spinecor

[cherylplinder]

Expect some soreness and irritation at the pressure points on the shoulder and hip. Rachel adjusted readily. We use boy short(the girl's version) underwear to address irritation from rubbing of the thight straps. She likes a regular T-shirt with her bolero and straps. I will be interested to see about the developement of a bodysuit that has the boyshort. Rachel hasn't used bodysuits since she discovered the boyshort panties.
Rachel overall loves her brace. She wore a Boston for a month before x-rays revealed no correction and no point to wearing it. It was torture. The Spinecor was so much better and cooler in comparison, that she has never looked back.
Best wishes!
Cheryl

[emarismom]

Hi all, I haven't posted for a while, but have been following this thread.
Tommorrow Emily will get her brace. I am very nervous now!! I hope that she
can adjust well. I'm having a really hard time with, although I know I have to do something sooner rather than later. I'll post tommorrow night to tell the
results of the fitting and first day.

[cherylplinder]

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have a great fitting!

[Celia]

.... I wonder whether you could cast your minds back to your first few days/weeks with the brace and advise me of what we might expect. For example whether I should buy anything in such as alcohol (not for me or course!) for sore spots, etc

Hey Laura,

Great to see you posting here! I found moleskin to be really handy for chafing and so on. If the snaps ever break, a shoe repairman can usually fix the problem for a few dollars. Hmmm let's see........otherwise everything is pretty straight forward. Are you seeing Mr. Mills??

[RugbyLaura]

Thanks everyone.

Celia - re moleskin, I thought Gerbo had told you that it's an endangered species over here (lol, actually a huge pest). However, Googling in the UK only produces "Moleskine" notebooks and moleskin trousers. Perhaps I should buy a pair of trousers & cut them up, seems an awful waste though! Yes we are seeing Mr Mills and Mr Cole (consultant). I've heard great things about both of them from various sources.

Cheryl - Immy usually wears short style knickers, but I can't see how she'd go to the loo without taking everything off...

Emarismom - looking forward to hearing about the first few days. Good luck with everything.

Melissa, I know we don't get the brace for another 6 days, but I ought to make an early start on the booze - so have got a bottle of wine chilling for tonight. I thought it important to show commitment to this whole thing!

Laura X

[MATJESNIC]

Dr. Scholl's makes moleskin and it is sold in drugstores here.

I love when you say "The Loo." Nicole and I absolutely love a British accent!!!! Enjoy the wine. But really, it shouldn't be too stressful. The spinecor brace is heavenly compared to some of the alternatives.
'

[emarismom]

Just back from our initial fitting. Everything went well until they actually started fitting the brace. Emily had a complete meltdown. She cried and complained about everything being to tight, bothering her, hurting her. By the time we had it on and began practicing taking it on and off, she was fine. Right now she is sitting watching TV and having lunch in just her bodysuit and brace!!

The initial curve was 21 degrees. With the brace on she went down to 16.8.
Next week we will go back to check that everything is adjusted well. The doctor didn't adjust it very tight this time as Emily was really having a hard time, so next week, once she is handling it better, they will make it a little
tighter.

[MATJESNIC]

I am sure you will get a much better correction when it is tighter. Nicole went down about 16 degrees at her initial fitting. But obviously, the tighter, the more of a correction is revealed.

Best of luck.

[emarismom]

Okay, so yesterday did go a lot better than I expected overall. Only a few meltdowns, but they were manageable. I do have a few questions though. Firstly, on Emily's brace, straps three and four come over her shoulders. While she was sleeping, strap 3 slipped off the shoulder, is this normal?
Also strap four wraps around her body from left shoulder all the way to back of left hip. It is visible around the neck area and most of Emily's clothes don't cover it, is this normal? She is a little upset because I told her noone would be able to tell she has it on. Any suggestions?

[gallathea]

Hi Emily's Mom:

My 7-year-old has the same kind of #4 strap placement, and she has the same problem with wanting to have the brace completely covered. She rejects everything that doesn't cover that piece on the neck especially. It is tough now that it's summer and we can't rely on turtlenecks. I'm having someone handy with sewing put in more cloth at the neckline of her favorite T-shirts to cover it. I hope it works. She also wears a lot of button-down shirts.

Good luck. I know how hard it is to watch your little girl get so frustrated.

Caroline

[gallathea]

Hi Christine:

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner about the chiro ideas. I was on a much-needed vacation. The woman I talked to at the conference is named Louise Marcotte. Her e-mail is dremarcotte@altsantechiro.com. She was really nice and helpful and I'm sure she could tell you who you should contact to find a chiro near you who is trained specifically in the Spinecor philosophy.

Good luck!
Caroline

[cherylplinder]

Rachel has a right thoracic, left lumbar curve. Her #4 strap attaches to her right shoulder and goes around to her left hip(under her right arm and down across her back) One time, when her brace was too loose, that strap slipped off her arm. One time, when that strap was too tight, it slipped off her arm. Maybe when they adjust the brace to optimal tension, you will not have a problem, but I would not hesitate to give them a call and run it by them. I call everytime I have a question. You can always e-mail pics.
Rachel's #3 strap attaches to the left shoulder and comes across the front between her breasts, it wraps all the way around her waist at the back and attaches to the base at front center. It wraps aorund more than 360 degrees. I guess that would be 360 plus another 90 degrees. Left shoulder, all the way around to left side, and from there to center pelvis. This is the strap that always shows for Rachel. We have had good luck with T's from JC Penny and Wal Mart. T's with a high round neck cover this strap for her.
Rachel's #4 and #3 straps both irritated her skin at first. She experiences very littly discomfort now.
Best of luck!
Cheryl

[Allegra]

I know this is a pretty stupid question, but a left thoracic curve means the upper part of the spine is going to the left, right? (ahahaha left , right)

[christine2]

Hi Caroline

I hope you had a restfull vaca. I did call Dr. Rivard he suggested message instead of chiro so we will try that 1st. He also OK'ed a little more time out of brace this summer to swim. He is my hero!

Emily's mom

It does get better and better with time. My daughters strap also shows at the neck line but my daughter does not care. I am not sure if it is because of her young age or if she is just very confident. She actually took of her shirt at the playground the other day and played in bodysuit and brace. (it was hot) All of her friends know she is in brace infact she shared her x rays with her 1st grade class. Because she is in brace at such a young age I have a feeling Dr. Rivard will keep her in till she stops growing. (long time) So I want her to be as emotionally comfortable as possible. We talk about how straight and tall she is every day!! We are thankfull to have Spinecor and talk about that everyday too. When she says anything negative about her scoliosis I channel it to postive. "Thank goodness we found Dr Rivard !!" I do not know if any of it helps but it is all I can do as a mom.

Everyone
My daughter did not like the new bodysuits. They have elastic around the legs. I called Rita and she will work on a new design. We will meet with her as soon as the kids are out of school.
Christine

[Celia]

Everyone
My daughter did not like the new bodysuits. They have elastic around the legs. I called Rita and she will work on a new design. We will meet with her as soon as the kids are out of school.
Christine

OMG elastic at the legs???? I wonder if I can still cancel?????