guardian's knowledge, never push through sharp pain, and see a healthcare professional first if your back pain is new, severe or persistent.

Questions

Anything unclear here, write to lumba.app.support@gmail.com.