Anonymous wrote:My DD is 13 and getting a brace this summer. She is worried about the whole ordeal and how long she'll have to wear it. Do girls typically wear the braces until shortly after they get their periods? She seems to think she's going to college in the thing and I keep telling her it'll be a year or two. I hope I haven't been lying. Any other tips for her? I think her biggest concern is other kids comments, which I can't control.

My daughter got the hand bone maturity scan every time she saw her spine doctor to determine how much growth left (checking all her growth plates). It ended up being close to 2 years of night time brace to stabilize the curve and she stopped wearing at 14 (started when she was 12).

And my daughter growth plates closed later than expected.

My DD is 13 and getting a brace this summer. She is worried about the whole ordeal and how long she'll have to wear it. Do girls typically wear the braces until shortly after they get their periods? She seems to think she's going to college in the thing and I keep telling her it'll be a year or two. I hope I haven't been lying. Any other tips for her? I think her biggest concern is other kids comments, which I can't control.

Anonymous wrote:Any opinions on the OP Specialty Bracing center in Fairfax? National Scoliosis Center is highly recommended but out of network. I guess my question is whether it is "worth" paying out of pocket for Nat'l Scoliosis Center if OP Speciality is in network. I understand they do slightly different braces? My kid was prescribed the Rigo Cheneau. She has a lot of growing left to do.

Nat'l Scoliosis Center is highly regarded and very expensive! I consulted with them for my dc and found them to be caring, professional, etc. Ultimately, we went with an individual PT, whose prices were much lower ($175/session) and got great results in 6 months. It was approx 10 appts to learn the methods.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter has a 22 degree curve and was told that they wouldn't consider bracing until 25 degrees.

Depending on her age, especially if she’s got a lot of growing left, I’d get a second opinion. There’s a margin of error in measurement up to 5 degrees I think either way.

This! Start PT with a Schroth certified provider, it makes a difference. PT helped stabilize my dcs 18 degree curve, improved his posture and evened out his shoulder and hips.

My daughter who is almost 14 has been wearing RC brace for 18 months. Her curves were 22 and 14 when she was diagnosed at 12. I can’t recommend enough NSC in Fairfax and also join the scoliosis support group on FB. My daughter only wear hers at night. She was adamant about wearing it to school. Is it enough? If it was me I would have her wear it more but her curve stayed. Last 8 month she has been wearing it 7 hours only when she is asleep and it is better than nothing. Curves did not progress. No experience with providence brace.

Any opinions on the OP Specialty Bracing center in Fairfax? National Scoliosis Center is highly recommended but out of network. I guess my question is whether it is "worth" paying out of pocket for Nat'l Scoliosis Center if OP Speciality is in network. I understand they do slightly different braces? My kid was prescribed the Rigo Cheneau. She has a lot of growing left to do.

Anonymous wrote:My 13 year has been diagnosed with a 20 degree curve in spine, she is in the middle of growth spurt so dr (Children's Hospital ortho) recommends the Boston Brace until she stop growing so at least another 18 months.

I would love to know if your kid wore one and what was the experience like? she is very self conscious of not being able to wear "cute summer clothes" without the brace sticking out (like tank tops or anything cropped). she is worried what kids at school will think and if she has to take it to sleep away camp.
Any tips or advice would be helpful. She gets measured for the brace in a couple of weeks.

Also, has anyone tried the Schroth method of therapy for scoliosis? we may that in addition to the brace.
thanks

My 14 just finished her 18 months of Providence Brace which she was only required to wear during night time. She had 19 degree and ended with 10 after all said and done. Technically she didn’t need to wear one yet but we took proactive method because of her age to make sure the curve didn’t grow and went with night time brace only. Strongly recommend if your daughter curve is 20. At that that they also did the hand bone scan to see maturity of the bone and it was 5/8. Her pelvic growth place wasn’t closed yet either. They expected her to wear for 12 months but the growth place weren’t fully closed then so they extended it for another 6.

She did a couple Schroth sessions but her ortho (who is amazing) said it was nice to have if you can pay for it but it’s not needed either if she was going to wear the brace consistently. We bought a bar and have her do free hanging a couple of minute each day so we didn’t have to pay for Schroth. She also worked with trainer at the gym to stretch her spine and entire body twice a week. It was just cheaper than $300 of Schroth since our insurance wouldn’t cover it.

Check with your doctor about the providence brace and see if that’s something he would consider for her.

Is bracing able to reduce the curvature in tweens/young teens? Or is it just to prevent progression?

Also wondering if anyone has been to children's for this lately. I know Hopkins is often recommended but they are out of network for us.

My daughter is 12, and we are approaching 2 full years of wearing the Boston brace. She was diagnosed with 2 curves- one over 30 degrees and one over 25 degrees, and bracing has prevented an increase in the curves as she grows. She is required to wear her brace for a minumum of 18 hours per day. She takes it off for PE at school, for practice, and for showering. We also give her some days when she can wear it less (her birthday, for example). I'm not going to lie; she hates her brace. It is very uncomfortable, and she is embarrassed by it, not wanted to draw attention to it. This does affect her clothing selection- fortunately, in the winter, baggy sweatshirts are in style. She gets very hot in the brace, so in the summer, if she is not out and about, she is just in her under-brace tank top. She wants to wear some shorter tops, and will do so around her core group of friends, but not to school.

She recently got a new brace after over a year in her previous brace, and I forgot how the painful the transition was. The doctor will have you start out with wearing it a few hours per day, then build on that until you have reached the length they recommend.

I also have scoliosis but did not wear a brace because my curve wasn't as great. I really wish I had braced because like a previous poster, I have so many back/nerve issues now that stem from the scoliosis.