The Pro's & Con's Of Wearing A Brace To Prevent Further Progression Of Scoliosis

Date Published: Monday February 6th, 2023
Written By: Ryan Brunelle

Wearing a brace to prevent further progression of your Scoliosis curve comes with many Pro's and Con's either short term or long term. For me personally, based off my experience wearing a brace for 20+ hours a day, I have definitely learned a lot about wearing a brace on a regular basis and experienced how it can affect you physically, mentally and emotionally.

This SPA Blog post will go into detail discussing the Pro's & Con's of wearing a brace for your Scoliosis, as well as the short term and long term effects that may impact one's journey during the pre, during and post brace phases. Adapting to the lifestyle of wearing a brace for 20 hours/day on a regular basis, which would translate to living over 80% of the day in a brace, can be quite challenging and take sometime to get used too. Throughout this SPA Blog post, I am going to go over, a few pro's & con's based off my experiences wearing a brace for 20+hours/day, that I have become familiar with over the course of my Scoliosis Journey.

Based off my own personal experiences, wearing a brace to prevent further progression of your Scoliosis, does have great potential to prevent further progression. In my situation when I was prescribed a brace, I was done growing and was not guaranteed that wearing a brace would prevent further progression. However, due to the severity of the symptoms I was experiencing in relation to Scoliosis, I was left with no choice but to take the risk and commit to wearing the brace long term. Now over a year and a half later, the gamble has slowly started to pay off and I have had my hours/day dropped from 20 hours/day to only 12 hours/day after halting progression of my Scoliosis.

There are ultimately several Pro's & Con's that may arise over the course of your Scoliosis Journey while wearing a brace to help prevent further progression of your Scoliosis curve. The following Pro's & Con's discussed below are strictly based off my personal experience wearing a brace and how it positively and negatively impacted my long term outlook on wearing a brace.

Pro's of Wearing a Brace:

1) The first Pro I have learned about wearing a brace is if you are prescribed a brace specifically designed and made to prevent further progression for your specified curve, then you will have great potential at seeing a halt in further progression of your curve long term. Wearing a brace is specifically prescribed to mainly halt progression and might even help lead to a potential drop in your cobb angle. If you are still growing and are wearing a brace, there is a higher chance you will see a bigger drop in your curve. However, to truly see positive results, you must be consistent and make sure you are wearing your brace for the specified hours you have been told too. From personal experience, wearing a brace to prevent further progression can work as an effective treatment method. Since I started wearing a brace back in May 2021, it has helped me prevent further progression of my Scoliosis.

2) The second Pro I have learned about wearing a brace is that, over a few months, it actually may feel like you are not even wearing it at times. When I first started wearing a brace, the pressure applied on the side where my Scoliosis curve is located was very strong and uncomfortable. However, over time, I got used to the pressure and uncomfortable feeling wearing the brace. This has led to me feeling comfortable wearing the brace at any point in time throughout the day. This included sleeping with the brace or even going out and about to public places while wearing the brace. Initially, the brace will likely take time to get used to wearing, however, at some point when wearing the brace for a long period of time, it will start feeling so accustomed to your body the pressure and uncomfortable feelings will start to subside to a mild level of discomfort.

Con's of Wearing a Brace:

1) The first Con I have experienced from wearing a brace is that, once you officially have the brace on, your upper body is basically locked and restricted from normal body movement. This restriction can vary depending on the size and type of brace you are wearing, but overall, wearing any type of brace will likely cause some restriction. From personal experience, while wearing the brace, it is best to avoid sitting for long periods of time. Staying active even with the brace on will help get you adjusted to wearing the brace on a consistent basis and avoid times when the brace may feel uncomfortable in situations such as sitting, walking or even while participating in sports. I also have experience exercising while wearing my brace, however, it depends on the type of exercise you are engaging upon. Choosing to exercise with or without your brace is 100% safe as long as you are continuing your therapy and performing Scoliosis related exercises to help stabilize and prevent further progression of your curve.

2) The second Con I have learned from wearing a brace is that, when you are at the stage when wearing the brace for a long period of time is no longer necessary (especially when you are done growing) it can be difficult mentally for you to reduce the amount of hours you are wearing it. Especially given the fact that you are now accustomed to wearing the brace all the time. From personal experience, when I got my hours dropped from 20 hours/day to 12 hours/day, I was very relieved, however, not ready to commit to wearing the brace for less hours a day. My breathing restriction played a huge role in helping me adjust to this change as initially, when I first starting wearing the brace in May 2021, my breathing restriction felt better while wearing the brace. However, one year later, my breathing restriction actually felt better when I was not wearing the brace. Small changes like this helped me assess the progress I have made since seeking therapy and adapting to a different lifestyle to help me resolve the issues I was experiencing in relation to Scoliosis.

Overall, I have learned based off my experiences that the positives out way the negatives (especially knowing that wearing a brace can help halt progression). If you commit to consistently doing everything that is necessary for you to improve your Scoliosis, including wearing your brace for the recommended amount of hours/day, performing Scoliosis related exercises, engaging in Chiropractic Treatment and staying active, you will put yourself in the best situation possible to see positive results and ultimately turn the Impossible 2 Possible.

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Do You Wear A Brace 4 Your Scoliosis? If So, What Pro's & Con's Have You Encountered Over Your Time Wearing A Brace? Let Me Know In The Comment Section Below ⤵️