Now what are you pair going on about?
It seems Flerc is upset that Pooka is advocating for the end of needless bracing of patients, because he thinks that any form of prevention of the curve progression through bracing is a better option than taking the word of the scoliscore just in case the scoliscore is wrong.
Whereas Pooka says that the effectiveness of bracing is unreliable anyway because there is no good evidence to say that bracing works. She thinks that the hardship and alienation that a adolescent endures through wearing the bracing is not valid now that the scoliscore test can provide us with some guidance as to who and who shouldn’t need to be braced for scoliosis.
OK.
If we were having this discussion 10 years from now it would be a different situation because there would be a lot more data on the reliability and accuracy of the scoliscore test. I guess we’re still in early days with this test and a cautious approach would be the correct one. And lets no forget that even though you pair might disagree on this, you both genuinely have the child or adolescents best interests at heart, which is the important thing.
I think you are both right. The hard part is finding the fine line in between when people want everything to be simple back and white. You both bring up realistic situations, for which both your concerns are equally valid.
I think it is important that patients not be braced needlessly, however I also think that no patient be denied the opportunity to be braced if there is any chance of progression.
Pooka has made the conversation more complex by putting a number on it. 1%
Would you brace your child if there was only a reported 1% chance the brace would be effective?
What do you consider to be effective?
Is it reducing the curve or just slowing or halting it through the growth stage?
Honestly – I’m not sure I would want to put my child through the whole ordeal just to have to undergo surgery anyway if my child had a 99% chance of requiring surgery. But by the same account if there was a significant chance that bracing could slow or halt the progression even temporarily so that a better surgical outcome could be achieved, so that my child was better off in the long run, I’d have to seriously consider that. There’s no way any parent would want to see their child go through the pain and discomfort and alienation of wearning a brace especially if it was needless, but at the same time I’m sure most parents would try to get their kids to comply with the bracing regimen if they thought it was in their childs long term best interests.
I guess its kind of like voting in an election. You never really have any good choices, but your forced to choose anyway.
I guess as a parent, you have to take the time to investigate these things for yourself, not take just one practitioners word for it, get several opinions and talk to other people that have been in a similar situation and weigh up what is the best approch for your child yourself.
Overall though given scoliscore is still relatively new, a cautious approach would be the right approach.
And Pooka regarding your earlier post.
I don’t generally have a problem with chiropractors administering the scoliscore test.
I’d prefer patients and parents be more informed rather than remaining less informed.
In fact the scolioscore test should be available over the counter at a drug store – no prescription needed. I can’t see how making it more available and accessible is a bad thing.
If the chiropractor chooses not to brace a certain category of people then that proves that he’s generally not exploiting the test in order to brace everybody and increase his business.
But I will agree there is a bit of room for people to be taken advantage of.
Unfortunately some people believe everything they are told by people with some form of medical experience without taking the time to investigate and become more informed for themselves.
These are the people at risk of being taken advantage of.
People in business will try to turn things in their favor. It doesn’t always happen though some people are genuine. Whether it’s right or not it’s a fact of life. Money makes the world go round. It’s really up to the patient oriented scoliosis organisations to ensure that people are better informed to make the right decisions, and that people are smart enough to investigate things for themselves. At the end of the day it’s really up to the parent to make the right decisions for their child, and no-one else.
You really can't criticise any parent given all they have is lousy choices in front of them to choose from.
Realistically, they're damned if they do and damned if they dont. There arent any good choices.
Hopefully in time, the scoliscore test might provide some certainty, and thats a good thing.
It seems Flerc is upset that Pooka is advocating for the end of needless bracing of patients, because he thinks that any form of prevention of the curve progression through bracing is a better option than taking the word of the scoliscore just in case the scoliscore is wrong.
Whereas Pooka says that the effectiveness of bracing is unreliable anyway because there is no good evidence to say that bracing works. She thinks that the hardship and alienation that a adolescent endures through wearing the bracing is not valid now that the scoliscore test can provide us with some guidance as to who and who shouldn’t need to be braced for scoliosis.
OK.
If we were having this discussion 10 years from now it would be a different situation because there would be a lot more data on the reliability and accuracy of the scoliscore test. I guess we’re still in early days with this test and a cautious approach would be the correct one. And lets no forget that even though you pair might disagree on this, you both genuinely have the child or adolescents best interests at heart, which is the important thing.
I think you are both right. The hard part is finding the fine line in between when people want everything to be simple back and white. You both bring up realistic situations, for which both your concerns are equally valid.
I think it is important that patients not be braced needlessly, however I also think that no patient be denied the opportunity to be braced if there is any chance of progression.
Pooka has made the conversation more complex by putting a number on it. 1%
Would you brace your child if there was only a reported 1% chance the brace would be effective?
What do you consider to be effective?
Is it reducing the curve or just slowing or halting it through the growth stage?
Honestly – I’m not sure I would want to put my child through the whole ordeal just to have to undergo surgery anyway if my child had a 99% chance of requiring surgery. But by the same account if there was a significant chance that bracing could slow or halt the progression even temporarily so that a better surgical outcome could be achieved, so that my child was better off in the long run, I’d have to seriously consider that. There’s no way any parent would want to see their child go through the pain and discomfort and alienation of wearning a brace especially if it was needless, but at the same time I’m sure most parents would try to get their kids to comply with the bracing regimen if they thought it was in their childs long term best interests.
I guess its kind of like voting in an election. You never really have any good choices, but your forced to choose anyway.
I guess as a parent, you have to take the time to investigate these things for yourself, not take just one practitioners word for it, get several opinions and talk to other people that have been in a similar situation and weigh up what is the best approch for your child yourself.
Overall though given scoliscore is still relatively new, a cautious approach would be the right approach.
And Pooka regarding your earlier post.
I don’t generally have a problem with chiropractors administering the scoliscore test.
I’d prefer patients and parents be more informed rather than remaining less informed.
In fact the scolioscore test should be available over the counter at a drug store – no prescription needed. I can’t see how making it more available and accessible is a bad thing.
If the chiropractor chooses not to brace a certain category of people then that proves that he’s generally not exploiting the test in order to brace everybody and increase his business.
But I will agree there is a bit of room for people to be taken advantage of.
Unfortunately some people believe everything they are told by people with some form of medical experience without taking the time to investigate and become more informed for themselves.
These are the people at risk of being taken advantage of.
People in business will try to turn things in their favor. It doesn’t always happen though some people are genuine. Whether it’s right or not it’s a fact of life. Money makes the world go round. It’s really up to the patient oriented scoliosis organisations to ensure that people are better informed to make the right decisions, and that people are smart enough to investigate things for themselves. At the end of the day it’s really up to the parent to make the right decisions for their child, and no-one else.
You really can't criticise any parent given all they have is lousy choices in front of them to choose from.
Realistically, they're damned if they do and damned if they dont. There arent any good choices.
Hopefully in time, the scoliscore test might provide some certainty, and thats a good thing.
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