Scoliosis Brace Wear Time

Some common questions about brace wear time are, “My doctor suggested wearing a different brace for 18-20 hours per day whereas the LA Brace recommends 22 hours per day. How important is it to wear the brace 22 hours? Would the LA Brace still be the more effective brace at 18-20 hours?”. The answer is yes, the LA Brace is a more effective brace for an equal number of hours. However, scoliosis bracing is a very dose dependent system. Effectively any time you are out of the brace, the curve is progressing. A study done in Italy demonstrated that effectiveness of bracing starts being reduced once you drop below 21.5 hours and an old US study demonstrated that bracing becomes relatively ineffective at 16 hours. Hence the recommendation that the brace be worn 22 hours/day.

 

 

 

Many studies have shown that results with bracing are proportional to both the amount of in-brace correction AND the numbers of hours worn each day. The more the brace is worn the more effective it is. Recent studies suggest that 21.5 hours per day achieves a result comparable to 24 hours and should therefore be the goal. Anything less than 21.5 hours/day will result in a reduced effect. Ellen is not yet fully compliant and unfortunately only wears her LA 3-D brace 14-16 hours/day. Her 39-degree curve is 18-degrees in her brace. If she were to increase her wear time to 21.5 hours we would see an even greater improvement in her in-brace correction and a very favorable outcome.