Ashlee’s Brace Journey, Tips, and Tricks
Hey, you’re reading this! You are probably someone who has a back brace or is getting one. Or there’s that 1 percent of people who are just deep on the internet out of boredom. Hi, my name is Ashlee. I am 15 years old. I wore a back brace for 5 almost 6 years. Sadly, I ended up needing scoliosis surgery. I am going to tell you my scoliosis journey and some helpful brace tips and tricks to make your daily life less of a struggle.
It all started back in 2012 when I got my physical done. I was 10 years old at the time. Everything was going good until my doctor tested for scoliosis. She said that I had it and would refer me to a specialist. A couple weeks later, we went in for x-rays, and the doctor said that I would need a brace. I was so scared – I didn’t know what was gonna happen, what a brace was, heck what even this condition was. A couple weeks after that visit I got my back brace. It was the most uncomfortable thing you could imagine. I couldn’t sleep for a while. I couldn’t get into a position where I could sleep.
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The first 2 weeks were rough but I soon got used to the brace. I hated going in every 2 years and getting molded for a new brace. Luckily, if you’re reading this, you won’t have to go through that because we now have the technology to scan our bodies. Fast forward to spring of 2017. My curves had jumped from the 20s to 60 and 48, so the doctor came to a conclusion that surgery would be the best option at this point. My dad, knowing how it feels to get surgeries on his hips, knees, and head, knew the pain I would have to go through. We made the decision to get the surgery done. I got my surgery done on July, 12th, 2017, and I’m strongly 9 months post operation.
Here are some tips and tricks for having a back brace.
Tips
- In the summer when you get hot and sweaty, put your brace in the freezer for 30-45 mins (it’s fine in there, don’t worry)
- Make sure you are comfortable in the shirt you wear underneath your brace
- The shirt should be as thin as possible
- Get on a schedule of cleaning your brace (one thing I wish I did)
- High waisted jeans are your best friend for clothes
- Your hand doesn’t always fit inside your brace to get an itch so have something handy to use
Clothing Tricks
- High waisted jeans
- Denim jacket for dresses
- Loose tops
- If you wear anything that can get stuck to Velcro, put a t-shirt over your brace
- If you are going somewhere and are planning to take off your brace, like at the beach, have a duffel bag so you can put your brace in it while you’re not wearing it
- Always have a pair of slip on shoes because there are days where you are just like, “no I’m not putting those on”
That concludes my story if u have any questions about myself or my experience with braces and surgery feel free to follow and dm me on any of these accounts! On Instagram:
@ashlee.titanium
@problems.scoliosis
@ashlee.ochoanizer