Anyone else have a back brace (for scoliosis) ?!?!?

Question

I'm kind of hating it right now!!! I've had it for over a year, and hopefully i'll get it off soon! Anyone else feel like bad-mouthing their back plastic?

Answer 1

Its frustrating and I know what you mean.  I wore mine (a Milwaukee brace) for over 5 years.  The bars broke a few times and I even grew out of it and had to have a new "girdle" (the plastic that fits around your waist and hips) made.  My back grew weak because I didn't do my exercises too often.  It took a long time to wean me off of it.

Lots of people don't like their brace.  Unfortunately, its the best thing available to treat your curve.  Bracing is effective when your curve is approximately 25-40 degrees.  Outside that range, you won't have to wear it.

A lot of people also don't know what the purpose of a brace is.  Braces aren't for correcting your curve.  It is an attempt to keep your curve from getting worse.  If your curve gets worse in spite of bracing, the brace is an attempt to slow down the rate of increase.

Answer 2

Yup! I'm 13 and I've had mine for  a little over a year. www.freewebs.com/urnotalone (U might have to copy and paste it)  I recently made this website for girls with back braces. U should check it out and let me kno what u think!

I didnt have ur email address so I couldnt reply to or email.. so here it goes...

*First off, I'm glad you love the site! U'll have to come back and visit! I'm going to have the photo gallery up and running hopefully by sometime later this week and I'll be sure to add your picture.

*I'm not sure when I'll be getting my brace off. Maybe another year, but I should definitely not have to wear it as much pretty soon (right now I wear it 21 hours a day)

*I'll add ur tips and tricks to the site ASAP... heres a link

http://www.freewebs.com/urnotalone/confi... (ur confidence boost tip is on this page)

http://www.freewebs.com/urnotalone/hints...

(ur tips and advice)

*And.... THANK YOU for taking the time to check out my site :) I hope it helped you out a little bit :P

Oh, and could u tell me your first name so I can give u credit for ur hints tips and advice?

Answer 3

Hey, I have a scoliosis brace, too. I am 13 and I have only had mine for about 4 months, but I really hate it, too. I hope I get it off soon!

Braces can be difficult. And it can be hard to find clothes that fit over them and you may feel like a dork walking around with a big piece of plastic wrapped around you, but it truly is good that you have it, because hopefully your brace will keep your curve stable and you will not need the surgery, which I have heard is not a great thing to do. But, your brace will not correct the curve, so there is always the possibility that after you are through with bracing that you will still need the surgery, but if the brace does its job, that shouldn't be much of a problem.

Usually, girls stop growing around 1 1/2 to 2 years after they get their period, so if you have gotten your period already, you can kind of start to get an idea of when you might get it off. But it doesn't always take that long. My friend had a brace and she wore it for about 8 months before her period and about 10 months after her period (which still ended u p being a year and a half of wearing it).

Once you get your brace off, you will probably have to wear it for about 6 months at night (usually when you are sleeping) to make sure your curve doesn't grow any more, because most growth occurs between 12 and 2 AM.

So, when you are thinking about how much you hate your brace and how much you want to get rid of it, also think that you are doing this for a reason and hopefully you have a great group of family, friends, and doctors that can get you through this. It will be over before you know it!

-Hope this helps!-