Boston Bracing

[Cloudy]

Hi

My curve is 35-40 at the top and 55 at the bottom and im 12 and a half years old.
I was in a providence brace for about 2 months.
Then the doctors but me in a boston 2005 december 28.
Its been pretty hard deeling with school and friends.
Can any one give me tips on things to wear or on dealig with kids critisizing me about my brace
My docor also said that I might need the sugury even after 1 and a half year of bracing
Veronika
Ohhhh and I live in the Forida heat so that adds on to the confusion.

[D-angel]

Good luck!!

Hi Veronika! I wore a boston brace for 5 years. I'm know 14. I had trouble coping too. People would just constantly ask what's that?! And poke me. But i eventually got used to it . Well i'm living in Jamaica so we have a similar climate. I would wear loose fitting clothes that was'nt cut too low at the neck. It never totally hid the fact that something was strange about my appearance , but it helped. Also because i grew extremely hot, my therapist had small holes drilled in it so i could get a little relief.
Hope i helped.

[hypobellum]

Hello ^_^

Hello,
When I was in 7th grade I was told to get my back looked at..We did and the doctor never said to come back or anything. A year or two later is when I was in 9th grade, just started high school, and got braces. In Jan. of 2005, I got my boston brace. At first I thought it was kind of cool to have something like a corset( and with my whole drive to look like I didn't have problems) and the doctor said that actually some girls get nice curves after wearing the brace. That part I liked.

Then after a few months of wearing it...it became my rival. I was told to wear it practically forever during the day except for one hour to bathe. I hated the brace...it got hot at school and sticky, so I had to go to the bathroom to re-adjust and just breathe. Also when I bend it'd stick out at the top. It was embarassing if someone poked me and went,"Woah, what's that?" and I'd have to unfortunately retell my problem to anyone who asked.

Of course I wouldn't let anyone know that I was sooo upset about having it. I got along for a year of high school with it. I would try and get people to actually like it a lot rather than go eww. One time in the lunch line my friends and I were talking to this guy and I had my sweater over me and I told him, " I have abs of steel...go ahead. Punch me." And he did lol...it hurt a little cuz he did it hard and I guess the shockwaves got me. But he was all "Ow, what's that?" I made a joke and said," Well...I saw this really bloody crime, so I have to wear this bullet-proof vest at all times." I laughed and told him what it really was. He liked it and thought it was cool.

But I understand somewhat how you feel... and I say just have fun with it..If you are getting surgery in a year or so...have friends sign it or something. Make jokes and get people to go on your side and like you for who you are. One of my friends was actually jealous of the brace. He wanted one....crazy fool. lol.

I'm one of the few though that the brace didn't help at all really (of course I didn't wear it as much as I should have..shh. ) so now I'm going to get surgery..I'm really excited for it. I'll have it next Thursday.

I hope everything goes well with you and your brace! Remember...just have fun with it! ^_^ ..oh yeah..sorry about this long post...hehe

[drummergrl]

Hi! I'm Bekah, and we have pretty similar stories!!! lol Except that I wore a Milwaukee first. But then I got a providence for 5 months, hated it, and got my Boston about 13 days ago! lol I've slowly adjusted to it, and luckily mine is a low-profile TLSO, and it really is low profile. It's hard to tell if I have it on unless I bend over. I haven't had to wear this one to school yet, but I wore a Milwaukee with 3 metal bars and a visible neck ring to school for a loooong time, and kids didn't criticize. They were just curious as to what it was, so I answered honestly. It makes it a thousand times worse to lie about it or to not answer, because then people make up their own conclusions which are usually wrong! lol So hang in there and know that you are who you are, and that the brace is now temporarily a part of you, and people are just going to have to deal it with it!