Children who have been diagnosed with scoliosis early in their life are often suggested to wear scoliosis brace. The brace can help prevent the spinal column from curving further as they grow old.
If your child is diagnosed with scoliosis, you may want to know how braces work. It will make you understand their condition better and convince them to continuously wear their brace as recommended.
But before learning how braces work, let’s start with the basics.
What is scoliosis?
Scoliosis is the general term for any of the three known abnormal curving of the backbone. Although causes of scoliosis are yet to be proven, some risk factors are detected. They are as follows:
- Age – Children who have developing skeletal systems are more prone to acquiring scoliosis. In the same way, the risk of getting scoliosis is high for older people whose bones are starting to weaken. For older patients wearing braces may not be advisable, scoliosis chiropractic adjustment might be more suitable.
- Sex – Studies show that girls have more chances of developing scoliosis than boys. It can be rooted from hormonal changes in women.
- Poor posture – Slouching and other poor posture attributes to the development of scoliosis.
Since children are still developing their bones, wearing braces will do as therapy for scoliosis. Since there are different types of scoliosis, there are also different types of braces available for therapy.
Types of Scoliosis Braces:
- Thoracic-Lumbar-Sacral Orthosis
This brace covers the body from armpit to hips. It provides support and alignment from the thoracic to sacral spine and is the most common type of brace.
- Cervical-Thoracic-Lumbar-Sacral Orthosis
It looks similar to thoracic-lumbar-sacral orthosis but instead of covering just the thoracic spine, it also covers the cervical spine or the bones on the neck.
You may want to ask your doctor for the right brace before buying one. It is also important to consult your doctor on how often your child should wear the brace for better results.
Resource:
https://visual.ly/community/Infographics/health/what-you-need-know-about-scoliosis-braces
