Has anybody tried a posture correcting brace to hold shoulders back?

[mdtaffet]

Me again...

My posture was really bad before my surgery (T9 to S1) in January. While the part that now has titanium rods and screws now has the best posture it's had in many years, I find that the upper part of my back still tends to slouch a bit, especially when I'm walking. My shoulders droop a bit and my head and neck seem a bit more forward than they should be. One of the physical therapists I have seen since the surgery thinks that this is due to not holding my abdominal muscles tight, but I personally don't think there is a direct connection between my abdominal muscles and holding my shoulders back. Besides, I can't hold my abdominal muscles tight the whole time because that makes it hard to breathe.

I'm considering the possibility of ordering a posture correcting brace that is supposed to help keep the shoulders in the right place, along the lines of http://www.footsmart.com/p-posture-c...ace-30411.aspx or http://www.footsmart.com/product.asp...vc=recs_pp2_io or something similar. Has anybody else tried something like this after surgery? If so, what did you try, was it comfortable, and did it help?

-- Thanks,
Mary

[mabeckoff]

I would ask my surgeon before ordering anything and get his opinion

[Pooka1]

Hi.

I don't have scoliosis but wore this Shoulders Back for about two years, the first year every day, 24 hours a day.

http://www.shouldersback.net/

I did it for my riding... if the shoulders aren't back and down, it is impossible to develop a correct connection from the core to the bit. I have rounded shoulders and I was unwilling to do PT to try to fix that without a guarantee it would work.

The brace put my shoulders back and down in the correct position for riding and I did finally find the "armlessness" feel necessary for a correct contact but there were prices to pay. Because my shoulders were so rounded, the brace caused enough pain between my shoulder blades (not in the front!) that was sufficiently distracting as to require OTC pain killer for a few weeks. Also, any brace will result in muscle loss because it takes over for muscle.

I finally went to a sports physio person and she explained what the brace had done to my own gait and posture and that I should lose it.

After losing it, I started forcing myself to have my shoulders back and down on and off the horse whenever I thought it. That has largely worked after at least a year. I still struggle with my natural posture not being ideal for riding but I have learned I can make headway without the brace.

The bottom line here is ask the surgeon but I bet he nixes it in favor of PT.

[Doodles]

Mary--
I agree with Pooka on the brace. Muscle loss is a big deal. In my mind it was a reason I never wanted to wear the Milwaukee brace way back when. I sort of have the same problem. Especially with forward head. I try to be conscious of it but I need to do more. Janet

[mabeckoff]

When I had my surgery back in July 2011, I had a clam shell brace to wear. Dr Bederman would not let me wear it as long as I wanted to because of muscle loss