If you suffer from scoliosis and the curve in your spine is getting worse, your doctor may recommend that you wear a scoliosis brace. A brace doesn’t directly cure scoliosis or correct the curve, but it can help to prevent the curve from progressing any further.
If you require a brace, you will often have to get a cast taken of your back; this will be done at an outpatient appointment, so you will not be required to stay overnight at the hospital. Scoliosis braces are often made from a rigid plastic, although flexible braces are sometimes used instead for milder curves. While many scoliosis sufferers worry that a brace will be visible through their clothes, most modern scoliosis braces are designed to be difficult to see under loose-fitting clothing. Usually, a scoliosis brace will have to be worn for 23 hours a day, coming off only for showers and baths; however, in some cases, the patient is only required to wear the brace at night.
Many of the patients we treat here at the Scoliosis SOS Clinic have experience with scoliosis braces. The video below features an interview with one such patient, 12-year-old Yana from Malta:
If you already wear a scoliosis brace…
During the period of brace wear (sometimes up to 6 or 8 years for juvenile scoliosis patients), it is crucial to maintain the strength of the patient’s back muscles and not allow them to atrophy due to the constant support provided by the external plastic shell. A lack of back muscle strength can result in correctional benefits being lost at the end of the bracing period, leading to an increase in the patient’s curve.
Attending a four-week
ScolioGold course at the Scoliosis SOS Clinic can complement the effects of a brace, helping to maintain spinal flexibility and strength, correct your spinal curve, and reduce any pain you may feel as a result. If, like Yana, you’d like to supplement your bracing treatment with a Scoliosis SOS treatment course, please
click here to contact our clinic.
If you are still researching your treatment options…
In many cases, our non-surgical treatment courses can actually eliminate the need for a scoliosis brace entirely. Our ScolioGold method is demonstrably effective at reducing the Cobb angle and changing each patient’s quality of life for the better. We’re constantly monitoring and developing our methods to reflect the latest advances in the non-surgical field, and because of this, our therapy continues to deliver gold-standard results.
To find out whether our scoliosis treatment courses could help you, we recommend arranging an initial consultation (which can either be carried out via telephone, via Skype, or here at the clinic itself).