Out of brace time and pain????

[MJB]

Does anyone else's child experience pain during their OUT OF BRACE time? Halle has to be forced to take her breaks now, she sometimes looks like she's going to cry because she so badly does not want to take off her brace because her back hurts when it's off.

I don't understand how this can be normal? I am always told that all of my concerns are normal by the doctors but I just don't get this one. I know she's telling the truth because who wouldn't want their out of brace time every day?

[BellasMom]

Bella is having exactly the same issue and she is in Spinecor as well

I wrote to Dr. Rivard and Dr. Colliard called us the next day - she said that it's normal (yeap, that's what she said) and we should try to massage the muscle that hurts and use creams like bengay on it

[Pooka1]

Well, if it's common it might explain the comments on the other thread about a child who cries when the brace as off.

What do Drs. Colliard and Rivard say about why kids are physically uncomfortable out of brace?

I know my kid is physically uncomfortable out of her Charleston brace. She had trouble sleeping without it when I asked her to not wear it before her doctor visit for radiographs. I'm guessing it is because of some muscle atrophy and because it simply is more comfortable to counterbend the curve. I don't really know.

And then it turns out, unlike other hard braces, you don't have to stay out of the Charleston for any length of time to get an accurate radiograph. I think the reason was that it is only worn part of the time.

But still, I'd like to hear what the Spinecor doctors or the Spinecor manufacturers say is causing the pain out of brace if not muscle atrophy (despite claims otherwise).

[BellasMom]

unfortunately, it was my husband who spoke with Dr. Colliard, not me, so he did not ask all the questions I had

In our case the pain is exactly in the muscle that is pulling her spine to the left.

I would guess, that when the brace is off, that muscle is trying to pull the spine back to the wrong position, but has to work harder , since the brace (hopefully) put the spine in a better position

[emarismom]

My daughter has never complained of pain when she is out of her brace. The one time I had an out of brace xray and she slept without the brace, she did comment that it felt strange to be out of it, but that is the sum total of her complaints.

[christine2]

"strange" that's a good word. I suppose strange to an 8 yr old ( my daughter)can be preety weird!!!

[Kitty]

Hi MJB

My daughter was braced for about 3 years before she eventually had surgery back in November last year. She is now again in the brace until her correction has stabilised and she is out of the woods. When Tahlia was initially on the brace, she also reported that it hurt to have the brace off and i think this is generally because her body simply becomes used to being in a certain position when it's on and registers the change when she takes it off. She eventually came to enjoy her time out of the brace (she had to wear it for 22hrs a day) once her body settled.

I am not sure if this helps or not, but just wanted to let you know that it is normal. However, I think it's a far bigger concern for her to NOT be wearing the brace, rather than choosing to keep it on. So I don't think it would do any harm for her to stay in the brace and forgo her allotted time out of it. They only allow that time to give them a break, but if your daughter doesn't like it, then why not just let her stay in the brace. Although, I am NOT an orthotist, so maybe jsut to allay any concerns you have, the best person to talk to would be the orthotist who made your daughter's brace. ARe you able to get in touch with them?

Lisa

[jillw]

MJB, Kitty has a good suggestion about not forcing out of brace time. Katie rarely chooses to have out of brace time (more because she'd prefer not to go through the rigmarole of taking the brace off and later putting it back on). In katie's case if she's taking a shower and has to take the brace off anyway, she will usually keep it off for another hour or so and of course when swimming, but she rarely takes it off just for a break. Dr. Rivard knows this and said that it is totally fine.

[MJB]

Thank you everyone for your responses.

I spoke to Dr. Coillard today, she said that pain during out of brace time generally happens when the child is going through a growth spurt, which Halle is definitely going through, all her pants I bought her in the fall are too short now!

She also told me that the breaks are not mandatory, so to just let her keep the brace on. I guess I am just worried about the dependency and muscle atrophy, even though Spinecor is not supposed to cause it.

[BellasMom]

Hmmm ... I am not sure that Bella is having growth spurt, but I am glad that you have an explanation for you child!

Good luck