tlso brace

[KRIS ATKINSON]

Marmyte, more power to you! Thank you for being so blunt about it. My daughter would much rather have still been wearing her brace until adulthood, a few more years yet, than to have had surgery this summer. I am thankful for surgery, but for those who are fortunate enough to keep it under control by wearing a brace, be very, very thankful the brace is being effective! Kris

[mocity]

We are all entitled to our own opinions which is what I stated... MY OPINION. In my opinion, wearing the brace was much worse than my surgery. The brace caused me a TON of physical pain in addition to the emotional pain. Your comment "the psychological "suffering" becomes irrelevant" is way off base. I don't ever believe that psychological suffering is irrelevant no matter what the cause.

Fact is that the brace didn't work and I could have avoided all of that by having the surgery in the first place. I realize at the time there was no way to know that however, my opinion was that my experience with the brace was much, much worse than the surgery. My condition did continue to worsen and I was not able to avoid surgery.

Everyone's experience varies so all of our opinions may vary as well.

[KRIS ATKINSON]

Mocity, you have a good point. I remember debating 2 years ago whether to get a brace or do surgery when my daughter was first diagnosed. I read on the internet how some people had worn braces for years and then ended up with surgery. At the time, I was debating how that would feel to endure years with a brace, only to end up in surgery anyway. Well, now I am that parent, as I think back 2 years. I can relate to both opinions, wearing a brace for extended time vs. surgery. Everyone is definitely permissible to have our own opinions, and I'm so glad we all express them! Kris

[mocity]

Kris - Thank you for your post. I was a little upset by the comment from the other poster... it felt like an attack. I am not someone just stating an opinion but have never gone through this. I wore the back brace for 5 years and had the surgery in 1989. I am definately able to post a valid opinion of the experience I have gone through. I was 9 when I was diagnosed and am now 34 so I have been living with this for quite a while. Personally, I am interested in everyone's DIFFERENT experiences so I can gain a better understanding of this disease.

I wish the best of luck to you and to your daughter.

[marmyte]

neither am i stating an uninformed opinion. i've been through this too and i think everyone on this board has been through some form of scoliosis in some capacity. yes bracing is hard, but (and maybe this is the way i was brought up coming through) i thought it was best to grit my teeth. i'd have worn my brace forever if it meant i would get correction that way. at the same time as trying not to sugar-coat my experience, i also attempt to give scoliosis and treatments of it a positive outlook as i would like to do my small part to end the stigma surrounding scoliosis, and maybe even help just one child have an easier ride

[sweetness514]

I wore the brace for at least 4 years 23 hours a day and had to have sugery anyways. IMO neither of them were good experiences but if I would not have worn the brace maybe my curve would have progressed faster and I would have needed surgery in my teens which I was not ready to get at that time, personnally. The brace hurt and the scoliosis hurt too. It was also hard when other teenagers would touch me and call me names and not understand what I was wearing it for. I also had a lot of problems digesting with it.

All in all I'm still glad I wore it as I firmly believe that it's best to wait for surgery when pain is not that big of a factor since fusing the spine is not good for the rest of the vertebreas that are not fused. Myself I had pain when the scoliosis was progressing aggressivly in my teen years while wearing the brace and from 17 to 25 I was mostly pain free and was glad to not be fused in that period.

So all in all, I agree will a lot of points everybody has shared here

[mocity]

The concensus here is that we all have our own opinions. We are all here hoping to shed some light on the experience. I am curious what kind of braces you guys wore. I am older (I believe) and possibly wore a different kind of back brace. My spine curved at a rapid pace and I had alot of pain while I wore the brace so my experience was not a good one. I am happy for those that it has helped!

[KRIS ATKINSON]

Anybody ready for a big group hug? With or without braces or rods?! I'm going to bed now with warm fuzzies from you guys tonight! Glad we are all on the same wavelength. We all continue to enjoy life as well as possible in spite of scoliosis!!! Thanks for sharing all! Kris

[Grace]

(I had severe scoliosis as a child which included 2 S curves. I wore a brace 4th grade through 9th grade. I was told that you wear the brace until your bones aren't growing anymore which is normally 2 years after a female begins menstration. Typically the braces are worn by adolescents to prevent having to have the back surgery. I had some bad luck and my curves kept curving and I had the surgery. As bad as the surgery was it did not compare to having to wear that brace 23 hours a day as a young female. So, besides all that, why would you wear a brace now when you are matured. I think the only time a brace is worn is to cut down on pain... never to "fix" the problem. I don't think it is even possible once grown)




Dear Mocity,

I think why I worn TLSO brace, coz i have man hormon much than female hormon so I guess I can still grow little bit or reduce a curve in some way such as swiming, traction : up side down, and Brace TLSO.

My docter told that i should wore brace for 3 months and then got evaluation, if success i can still wore brace but if fail i wont wear brace anymore.

My brace is hot, rigid and have pressure on it, and i just wear at night about 7/8 hours (it supposed to be 23h/d), so i wonder , because i wore just 7/8 h/dy maybe cant reduce my curve. But i still try to experience.

when I got scoliosis at 12 yo (but dont know the degree), then 21 yo my scoliosis lower was 25 degree, and at 26 yo : upper/chast 22,5 degree and lower 30degree and now my upper/chast 22 degree and lower 32 degree.

so my conclusion above at 21 yo, my bone still growth a little bit because of that i got my upper/chast 22.5 degree.

I still hope that at my age 27 yo almost 28 yo i can still a litte bit reduce my curve ( mybe a little bit funny to hear about that, but mm i try )

Sometimes i confuse in exray 22.5 but they write 22 degree. But i read that mistake was common.

[LindaRacine]

Grace....

I know you want to believe in this treatment. I can't say it more bluntly than this... it is not going to permanently reduce your curve, regardless if you have male or female hormones. The brace may temporarily reduce your curve, but as soon as the brace treatment is stopped, your curve will return to close to its original degree.

If you're in physical pain, you may find chiropractic or other alternative treatment helps, but it will not reduce your curve permanently. Since you're already skeletally mature, you have very little need to worry that your curve will ever increase.

--Linda

[sweetness514]

I wore the Boston brace, wich didn't show unless someone touched me or looked closely but it hurt like hell and I HATED that piece of plastic-not to call it something else Anyways bad memories, especially all the teasing and sometimes physical abuse from others so I won't continue on the subject, except that I don't regret wearing it as I can at least have no regrets and wonder, even if I have tried any wich way possible to prevent surgery. Being fused is not natural, and I preferred being flexible, but oh well.

My friend had the Milwaukee brace, and she got teased even more than me, since it shows.

[mocity]

I wore the Milwaukee brace too. Thanks, I was just curious. The teasing was horrible. Anyway, I have had the fusion and have the rods/hooks and doing pretty well. As I get older I am having some back/leg pain and much more stiffness but still participate in aerobics and stuff so I guess I am doing ok. My back pain went to almost nothing after I recovered from the surgery. When I wore the brace I was in pain most of the time. I have scars under my arms from the bar that we around under the arms.

[LindaRacine]

Not really

n the world of the internet, .com is the cheapest web site space to buy. Many .Com's are even free. What you have to be careful of is that 'anyone' out there could get some space.......doesn't necessarily mean that it's right. In terms of university referencing it is considered the 'least reputable' and have to be treated with much caution.

.Org come's next. These one's always cost, and cost more than a .com. I think there's certain criteria/rules you have to meet for one, but I'm not sure. .org's are considered to be more reputable for university referencing than .com. They are usually organisations, associations, charities etc

Alison

This didn't make any sense to me, so I did a little research. .ORG domains were originally reserved for non-profits, but since there is no one policing the practice, anyone can get a .ORG domain.

Anyway, according to http://www.register.com, .COM domains are $35/year and .ORG domains are $149 for 5 years (or $29.80/year).

--Linda

[Grace]

Dear friends,

What is . com mean???

[Grace]

Dear friends,

What is . com mean??? and Linda .... do u think Curvemenders is trusted website????