treatment center

[t nizzle]

my mom wants to send me to some treatment center in wyoming for 2 weeks because of my scoliosis. I really don't want to go, I just got my brace and I want to give it time to work before I do something like that. But when I tell her that, she just calls me stubborn. :(

[leahdragonfly]

Hi t nizzle,

I've been following your posts, and my heart goes out to you. As you can read in my sig, I wore a boston brace for 2 years (and my curves did not progress), and although it was over 25 years ago, I can relate to your feelings like it was yesterday. I know it's not easy at all, and it seems so unfair sometimes. But it sounds like you are doing great, and you should be proud of how well you are doing, especially wearing it to school already!

There are some special brace t-shirts to wear under the brace that are great for increasing the comfort of your skin. The orthotist who made your brace can get them for you, and they should be covered by insurance (tell your mom). One is the Boston T, and the other is made by Knit-Rite. They are made of CoolMax fabric, so you don't feel quite so sweaty underneath.

I also can understand that you may feel overwhelmed by just getting the brace, and want to give it a chance before you have to go to a treatment center. Maybe you could make a deal with your mom (it's just a thought)--maybe she would consider letting you wait until after your first follow-up appointment. This would give you both a chance to see how things are going. Maybe if you show her your post she will understand that you are not trying to be stubborn.

Keep up the good work!

[t nizzle]

It would be AWESOME to get some more shirts to wear underneath. We've checked a bunch of places (walmart, target, etc) to try and find shirts with no seams. but all the shirts without seams are really itchy and uncomfortable.

Yeah every time I even mention not wanting to go to a treatment center, she calls me stubborn and ends the conversation. It's sooooooooooooooo annoying!!:mad: I'll try making a deal with her though. It's worth a shot

[HeatherM]

What is the treatment place for? What will they do there?

I would at least talk with her more about it. I know you don't want to go but your Mom is just trying to do what she thinks is best for you. She is probably checking into everything to see how she can make you better. I know it gets annoying but you are very lucky that your Mom loves you so much and is checking into things for you. (It never goes away either...my Mom has been looking online into all sorts of stuff about MS and calling me at work like 100 times a day! Its overwhelming but nice to know that someone cares so much!)

I agree...try to make a deal. Give the brace sometime and go from there. Is is that you don't want to go because you are scared? Just not ready yet? Want to wait and see how things go with the brace?

[t nizzle]

Well first of all, we have NO money. Like we're struggling just to pay for this brace in the first place. I would feel horrible to have to pay for a treatment center that may or may not end up helping me. Second of all, I'm just not good at going new places. I'm horrible at meeting new people, and i would just feel awkward. And it seems like my curves are so bad, even if the exercises they give me there improve them a little bit, they will still be really bad!

:( this is no fun

[HeatherM]

OK-those are all very good concerns. I would tell her then that you really want to wait and see how the brace is going to help. If after 1 year of wearing the brace there has not been improvement in the curves or if they have gotten worse, you will go.

Can you look online and see what the exercises are? Maybe you could incorporate some of them at home?

[Pooka1]

Could you ask your mother to look at this forum? Maybe the treatment she wants you to get doesn't work very well for other folks but she doesn't realize it.

Sometimes people don't know how to get the right information to make a good decision. They are desperate and often end up wasting a lot of money.

There is very little evidence any exercise alone works for scoliosis, especially in the long run. There are any number of people on this forum who report no success with exercise programs. The ones who tout is may have a financial interest.

Could you find out which treatment center it is? Or even just the city maybe. I can try to find information on it and the methods they use. If there are reports in the medical literature on it, I can find them for you and your mother.

Good luck. Keep you chin up.