spinecor

[jillw]

Bellas mom, she's on a similar time frame/age as my daughter so hopefully she will have it down in time for camp also. If not, I'm sure you can make arrangements with the camp nurse to accomodate you. I had to do that with Katie when I registered her for camp (she didn't know how to do her brace yet. Although she subsequently learned how to do it, I still did type out detailed directions with pictures and meet with the nurse the first day of camp so the nurse could help if need be) Good luck!

[MJB]

I am worried about Halle.. Her brace is really pulling her right shoulder blade, like it is completely out of place when the brace is on and now she is having trouble during her out of brace time, she doesn't even want to take it 1/2 the time because her shoulder hurts too bad.

Honestly I am still worried that this brace is doing more damage than good and because we don't have a doctor we can just go visit anytime we have a concern, I am wondering if I should've just taken her to an Ontario hospital and got the rigid brace.

Out of the rigid braces, which are the most concealed under clothes?

[CAmomof2]

MJB,

Sorry to hear about Halle. You could always take a pic and email your concerns to Dr Rivard. I emailed him once and he replied within a few hours, even calling me on the phone.
Halle seems to be getting good "correction" with the brace. Keep us informed. Thanks. S.

[BellasMom]

MJB, when is your next appointment with Dr. Rivard? If it's not soon, I would second CAmomof2's suggestion of contacting Dr. R

Send him an email or call him, send him a picture - I am sure he'll be able to give an advice on how to proceed

Good luck!

[MJB]

Thanks for the response! I sent them an e-mail today about all of this. I didn't think to take a picture though. I will have to do that tonight.

She can't even make it through her dance classes anymore without having to sit out from back pain... this year she decided to do dance classes out of brace and now i am trying to talk her into wearing it during them again and she thinks everyone will ask her too many questions and talk about her.

[MJB]

Halle's shoulders, ribs and chest are now uneven and they never used to be before we got her in spinecor... I am worried about when she develops during puberty that she is going to be very lopsided in the breast area... has anyone else experienced this?

[MJB]

I also made an appointment with our family doctor for Jan 2nd to get an out of brace xray... I want to see what her curve is really looking like, her xrays right now she looks SO leaned to the side in them.

[BellasMom]

My daughter had hew first dance lesson yesterday in a SpineCor .

She just told all of her friends that she is wearing a brace and let them feel it through her clothes. Nobody paid much attention after the first 5 minutes

[MJB]

see Halle wore is last year in her classes and she got a lot of stares from kids, teens and adults... all just curious i'm sure. she goes to a very large dance studio, so i guess she feels like there are just too many people to stare and she's not comfortable with it this year... not to mention her brace is getting in pretty bad condition now, it doesn't look so new anymore lol.

[jillw]

Marlowe, Katie doesn't wear a leotard to dance - just jazz pants and a fitted tshirt so she doesn't have that issue - is Hailey required to wear a leotard? (I'm assuming that she would wear her brace over her leotard which is why people would see it so much? I've seen pictures of ballet dancers dancing with the spinecor on top- the people who stare are probably wondering what cool new gadget she has to help her become a world class dancer and are wondering if they should get one too!!! If I recall , ballet is one of the types of dance Hailey does so they probably do require a leotard (would they allow a fitted shirt on top and the little ballet skirt below to make it less obvious?) I know what you mean about the brace not being as white anymore - epecially the plastic pieces (but they could be covered by the little skirt). Maybe they'd make an exception for the dress code for Hailey-better she wears the "wrong" clothes than sits out the class.

Regarding shoulders, Katie has a right thoracic curve and her right shoulder is lower than her left - it is done intentionally and part of the "corrective movement". I'd definitely send a pic when you get a chance to take one.

Also, a good idea to get an out of brace xray for your peace of mind. Just remember that Hailey should be brace free for a couple days prior to get a meaningful measurement. If her curve is the same or below the size of her curve when she was diagnosed/pre-brace, then you would probably feel more comfort. I wouldn't expect a smaller curve though since she hasn't been braced long enough for changes to become permanent.

Re which braces show less under clothes-I'm not sure. I know a Milwaukee is hard to hide, but the boston braces could probably be hidden if she wears loose clothes. I'd post that question separately in the bracing forum so you'd get responses from those with more experience with hard braces than those who have only worn spinecor so far.

Good luck ! I hope you get some good answers from the doctors.

[jillw]

By the way...I just got a nice insurance check in the mail to reimburse me for the brace! It's subject to "out of network" levels of reimbursement, but more than I expected because the brace itself must not have been subject to the out of network restrictions. I was totally psyched. Thanks to all of you who helped answer my questions in earlier posts about codes and strategy and such! I didn't even have to go through an appeals process like I expected!

[BellasMom]

New concern

Happy holidays to everybody!

I have new concern - Bella has been in SpineCor for a month already and she's been doing just great: figured out how to put it on all by herself, it stopped bothering her thighs etc

But we are having new issue now - when she takes it off, especially at night, she complains of a back pain. When I ask her where it hurts, she points to the muscle on the left of her lumbar curve. This muscle seems to be much more tense to me that it used to be before. This is the muscle that is pulling her spine to the left.

Has anybody had this problem? What do you think it might mean - that the brace is not working? that is working? anything else?

I'll write to Dr. Rivard, but they are on holidays till January 12th, so I would not expect an answer from him anytime soon

[BellasMom]

Dr. Colliard called us today (unbelievable service!)

She said that it's nothing out of the ordinary and suggested to massage the muscle and use Bengay on it

[christine2]

Bellas Mom

Sorry I am just getting to this but between work, the holidays and my sons hockey schedule there has not been much me time. My daughter was getting muscle spasms in her neck from time to time. I am able to message them out. My Chiropractor taught me how. We immediatly use ice packs them message. It seems to do the trick. I would immagine they are due to the rotation in my daughters shoulders. She was very rotated for 2 years. Dr Colliard has relaxed the tension on the bands (due to 2 years in brace and relaxing on treatment a bit until the major spurt). My daughter has not had a spasm since our last visit. We are going back in April for a new brace, hers will be almost 3 years old by then and getting very tattered. I will be interested to see her x rays after the loosening of the bands for 6 months

[BellasMom]

Thanks for the reply, Christine;

Bella seems to be Ok after we massage it a little and used some Bengay