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The Best and Worst Scoliosis Braces Ranked (A Specialist's Honest Truth) · Scoliosis with Dr. Chris Gubbels

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: You see, there is a major difference in braces that are designed to actually reduce scoliosis curves compared to those that are only designed to slow or keep the curve from potentially progressing.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Most people are told that scoliosis cannot actually be reduced, and they're completely unaware that there are braces that are designed to reduce the size of scoliosis curves.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to show you the exact difference between a brace that holds and a brace that corrects and how the hell the difference between the two.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: You see, the reality is bad braces get bad results, and good braces get good results.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to walk you through the difference between braces that fail and those that actually succeed in reducing curve size.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to tell you what to look for to actually tell you when a brace will work.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go over the biggest myths when it comes to bracing for scoliosis and why adults are told they can't wear a brace and why many of them absolutely should.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm also going to give you five questions you need to ask if your child has been recommended for a scoliosis brace or is currently wearing a scoliosis brace.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so the first point is the braces that most patients are recommended or that they are wearing are not usually designed to actually reduce the size of scoliosis.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: You see, for decades, the standard for scoliosis treatment is really designed around containment and slowing curve progression, not reduction.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the Boston brace became the default standard used in most orthopedic centers based off of some research studies that shows that it is pretty much effective in reducing the likelihood of scoliosis curves reducing to surgical levels during adolescence.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean they reduce the curve.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean all of the patients do not have success, but it means overall they're fairly effective.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, one study found the Boston brace was 72% effective in reducing the likelihood of curves progressing to surgery.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now, only about 40 to 41% of those patients progressed to surgery without any treatment at all.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: But the study did not look to see if they could actually reduce the size of the curves.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: But based on that study, the standard has been to wear a brace to reduce the likelihood of your child's curve progressing to surgical levels, which is basically 50 degrees.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, that was a landmark study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and it's called the brace study.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And that is where a lot of modern scoliosis bracing recommendations actually come from.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: And before that, some people thought that bracing was not effective at all.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: But that was a study that showed that we absolutely know that bracing can be effective in reducing the likelihood of someone's curve progressing to surgical levels.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: But the authors don't even mention or measure or look for the potential of curve reduction.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, if you look at promotional materials put out by children's hospital, they actually will tell you that you cannot reduce the size of scoliosis curves.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, a lot of patients come into our office and the parents have been told that you cannot reduce the size of scoliosis.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: You can only try to contain it and slow it down and potentially stop it.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in strike comparison, Scoicare recently did a study conducted in hospitals where they found the majority of children or adolescents wearing the brace actually reduced the size of the curve.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: In the Scoicare study, the Scully brace was 100% successful at reducing curves or preventing curves from progressing with surgery.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the majority of the patients actually improved their curves or reduced the size of the curve.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: So the question is not just if a brace works, we have to define what the goal is.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Is the goal just to slow down the progression of scoliosis or to potentially prevent it from becoming surgical during adolescence?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Or do we actually want to try to improve or correct the scoliosis?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let me explain to you why reduction is so important.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: You see, in the orthoportic world, they're only thinking about surgery during adolescence, but they're not really thinking about how that curve could also affect that individual when they're done growing.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, research has shown that the majority of scoliosis curves continue to progress when someone is done growing.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, one study looking at adults that had scolosis when they were younger found that 68% of their curves continue to progress after skeletal maturity.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: And what's really important about this is there's many different things we will look for to help us predict how likely someone's curve is to progress when they're an adult.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: One of the biggest is the size of the curve.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: You see, the research shows that if a curve is 30 degrees, it has the increased likelihood of continuing to progress after skeletal maturity or when someone is done growing.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it's pretty much a consensus in the scientific world if a curve is over 50 degrees, it will continue to progress even when someone is done growing.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: So when we look at treating adolescents with scoliosis, we're not just trying to keep their curves from becoming surgical.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: We're trying to get those curves as small as possible to reduce the likelihood that their curves could continue to progress and be a problem when they're done growing, not just when they're an adolescent.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the main reason that scoli brace is effective in reducing scoliosis curves where other braces are not is because of how it's designed.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Scolia brace is a custom-made brace and it's custom, designed, and manufactured for each individual patient.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Scolosis is a three-dimensional spine deformity involving rotation, lateral bending, twisting of the spine.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: And where most braces work by pushing and trying to squeeze and restrain the curve, Scully brace works by actually taking the patient's body and putting it in a three-dimensional opposite position.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: So because Scully brace is designed different than other braces, it works different than the braces and it gets different results than other braces.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: That brings me to my second point.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: What separates a brace that actually reduces the curve from one that simply stabilizes it?
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: You see, most people, in fact, most medical providers, think of scoliosis bracing kind of like casting a broken arm.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: They put something rigid around the problem, hoping that it'll hold it in place and that it doesn't get worse over time.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: But that's really the wrong model when we're thinking about scoliosis.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: You see, scoliosis is not two-dimensional, it's three-dimensional.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: The spine bends, it rotates, it twists, and it shifts.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: The vertebrae shift, the rib cage moves, the spine rotates.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: The entire structure moves in three planes simultaneously, from the front, from the side, and transverse when you're looking down at the spine.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: A brace that only addresses it from the frontal plane is only addressing one third of the problem.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's how most braces work.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: They work by trying to squeeze the spine like this.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now imagine trying to straighten a spiral staircase by just pushing and squeezing on it.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: That pushing or squeezing doesn't actually untwist or unwind the spiral staircase.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly what most braces do for scoliosis.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: They try to squeeze the spine and hold it.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: And the way scoli brace works, it actually takes the spine and it untwists and it unwinds the spine and a three-dimensional correction.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do we know if a scoliosis brace is likely to be effective and if it has the potential to reduce the size of the curve?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: The research is really clear on this.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: And the research shows us that in order for a brace to be successful, we need to have at least the 30% reduction of the curve with the brace on.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: What that means is after a patient's been wearing a brace for about a month, we take an X-ray with their brace on.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: And the goal is for that curve to reduce anywhere from 30 to 50% while the brace is on.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: And if you do not get good in brace correction at at least 30%, then we know one, either that brace is designed wrong and it has no chance to reduce the curves because of the way the brace is made, or that's potentially a curve or scoliosis that is not correctable or will not respond well to bracing.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing we have to look at is how much does someone actually wear the brace?
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: You see, you could have a perfectly designed brace that gets incredible inbrace correction.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: But if the patient doesn't wear the brace, it doesn't have a chance to be effective.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so braces are dose dependent.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: The more someone wears the brace, the more effective they are.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, when you look at that brace study I talked about, they said the cutoff for the threshold, the minimal threshold for a brace to be effective was about 12.9 hours.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: If you think about that, that means the child was wearing the brace more than they're not.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: So they're in the brace more than they're not in the brace.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: And most of the time, the recommendations are to wear a brace anywhere from 18 to 23 hours.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: But we also know in some of our research done by Scully Care that we can still get good results in correction by even wearing the brace in smaller amounts.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: But we also know the more they wear the brace, the better correction they tend to get.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, for every one hour a child wears a brace on average, we get about 0.8 degrees more correction.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: So one, the brace has to reduce the curve when the brace is on, and two, the child has to wear.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: And we can actually monitor that by using what's called eye button technology that measures temperature every 15-20 minutes, and that gives us very precise reading.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we know exactly how much the child or adolescent is wearing the brace.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's really important feedback because that helps us better monitor and support someone throughout the treatment to make sure they're getting the best result.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because if someone's curve is not reducing, we have to know is it because of the way the brace is designed, or is it because the patient is compliant or not compliant?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: So you really need two things.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: One, you need an effective treatment, and two, you need a compliant patient.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now, one of the things that we find keeps a child from wearing a brace is they find the brace is not very comfortable.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: And we've had a lot of patients that have come to our office that have been prescribed a Boston brace, and they simply do not wear the brace because it's painful or it's uncomfortable.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then we give them a Scully brace that's maybe even more aggressive and reducing the curve, but because of the way the brace is designed, where it's not pushing and squeezing, it's unwinding, that they're actually much more compliant in the brace.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I have a number of patients that didn't wear their brace at all because it was uncomfortable that will wear their brace 20 to 23 hours a day.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because the way the brace works, it actually untwists and unwinds the spine, but it also allows the spine to move within the brace.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's not constrictive, it's it's not compressing.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: And because of that, the spine can move, it's more comfortable, and that also prevents the muscles from atrophying because the spine still has some dynamic movement with inside the brace.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that brings me to one of the most common myths about scoliosis bracing, a myth that frequently keeps parents and patients from deciding to wear a scoliosis brace.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're finding this content helpful, be sure to hit that subscribe button and hit that bell icon so you're notified when I release new cutting-edge information on scoliosis and scoliosis treatments.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: That brings me to my third point.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: The muscle atrophy myth is the single biggest reason why braces are typically not recommended by some providers.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've been researching information on scoliosis bracing, you've probably run into some concerns about wearing a brace could cause muscles around the spine to weaken or atrophy.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, that's one of the things I frequently hear from providers or some of the misinformation that patients often tell me that they've heard from other providers that they're concerned wearing a brace all the time will cause the muscles to atrophy.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, where did this myth come from and how did it spread?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, first of all, there is legitimate research where we know immobilization can cause muscle atrophy or does cause muscle atrophy.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you put your limb in a cast, the muscles do weaken over time.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it's that same thought process that makes a lot of providers thinking wearing a brace for scoliosis will cause the spine to weaken the muscles to atrophy.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: So providers basically take that same logic and reasoning and they apply it to scoliosis bracing.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I can tell you personally, I've had many conversations with chiropractors, physical therapists, and orthopedic surgeons when they ask, well, doesn't bracing cause atrophy?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now, one, that's a good question.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: There's three questions you should ask about that.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, if the brace is designed to completely lock up the spine, keep it still, and doesn't allow any movement, then that could potentially cause the body to weaken or atrophy over time if those braces are worn a lot.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Second question you should ask, has the bracing been paired or has active scoliospecific exercise or rehabilitation also been prescribed, or are they only recommending bracing?
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: And the third thing is are people actually measuring muscle function of patients that are getting braces?
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: A simple muscle function test will tell you abdominal and erect or strength.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then if they are measuring those, are they measuring those during and at the end of treatment to see are the muscles atrophying or are they maintaining or are they potentially actually improving over time?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to actually measure muscle function, not just make assumptions about muscle function.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: So the answer to that muscle atrophy question completely changes depending on what type of brace you're talking about.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: If that brace compresses the spine, if it immobilizes it, is it worn without any exercise program?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: If the answer is yes to those, then maybe it is a reasonable candidate for deconditioning concerns.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: But a brace that allows movement that's worn along with scholar specific exercise program is a completely different scenario.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, the way the scholar brace works, it actually allows the spine to move and actually works on part of the neuromuscular training to improve scoliosis.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: And scholar brace is always recommended along with scholar balanced scoliospecific exercises.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, scholar care recently did a study where we measured abdominal and erector muscle strength and endurance with patients wearing a brace full time, 20 to 23 hours.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: And we measured that after treatment too.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: And what we found is 100% of the patients in that study wearing a brace full time all day, 20 to 23 hours, when also doing scoliospecific exercises like scoli balance, 100% of the subjects actually had an increase in abdominal onorector strength and muscle endurance.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: So not only did the patients not lose muscle strength, they actually got stronger wearing the brace while also doing scoliosis rehab.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that brings me to my fourth point.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to talk about the group of people that are frequently told they are not candidates for bracing.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: So point four is adults are frequently told that scoliosis bracing will not help them.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: And because they're an adult, they are not a candidate for scoliosis bracing.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that is simply not true.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: You see, the conventional viewpoint is that scoliosis bracing is only used for pediatric treatments for children and adolescents, and that we only do bracing for the growing spine.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: But you have to understand how we treat adults with bracing is completely different than how we treat adolescents.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because what causes scoliosis to get worse in adolescence is completely different than what causes curves to get worse as an adult.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: You see, during adolescence, and we're talking about idiopathic scoliosis, the spine is actually growing asymmetrical.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: So when we do bracing in adolescence, the braces are designed to control and guide scoliosis growth.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: But in adults, scoliosis progression is due to degeneration.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, as gravity pushes down, the spine tends to break down and collapse.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: So the way we brace and why we brace is completely different.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: So how we design the brace needs to be different in adults.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that's one of the reasons why a lot of groups that make scoliosis braces for adolescents do not have effective results in adults because they make the same type or the design of the brace the same for an adult that they would in adolescent.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: But scoliosis is a different adult, so the brace has to be different.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why with scoli brace, why and how we design a brace is completely different than how and why we design a brace for an adolescent.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, the goal in adults is not always to reduce the size of the curb.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes in younger, more flexible adults, we can reduce the size of the curb.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: But overall, for adults, the primary goals are one, to reduce or eliminate pain, two, to stop or slow curb progression, and three, to improve the quality of life, meaning help people do things that they want to do at a higher level with less pain.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: Now I said reduction of the curve is not always the goal in adults, but sometimes we can reduce the size of the curve in adults.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: And when we do, it's usually younger adults that are more flexible.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I had one patient that recently came to me.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: She's an adult in her lower 20s, and she has severe pain from a severe scoliosis.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Her scoliosis was like 52 degrees, and her pain had gotten so bad that she couldn't do anything.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: She couldn't even bend over and pick up like five pounds without having pretty excruciating pain.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: After three months, we brought that 52 degree curve down to just 32 degrees, and she's completely pain-free.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: She can do almost all of her normal activities.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, she's working out at the gym with a personal trainer again.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that was someone that was told that bracing was not an option, and her only option or hope was spinal surgery.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: And now after just three months, they wouldn't even consider her a candidate for scoliosis surgery.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're an adult with degenerative scoliosis or even severe posture issues, and you've been to your pain management doctor, and you maybe you've been to an orthopedic specialist and you tried pain medications, probably some injections, and you're told that nothing can be done for you except for spinal surgery.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Or you're you're told that you're too old and your spine is too severe for spinal surgery, and there's not really much you can do.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: My advice is to find a true specialist in the non-surgical treatment of scoliosis, set up an initial visit, and let them decide if they believe that you can be a candidate for bracing.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Not someone that doesn't do bracing or is untrained in bracing or non-surgical methods.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I frequently talk to orthopedic surgeons that exclusively specialize in treating adult spine deformity, including schools and adults.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: And out of all those I've talked to, not one of them has ever been taught or has had knowledge on bracing for adults with scoliosis.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: That they've never heard about it, that it was only for adolescents.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: And almost none of them have also ever heard about scolios-specific rehabilitation or physical therapy, which is completely different than standard or traditional physical therapy.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: And these are the so-called experts.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: These are the people that adults go to when they have pain with scoliosis.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: So the orthopedic doctors that patients with scolas go to see, for the most part, have no training or knowledge of the most effective non-surgical treatment options.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: But I've also found once I meet them and I educate them, they frequently become our number one referral source because the top surgeons don't want to do surgery unless they have to, especially in older adults, because they know the outcomes are not always great.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: So, bottom line, if you're an adult with degenerated scoliosis, find a specialist in the non-surgical treatment of scoliosis, someone that provides scoliospecific exercise and bracing, and let them decide if they think you're a candidate for those treatments.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the last thing I want to give you is five questions that you can ask your providers right now if you or your child has scoliosis.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: So point five is five questions you should be asking your provider on your next visit.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: I tend to find that patients that ask these questions end up with more successful treatment, and those that don't, a lot of times end up getting less successful treatments.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: So one, find out the name of the brace your child has been given or it's been recommended and ask your provider if they have any research or case studies showing that brace being effective at reducing the size of curves or reducing scoliosis.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And if they say they don't know of any or they don't have any, or if they tell you that sclerosis cannot be reduced, I would get a second opinion.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd also do a follow-up just to see their knowledge base.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: I would say, now is it just this brace is not effective?
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you believe that there's no braces that are effective at reducing the size of the curb?
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: And if they tell you no braces are effective at reducing the size of the curb or they're just unaware, either one, they're full of it, or two, they're just ignorant or they're not that well educated or informed.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: Two, ask your child how the brace that your child has been given or recommended works.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Does it work using three points of pressure?
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if they can't explain to you how the brace actually works, then you got to find a different provider, plain and simple.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: And if they tell you that the brace works by three points of pressure, then I would also look for other braces that work on other means other than three points of pressure, like the Skoldie brace.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Three, ask about outcome measures you were looking for.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: Ask them about like what is the goal?
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how do we know if this is working?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: What do we want to see and need to see at three months, six months, etc.?
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: Ask them about inbrace correction.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: Will we be doing in brace x-rays?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: And if so, how much reduction of the curve do we need to or want to see with the brace on?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: And what if we don't see any reduction in the curve?
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: What does that tell us about the brace?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Does that tell us the brace is not effective?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: I can tell you right now that tells you that brace is not effective.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're not getting those results, then what?
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: Four, ask, should we be doing scoliosis-specific physical therapy or physiotherapy along with wearing the brace, like scoli bounds or C's or shroth?
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: And if they tell you that they don't really know about those, or if they tell you those are completely ineffective, definitely go find a different provider.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because the best research is very evident that custom bracing combined with scoliosis-specific exercises is the most effective treatment.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: And also, if I told you to go see a general physical therapist, there's no research to show the effectiveness that general physical therapy at preventing hers from getting worse or reducing the size of scoliosis.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're an adult with scoliosis and your provider is telling you you're not a candidate for bracing or bracing doesn't work for adults with scoliosis, ask them if they are aware or they have read the latest research on bracing adults with scoliosis.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: And if they haven't, that tells you all you need to know.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Go to someone that has.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then if they say they have, then ask them why, knowing that there's clearly highly scientific research showing bracing is effective at slowing or stopping curve progression and reducing pain in adults of scoliosis, why they would tell you you're not a candidate.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: So those five questions kind of give you your BS meter overall.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: One final thought.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: The braces that's the easiest to prescribe and the brace that produce the best outcomes are not always the same.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of families don't find out that there are clear distinctions between braces that only work to slow down scoliosis compared to those that are actually work to correct scoliosis until it's too late.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, the families that end up in the right brace are the ones that ask the right questions at the right time.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: So now you have those questions, so use them.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're watching this video and you're in the watch and wait conversation with your doctor, meaning they told you that your child's curb is not big enough yet to do anything and to just wait and see if it gets worse, then you'll want to watch my next video called Watch This If You Are Told to Watch and Wait on Scoliosis.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it covers exactly why that advice, however well intended, may be the most expensive one you could ever follow.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: The link is on the end screen and in the description.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you there.