Scoliosis braces have come a long way. Part two of a series will explore more about scoliosis bracing.
What other types of scoliosis braces are there? There is the Charleston brace.
What is a Charleston Brace?
What is a Charleston brace? According to Spine-Health: “The Charleston Bending Brace “This type of brace is also called a “nighttime” brace because it is only worn while sleeping. A Charleston back brace is molded to the patient while they are bent to the side, and thus applies more pressure and bends the child against the curve. This pressure improves the corrective action of the brace. (See Figure 2, Figure 3) This type of brace is worn only at night while the child is asleep. Patients can go to school and participate in sports normally without their friends even knowing they have scoliosis and wear a brace, avoiding any potential negative stigma. Many studies have shown that the Charleston Night time brace is as effective as the above-described 23-hour-a-day brace wear. Curves must be in the 20 to 40 degree range and the apex of the curve needs to be below the level of the shoulder blade for the Charleston brace to be effective. An X-ray should always be done after custom-making the brace. For this patient, while in the brace the curvature was reduced down to just 5 degrees, proving that it was a worthwhile treatment.
As a general rule, the Charleston brace will be worn every night for approximately 8 hours until the patient is one year after onset of menarche. The goal of wearing the brace is to prevent the scoliosis from progressing to over 40 degrees and prevent the need for surgery. [READ MORE]
Scoliosis Braces: They’re Not All The Same
Scoliosis braces are not all the same. Some are rigid and require a lot of time in them, while others are pliable and soft with only a bit of rigidity at the bracing area, usually in the mid to lower back. If your doctor recommends it, you may want to consider a soft scoliosis brace as this will help you both be more comfortable as well as correcting your spinal curvature.
So remember, if you have been diagnosed with scoliosis, get all your questions answered. You will want to know about how bad your curvature is as well as the recommended scoliosis treatment options.
Pivonka Family Chiropractic
1355 S Higley Rd #102
Gilbert, AZ 85296
(480) 892-0022
Scoliosis Bracing Options
