yes, they are great. I also have a bad back and totally understand. when I first got mine and put it together I thought it was way to tall. Then I got to thinking; most of the time when you go into a fabric store they have tall cutting tables and then I read somewhere that it was better. It does help alot. I got mine on sale 1/2 price and it was easy to put together. You just have to make sure when you are screwing a section together just to tighten the screws a little until all of them are done or it will seam that the rest of the screws holes don't line up.