Are there occasions where you only have to wear your brace after school?

[darcyhuff]

Hey, I went for an appointment on April 23 and they said I was at 15 degrees and that I'll maybe need a brace if it gets much worse. I'm going back on August 13, and I was wondering...are there times when the doctor says that you don't have to wear your brace to school? I'm going into 7th grade this year, and I don't want to wear it to school because I have gym everyday for half of the year and something tells me that it will affect the way I do in gym! I'm a good runner, I come in 3rd place everytime, and I don't want to ruin that.

[ellie]

Hey. I wear a minnesota brace. It just depends on how long you will have to wear your brace. I have to wear mine 23 hours. And you can't run in it so I get the joy of talking to my principal since my doctor doesn't want me to do PE though I am going to but I'm not going to do running or other things I can't do in my brace. You can take it off for PE I mean if you really love running(unlike me and long distance) your doctor will probably let you take it off and you may not even have to worry because you may end up only wearing it at night or not wearing it to school. You could also take your brace off before you run if you have to wear it for a long time. Trust me I would not run in the brace! You can't really breathe deep in it. Sorry if that didn't make sense!

ellie

[Alison]

The time you have to wear your brace depends on many factors, the biggest one being the degree of your curvature, and the rate at which it is progresing, and the amount of growing that you have left. Depending on the brace, depends on how well you are able to "breathe" in it. However it is possible to breathe deeply in a brace, but it just takes some pracitice. When I had a brace I was doing 800m/1.5km's in the brace (it was one that went from your hips to under your arms and went all the way round and it was worn tight) and I did reasonably well.

If you have to wear it for 23 hours/24 a day you could do some "bargaining" with the doctor. Such as wearing it for "normal" PE (where you don't have to run full pelt) but for carnivals and stuff being able to take it off whilst you race. And then putting it back on straight afterwards (ie within half an hour of the race). Another option could be loosening the straps slightly whilst you race to give your lungs a bit more breathing room. Or you could see if you could take it off for PE if PE is only short (ie 30 to 40 minutes) and then put it back on straight afterwards then only have a shorter time at night/morning to have your daily shower (ie 20/25 minutes) so you would still have it off for as close to the hour as possible. As it is very important to wear the brace for the time your doctor says so.

Question for Ellie: why doesn't your doctor want you to do PE. I remember most surgeons stress the importance of exercise even in the brace and stuff like swimming etc

This is what I found that I could/couldn't do for sport in my brace. Basically the only things I couldn't do were gymnastics/calisthenics, Australian Rules Football, rugby and depending how competive my class was baseball, but if they were gentle I could play it.

Everything else I participated in, even though it was occasionally a challenge (cause I couldn't bend the right way) I still gave it a go and I always explained to the PE teacher about my brace and they would occasionally modify the game slightly. Even stuff like tennis I participated in, I just knelt down to pick up the ball and didn't serve as high. Stuff like fencing was always fun, because unlike the opposition I had my own "body armour"


Alison

[ellie]

Hey Alison,
I am not really sure why he doens't want me to but he made it seem like he didn't want me doing any PE. I know that he really doesn't running that if I still want to do PE I can but don't run say the mile. That didn't upset me. I do like PE when we do sports and things like flag football and basketball. I don't do track and I really didn't mind giving up the mile though I think when they walk the track I will probably still do that. I am not having surgery and only have the brace so that could play a part in why he doesn't want me but I'm not really sure. I swim a lot in my pool though and I think someone on this forum said that swimming counts as time in your brace. Bye

ellie

[darcyhuff]

In mid-late April, I was at 15 degrees. My next appointment is on August 13 and I'm not finished growing yet. How many hours do you think I'll have to wear it for? Of course, I don't expect an exact answer, but at least a guess? You guys are expierienced in this and I'm not.

[ellie]

I'm not that experienced. I got my minnesota on Monday. Though I already sleep and are pretty much up to my hours. The sleeping was easy since I sleep like the dead. But my curves are 27T and 32L I have to wear mine 23 hours. So if your curve only goes up a few I doubt you would wear it over say 20 hours. It just depends on who your doctor is too. I mean the first one I went to said bracing was stupid let's wait till surgery. Hope that helped a little.

ellie

[stormeygal]

regarding school and pe.

Darcyhuff,

My name is rebecca and I'll be going in to 8th grade in august. I had to get my brace in 7th grade as well. I also had the P.E. problem. luckily I had it everyother day. First, have your parents contact the coach. Do you have to dress out? If you don't maby the coach would allow you to take your brace off and put it in their office for the period. I would not wear the brace during P.E. because it affects how you move. It also tends to give you heat rash if you get too hot.

Let your friends know about your brace and about why you have to wear it. Don't make it sound like it's no big deal, but don't make it sound like it's going to kill you either. If your friends are as good as mine, you can complain to them all you want about it and they will help you through. Let them see the brace, and let them know they can whack you in the brace area.(that tends to relieve the tension and let them know that it's not that bad!)

If you need any other advice, let me know and I'll give you my email and screen name for AIM!

REBECCA

[darcyhuff]

Thanks, thanks, thanks! That helped. I hope that I don't have to wear it during school at all if i wear it all night! I know, I musn't get my hopes up. But its a good thought! Anyways, if I do have to take it off for gym, are the straps hard to undo? And do people stare?

[stormeygal]

No, the straps are really easy to undo! Yeah, the first day everyone will stare at first. You just act like it's nothin and tell them what it is. You might have to recrute someone to do the straps up for you when you have to put it back on. I think that's the worst part Eventually you can put it on by yourself! I just grab the strap and yank. You can ask your doctor to add extentions to the velcrow so you can make it tighter and make it easier for you to grab!

Againe, (spelling)
If you need to talk I can give you my screen name or email adress!

[lauren12]

hey

hey i where a boston brace for 3 years and the doctor told me i only had to where my brace from 4:00pm - 9:00am and the rest i had off i was so happy !!!!

[Ciera]

Hi I Am Ciera I Am almost 11!
You ushley have to take you're brace off for sports and gym and swimming and stuff like that!
The Docter ushley doesnt say that thow!
If you have any more questions ask me!!!
Ciera,