The ISTC or Spinecor brace for adults

[fina14314]

I have worn the Spinecor

i am sorry to rain on your parade. But I have worn the SpineCor (as well as Copes) I am 22 and was very dilligent about my treatments and wearing the brace. Unfortunately, it didn't help my back in the slightest. Copes made my back worse. And the Spincor just didn't do anything. Spinecore is VERY uncomfortable. It looks like it would be comfortable but the girl that is advertizing the brace does not have scoliosis, therefor its not pulling her in ten different directions. Since wearing Spincore my shoulders are constantly popping in and out- it's just bad bad news. My curves are in teh 30's 40's and there was NO correction. I will live my life without surgery as long as i am able to function. IF there comes a time where it is just TOO crooked for me to carry on my daily functions. Then i will have surgery. In the meantime - stay agile and take care of your back. Your back WILL take care of you, Promise! Have faith. If you want to talk about the spincore feel free to email me and i will give you my number

[Celia]

Hi Fina14314,

Here is one of your posts on another thread:

"After wearing it for 5 months i showed no improvement, and i am very young still, 22. I am very active and was told that it would help. The only thing it helped was my doctor's bank account. It was painful becuase those straps go over your stomach and when you sit down it is very umcomfortable to eat. I would rather wear my hard brace. I don't think it is wise and i now look back and regret purchasing it. I have know come to realize that i can't "fix" scoliosis I am just proactive in exercises that keep my agile.


As far as I know your curve is somewhere around 49 degrees and you only wore the Spinecor brace for "5" months ??????? So what makes you the expert ?

[LindaRacine]

So what makes you the expert ?

Celia...

Fina14314 was merely stating an opinion based on her own treatment, which she has every right to do. I think she has more experience in terms of using the brace on adults than you do. You guys protest so much that at times, I've wondered about your motives.

--Linda

[marmyte]

i think 5 months in a skeltally mature adult is a long time to be wearing a brace, if it hasn't improved by then, i think it's right to believe it's not ever going to work. i have no idea why people seem to think they can be the first person ever to have a brace be effective on them as an adult, but then i just can't see it from their point of view...

i think Karen made a very good point in that bracing doesn't always work on adolescents (even if you consider a brace "working" to be holding a curve at its original angle) and how can it be expected to work on someone who is much less flexible?

it would be nice to believe that non-invasive therapies will work for everyone, but that's just not true. scoliosis has to be taken on a case by case basis but that doesn't mean bracing will work in adulthood. sad as i am to say it, even if the world develops a fantastic screening programme and the best brace ever seen, fusion surgery will be the only option for some patients (and not just congenital/infantile/juvenile patients with a less positive outlook)

i'm not trying to single anybody out here and shoot down your hopes of a surgery-free future, but i believe what i've said is realistic. sometimes, you can't fight what will happen anyway, but if you can that's fantastic

[Celia]

Celia...

You guys protest so much that at times, I've wondered about your motives.

--Linda

What motives could there possibly be other than trying to avoid surgery. I'm certainly not getting kick backs from any organization, if that's what you're inferring ! If an adult wants to try a method which shows promise then why not ? Why shoot them down ???? Do you feel everyone should go down the same surgery path as you ?

[LindaRacine]

Celia...

I don't think you've ever heard me encourage anyone to have surgery. If someone has already made up their mind to have surgery, I usually try to be supportive. And, I've stated many times that people should try to avoid surgery if they can. I hate that anyone has to go through it. That doesn't preclude me, however, from trying to warn people that there are a lot of charlatans out there who want to take advantage of the fact that there are desperate people who will do anything to avoid surgery.

If and when someone proves that adults can actually avoid surgery by undergoing some treatment, I'll be the most vocal person out there. Until that time, I'll continue to warn people that not a single person has come forward to show that their significant structural curves were permanently reduced by any treatment.

With all of that information, if someone still wants to try one of these treatments, I say go for it... unless, of course, it causes my insurance premiums to increase.

--Linda

[Karen Ocker]

Chiropractor prescribing brace?/adjusted every 3 months

I checked the SpineCor web site and realize it's a chiro prescribing a brace for scoliosis. That makes me suspicious.

Here is a chart comparing education of a chiro with that of other health practitioners:

http://www.chirobase.org/03Edu/adm.html
I was shocked to see that a BS degree is not needed to enter chiro school and the GPR is the lowest of all the professions listed.


"The brace has to be adjusted every 3 months to accomodate the changes in the spine and muscle groups". Must x-rays be taken each time? That is a lot of x-rays.
Also a 2 degree improvement can just be an error in measurement.

[Celia]

Fina14314,

I am SO sorry for sounding so brief and harsh ! I certainly didn't mean to discount your contribution to the discussion and I sincerely hope you accept my apologies. Last night I was racing between checking the internet and checking dinner that I wasn't really thinking clearly. What I meant to say was that you only wore the brace for 5 months and I don't think that it could be considered long enough to even make a difference.... most studies normally last a number of years. I would think that a 49 curve is quite severe. My five year old daughter is wearing the Spinecor - so naturally I believe in this product -and apart from chafing around the leg area, hasn't complained of stomach pains but I guess if one is older - that might be an issue ?

The message I'm getting is that if one is past the growing stage, there is NOTHING that can be done other than taking pain killers and if the pain becomes unbearable - surgery. So bear it and grin !

[gerbo]

With scoliosis being such an emotive subject, there is always the risk being carried away a bit, and exchanges of view can look a bit harsh. In the end all what each and everyone is trying to achieve is trying to make a difference, either for themselves, their child, or even the wider community.

I am completely with linda, in that there are inevitable lots of charlatans out there, making financial gains on the back of desperate people, and i have come across them myself as well.

The experience of one person though doesn't mean that the concept is wrong, many young people will not have benefitted from classic braces, like the boston, this doesn't mean that the boston doesn't work, i am sure it does, but not for everybody

I am sure that most of us would agree that the jury is stillm out on the spinecor, however, the evidence up till now, however limited is promising enough for many of us to "take the risk", myself (well, my daughter)included.

Ofcourse there are categories where succes is so much less likely, and i do not think that the spinecor manufavturer would make any claim that a 22 year old with a 40-50 degree curve would have a chance of improvement.

Reversely though, if i was in my 50's with a slowly worsening curve and the prospect of increasing pain and increasing immobility, I'd consider it, what alternqtive would i have?

I feel at this stage that whatever we do in the next few years could be a gamble, be it not doing anything (as i still have seen being advocated), using a nightbrace only, using a boston, going to germany for schroth therapy, all of it could work, however, no garantee for anything. The evidence for the spinecor isn't bad though, (and it makes sense!!)and nothing worse then what i have seen for other forms of bracing. I know , we could do with a bit more of it(will be coming though, a new article has been accepted by european spine journal, awaiting publication)

Re the prescribing of the spinecor; in the uk and in many worldwide centres it is doctors who prescribe the spinecor, but i have also noted that in places it is chiropracters doing it. I do get confused with this, as chiropracter seem to mean an awful lot of different things to many people which isn't a good sign in my eyes. However, amongst them there must be many good and dedicated professionals, and as long as they have been properly trained I cannot see any reason why they couldn't prescribe the spinecor

By the way xrays are at fitting, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and then 6 monthly after.

2 % improvement? it isn't a lot and could be a measuring error, however, keeping your mind open that it might do "something positive" isn't a bad attitude. I f nobody doesn't try anything new before being backed by 6 double blind randomised etc studies, we'd still walk around in loincloths living in caves.



gerbo

[green m&m]

fina14314,

I'm almost in the same situation as you. Except I was never braced or treated... though bracing wouldn't have helped me much because my major curve is dystrophic.

I'm 25 and my major curve is 49'. No surgery yet, but unfortunatly for me, I WILL need surgery... no doubt. The question is -- when? i want to wait as long as possible but not too long since it'll be harder to acheive optimal correction as I get older.

Thankfully I don't get backpain as often as I used to and they don't affect my function or daily life.. just very very annoying.

[fina14314]

I hear ya on the annoying part Are you doing anything to help your back as it is now? any physically therapy, massage? If you keep your back agile and healthy do you still think you will have less correction with surgery? If you wait longer? What are your reasons for waiting? And why do you say the surgery is inevitable. Just wondering

[green m&m]

I hear ya on the annoying part Are you doing anything to help your back as it is now? any physically therapy, massage? If you keep your back agile and healthy do you still think you will have less correction with surgery? If you wait longer? What are your reasons for waiting? And why do you say the surgery is inevitable. Just wondering

As of now I'm not doing anything. I want to get into swimming but the cost i s keeping me from it.... the Y in my town charges at least $40ish monthly for the most basic membership. :-\ Haven't investigated about commercial gyms -- I don't really like those b/c they usually try to tie you into a contract.

I'm waiting so I can keep the normal movement of my spine as long as possible.. and my curve at the moment is borderline for surgery. The reason the surgery is inevitable is because I have dystrophic scoliosis. My major curve only involves four vetrebraes, and two of them are wedge shaped. So it's short and sharp. These type of curves tend to be more 'agressive'.