Do any of your children experience stomach pain from brace?

[MJB]

My daughters stomach is hurting her every day lately and it's not just when she's in her brace, it's when she's out of it too. She seems to need to use the washroom after eating now also. I just can't help but wonder if this newer brace (cheneau) that she has been wearing since July has had a negative effect on her stomach. When she eats in it she feels like the food isn't going down, so we have to have her loosen it when she's eating. The brace is SO tight on her.

[mamandcrm]

Hi MJB, I think you need to consult with her orthotist. My daughter has never had stomach problems but she also has been told by her orthotist to use her own judgment to loosen the brace when it is feeling too tight. Perhaps your daughter is growing, and she is still trying to tighten the brace to the original marks which are now too much for her?

[mariaf]

It does seem that sometimes kids who are braced have some stomach issues - not being able to eat a full meal, discomfort, vomiting, etc. I've heard it from quite a few parents.

I know with my own son, we found that we would make sure he ate his dinner about 2-3 hours before putting his brace on at night - otherwise he would sometimes feel sick and on rare occasion even vomit.

I assume it would be OK to loosen the straps right after eating (although I was told that most of the time they should be at the orthotist's setting) and/or to schedule her 'out of brace' time around the same time as her biggest meal of the day.

Just some random thoughts - hope this helps - and please keep us posted.

[JessicaNoVa]

My daughter will loosen the bottom strap of her RSC brace after a larger than normal meal (like Thanksgiving or dinner out at a restaurant) for a little while. But it's not a routine issue for her.

[bas2101]

My daughter has also complained about the tightness of her RSC brace, and would loosen her brace when she would eat. At one point, we had that portion of her brace adjusted, which helped a bit.

[MJB]

Thank you ladies!

Well she has grown about 6 inches since the brace was made, they have shaved parts of the inside off recently but in all honesty, she probably would need a new brace, but she is having surgery in the next few months, not sure of the date yet, so I don't think we will get a new brace.

[Ballet Mom]

Well she has grown about 6 inches since the brace was made

Wow! Six inches of growth in less than a year? I suspect it would have been hard for any brace to hold a curve with that kind of incredibly rapid growth. My daughter has grown five inches in three years time, just to give you some perspective, and she's had two braces during that time to accomodate that growth. No wonder the brace had become uncomfortable to her.

Good luck with her surgery.

[MJB]

Yep, Dr. Zeller said that judging by her growth, she is going through her major adolescent growth spurt (strange thing though is that she doesn't have her period yet) and that is why he is also waiting 6 months to perform the surgery, he wants her to complete this growth spurt, although he said her curve may be close to 70 by the time surgery comes... i hope not!

[MJB]

I was amazed a few weeks ago when we went in for the adjustment, there was a part that was digging into her hip bones.. he showed us where were hips were when the brace was made and where they are now, it was such a huge difference!

[MomtoM]

MJB - my daughter's experience is very similar to yours...

We just found out this week from Dr. Zeller that she will need surgery in about 6 months...I have to call to set up a date soon.

[MJB]

I PM'd you MomtoM