From a person who has a fused neck now at C3-C4 from 9 months ago, it is well worth the little investment (just don't have that coffee you have every morning for a month and little things like that save a lot of money very quickly!!) I have been back racing now and it gives me great peace of mind and I have already had a fall that it probably helped out a lot with. I think it would be hard to justify the expense if you are not racing, but if you do race it is worth it and you don't even feel it when it is on. Unfortunately it will not help out very much with Thorasic injuries like Gsnickets'. Hope you make a full recovery!!