How Does Scoliosis Bracing Work? Risks vs. Benefits

There are different treatment options for scoliosis, and this is an important choice because as a progressive condition, treatment is about managing a life-long condition; however, with proactive treatment, scoliosis can be highly treatable, and the choice is between traditional surgical treatment or modern conservative treatment.

Scoliosis bracing works by complementing other treatment disciplines to achieve corrective results, but not all scoliosis braces, and treatment approaches, work the same and offer the same results. Traditional scoliosis bracing has a number of shortfalls, while modern corrective bracing addresses many of them.

When it comes to brace efficacy, the treatment approach it's connected to is important, so let's explore the differences.

Scoliosis Treatment Options

Scoliosis treatment options include two main approaches for patients to choose between: traditional and conservative.

Scoliosis is the development of an unnatural spinal curve that bends to the side and twists, and as a progressive condition, its nature is to get worse over time, so treatment has to work towards counteracting that progressive nature.

A traditional scoliosis treatment response offers surgery when/if a patient becomes severe, but little is done beforehand to work towards preventing progression, which is why traditional scoliosis treatment is considered reactive, while conservative treatment is considered proactive.

Traditional bracing can include a Charleston bending brace, the Milwaukee brace, Wilmington brace for night time bracing, Rigo Cheneau brace, and the Providence brace, but traditional scoliosis bracing is best represented by the boston brace, the most commonly-used scoliosis brace in traditional treatment, so let's explore the risks and benefits of the boston brace.

Boston Brace Efficacy

The boston brace is a thoracic lumbar sacral orthosis generally applied for moderate scoliosis patients undergoing traditional treatment, and as scoliosis bracing is particularly effective on growing spines, it is a common facet of childhood scoliosis treatment.

The goal of traditional scoliosis treatment is not to correct scoliosis, but to stop it from progressing, and the goal of traditional bracing is the same.

The boston brace is a rigid brace that wraps around the torso, and the goal is to prevent curve progression, which means the spine's vertebrae are becoming more unnaturally tilted over time, making the unnatural spinal curve and twist worse, along with the condition's effects.

The boston brace can stop progression via a three-point-pressure system that applies squeezing pressure along certain points of the curvature, and while this type of squeezing pressure can help stop the spine from becoming more unnaturally tilted, it is also known to weaken the spine.

In addition, the squeezing approach is known to cause skin chafing, breathing troubles, and be uncomfortable, and the biggest challenge to brace efficacy, particularly in the treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, is compliance.

The bottom line is that no brace, traditional or modern, will be effective if it's not worn exactly as prescribed, and full time bracing can mean wearing the brace for up to 23 hours a day for up to five years, or whenever skeletal maturity has been reached.

Rigid braces for scoliosis are less comfortable and bulky to wear, and adolescents who just want to fit in with their peers, don't want to look different, walk differently, and have to wear a bulky and uncomfortable scoliosis brace.

If the boston brace is applied and is unable to prevent worsening of the curve, and a patient crosses the severe scoliosis threshold, they become surgical candidates and are commonly recommended for spinal fusion surgery.

ScoliBrace Efficacy

A modern conservative scoliosis treatment approach is what my patients here at the Scoliosis Reduction Center benefit from, and conservative treatment is proactive because it's started as close to the time of diagnosis as possible, and the treatment goal is not merely stopping progression, but actually correcting the scoliosis.

The ScoliBrace is a modern ultra-corrective scoliosis brace that addresses many of the shortcomings associated with traditional bracing, one of which is that traditional bracing doesn't address the condition's rotational component, which is what makes scoliosis a 3-dimensional condition.

The ScoliBrace addresses the true 3-dimensional nature of scoliosis for three dimensional spinal correction, while the boston addresses it as a 2-dimensional condition, so its potential efficacy is already limited.

The ScoliBrace is made from flexible material that can easily be concealed under clothes; it also opens and closes easily at the front to make the brace easier to put on and take off

The ScoliBrace uses state-of-the-art technology that includes scans, photos, and comprehensive measurements applied to ensure that every ScoliBrace is fully customized to address a patient's body/curvature type.

While the boston brace and its squeezing approach is known to weaken the spine over time, the ScoliBrace, instead, pushes the spine into a corrective position, and as conservative treatment is integrative, this means bracing is only one facet of treatment.

To be clear, no type of scoliosis brace, traditional or modern, has the potential to correct scoliosis on its own; other types of treatment need to be applied, and as a structural spinal condition, scoliosis has to be impacted on a structural level, first and foremost.

So how does modern corrective scoliosis bracing work? It can work because it's part of a proactive treatment approach that applies multiple scoliosis-specific treatment disciplines so conditions can be impacted on every level.

How Does Scoliosis Treatment Work?

So as a complex spinal condition that necessitates the complete customization of effective treatment plans, scoliosis treatment has to be integrative.

Scoliosis needs to have its underlying structural nature addressed, and with conservative treatment, this is worked towards through condition-specific chiropractic care.

The goal of chiropractic care is to work towards a curvature reduction, and this can involve a number of chiropractic techniques and manual adjustments that can realign the spine.

Physical therapy can help by increasing core muscle strength so the spine receives optimal support and stabilization from its surrounding muscles.

Corrective scoliosis bracing can also help by pushing the spine into a corrective position to augment corrective treatment results achieved through other forms of treatment, such as chiropractic and physical therapy.

Rehabilitation is necessary to sustain treatment results for the long-term and can involve a series of custom-prescribed home exercises so patients can continue to heal and stabilize their spines from home.

Scoliosis treatment is, again, about managing a life-long condition, and while there are never treatment guarantees, early detection and intervention does increase the likelihood of treatment success.

Traditional treatment works towards stopping progression by applying traditional bracing, most often during the moderate phase of progression, and if the severe scoliosis threshold is crossed, spinal fusion surgery is commonly recommended.

Spinal fusion surgery also doesn't have correction as its end goal, but stopping progression, and it works towards this by fusing the curve's most-tilted vertebrae into one solid bone to eliminate movement (progression) in the fused portion.

Commonly, this involves the removal of intervertebral discs sitting between adjacent vertebrae and attaching rods to the spine to hold it in place; these rods are permanent, and while a fused spine can be straighter and no longer progress, the spine's health and function will forever be altered, and not always for the better.

Conclusion

Scoliosis bracing can work by pushing the spine into a corrective position and being combined with other types of corrective treatment.

No brace on its own is powerful enough to impact scoliosis on the multiple levels it needs to reach corrective results (traditional, modern, or otherwise), but when corrective bracing is combined with other forms of corrective treatment as part of a proactive treatment approach, there are fewer limits to what can be achieved.

Scoliosis bracing is aligned with the treatment approach it's part of; traditional scoliosis bracing can work by stopping progression, but it can weaken the spine over time and is associated with a number of limitations.

Conservative modern corrective bracing represents the culmination of what we've learned about scoliosis and bracing efficacy over the years, and here at the Center, I want patients to benefit from the ScoliBrace's customization, improved rates of compliance, and its corrective potential.

When combined with other facets of scoliosis treatment, scoliosis bracing can help in a number of ways, and when it comes to treating adult scoliosis, braces can still play a role, but their focus is different; in adults, scoliosis bracing is more about short-term pain management and increasing the spine's stability, but in children, bracing is about helping achieve a significant curvature reduction to counteract progression during growth.

So just as it's important to understand the risks and benefits of the different treatment approaches, it's also important to understand that scoliosis braces offer different types of potential results based on their design, end goal, and the treatment approach they're part of.