any of you who are wearing a brace find that it causes MORE pain sometimes that if you went without it? I cheat and sometimes don't wear it at home and do pretty good, but like now, I am sitting on the couch with it on and it is killing me! Just wondering. I am so tired of wearing it and my stimulator. I would love to wear my jeans today and not have to constantly pull them up b/c the brace makes them fall down! I can't wear a belt cause it pushes into where my ab incision is. Maybe I can find a scarf to wear in the meantime. Jeeze. Well, hopefully, only one month left! I am so not looking forward to the three hour plane ride in two weeks. That is going to suck big time!

Why don't you just resign yourself to wearing a tent dress for the duration? Are you still wearing a tee shirt under it? I had to wear mine 24/7 all summer.
fly

I still wear my brace over shirts, but it isnt that. It is that is causes me more pain. I can't wear tent dresses. At 27 I HAVE to look my best at all times, just the way I am! :) I can be such a PIA. Heck, I wore HEELS the other night-did pretty good too ;)

I kept thinking to myself that I wanted to post about how much I hated my brace and to see if anybody elas out there hates their barce as much as I do. I had my first surgery done in Aug, 2004 and the next one in Dec 2004 so I have been in my brace for 6 months and I am looking at another 6 months to go. I also use the stimulator too. I wear lots of sweats, although the other day I were jeans out without my brace (shhh don't tell the surgen) I wear a t-shirt underneath the brace too, but sometimes I just can't stand the brace any longer. I rides up and catches my breast, or rides low and hurts my hips. Thanks for letting me vent, and for letting me know someone out there feels the same way I do!!!!!

Mel, I am very new into learning about backs and such, what is the brace? What is it for and what does it look like.Is the stimulator like what they call a Tens unit?

Mel, My 15 year old just finished wearing a brace in December. When she saw your post she said that was exactly the way she felt about it. She absolutely hated it! Her best Christmas present was that she was finished wearing it after three long months. I had to go out and find t-shirts that didn't have any side seams in them because the seams bothered her. She wore t-shirts or sweatshirts and sweat pants to school for three months - not the wardrobe of a high school student. Even her teachers noticed her change of clothing when she went back to school in Jan. wearing her mini-skirts and boots instead of the sweats they were used to seeing her in. Best of luck with it! I'm hoping we won't have to go through this again after her surgery.

I wear my jeans frequently now, but also wear velour jumpsuits with a tank top under the brace. I have to pull my shirts down tight so they don't bunch up under it. Tonight I wore a belt just to keep my jeans up and it was okay, prob cause my jeans are low cut so the belt sat just under the curve of the pelvic part of it.
I don't get dressed though or showered until I am getting ready to go out and then, I take my regular stuff off the MINUTE I get home and I put my pj's back on. I don't wear my brace around the house-my dr wouldn't like that, but I am careful. Besides so many people don't even have to wear them after the same fusion, so it can't hurt me too much, or can it? My mom said I could prob get away with not wearing it out, as long as I wear it for sure in the car. For now, I will just in case.
My brace is plastic, it was made just for me two days prior to my surgery. I go in and they basically cast my middle section from hips to bust. Then, they saw it off once it dries and from that mold they make the brace. There is a front and back and you tighten it to fit very very snug (the tighter the better) with velcro straps. The stimulator I wear is a bone growth stimulator. It takes calcium directly to the fusion site to help me fuse faster or better. Tomorrow, I forego the jeans and go with the velour outfit. Oh, and now I have been sweating more too. when I take the brace off after a whole day of wearing it, my shirts are DRENCHED> it sucks. I am glad there are others out there who feel my pain! :)

I hated mine too. Had to wear it for 4 months after surgery. But this time my brace was the corsett type and I have to say it was much better than the hard plastic turtle shell I had with my first fusion. The good thing was it definitely kept me from overeating, lol. The bad thing was sometimes it made it really hard to take a deep breath and with asthma it was frustrating to say the least.

I don't have to wear it anymore, but if I know I'm going to be in the car on a trip longer than an hour, I will wear it then. Or sometimes if I know I'm doing something that's hard to keep from bending or twisting, I will wear it.

Mel, I was much like you and hated to wear it, and sometimes it did seem to make me hurt more, but after I stopped wearing it, I had increased pain for 2-3 weeks after. It really surprised me because I didn't wear mine around the house a lot either. So who knows.

Good Luck to you all,
Memaw

[QUOTE=mel1977] I can't wear tent dresses. At 27 I HAVE to look my best at all times, just the way I am! :)

Some people have different priorities. Dresses are way easier to handle in the bathroom, too. It just made me nuts because they didn't have the pockets of cargo pants. After 8 months I only wear my brace for a long car ride or if I have to dig my car out. My insurance wouldn't pay for my brace so my doctor got me an OTC one. And I still use the reachers.
fly

Mel, I know how you feel- my brace is driving me crazy too! I can't wait until I get rid of it- 6 more weeks to go. I know what you mean about it making your jeans fall down. I wear the low-rise jeans and the brace definitely brings them slightly lower than they should be- so I have to wear longer shirts to make up for it, LOL. Last night I was working, and people kept commenting "Your pants are so baggy- you must have lost a lot of weight!". I did, but not quite enough to make my jeans THAT baggy! :) I can't wear a belt under the brace, it makes it not fit right. A friend and I went to the ballet last weekend, so of course I dressed up. It was quite a challenge trying to find something nice in my closet that would hide the brace AND fit over it without making me look huge. I hope we can all get rid of our braces soon!

Thanks for the description., The turtle shell is exactly what my daughter wore after her back injury from a car wreck.She had to have it resized about 3 different time ., They called it a body cast. Hers was pink. She was a senior in high school and hated wearing it also and that has been 12 years ago. Thanks for the information about the stimulator, I didn't realize that they had to stimulate bones to grow.

not everyone wears a stimulator though. Usually they are worn by smokers , which I was until October. Some drs might have all their patients wear them to give them a better chance at the best fusion possible.
Mine is just one more thing to complain about at this point :)

The sweating thing really sucks! I went to the boys department and bought the under t-shirt tank tops. They are cheap and tight fitting so they don't ride up with your brace. I hope I only have 1 more month to go. (3 mos. post op). I feel very weird without my brace on, not as stable. I can't wait to get rid of it but at the same time a little weird about the thought of going about my day without it. Weird I know cause it is such a pain, it pinches you under you boobs when you sit it rubs on your hip bones when you walk! If it helps, I guess it is a small price to pay! Good Day to All!!!!!
Jean

Ah, the dreaded brace. I wore mine for 8 months and even in the winter it is HOT HOT HOT.. i always wore a shirt under it and yes, sometimes it is less painfull without it. Though DO NOT CHEAT. even at home.
I wanted to so bad. But, now i'm so glad i didn't. I know it sucks. I was 18 when i had my accident and got made fun of and laughed at when i went out even. (which was terrible in itself) But, the brace is GOOD.
Also, if you buy some super low rise jeans, its easier. and get some wife beaters or thin tank tops to wear under it. Makes it a little easier to bear, less sweat!

:) all my jeans are low rise so that does help. I just don't want it anymore, you know? I just want to wear my clothes without it-oh well, I will keep grinning and bearing it! or should I say, wearing it??? :)

Hi, Mel -

Granted, I didn't wear my brace from fusion like you, but I have some numbness on the lower side. Is that it? I called my dr. and they told me I had it belted too tight. Go figure...getting a little too cautious (typical of me)!

It might be a bit too tight on the upper sides of it. It hurts on the upper sides of my ribs but in the muscle. It is odd. It is worse when I am just sitting there. I just want to get RID OF IT! keeping my fingers crossed it will be one more month and that is IT!

Something tells me that might be the problem...that you're being very careful and just belting a little too tight.

Even though that's what I thought I was doing, I still called the doctor to get their opinion. Made me feel a little better to know my "analysis" was on target.

One month left...you go!!!! :D

You know I have things about how you should wear a brace or you won't fuse, etc... I had a two level spinal fusion (L4/L5; L-5 S-1) August 27th and I have never wore a brace one single day. I did have a stimulator which I hardly used. I probably used it a total of 40 hours up until the last month where I have tried to wear it every other night. I think I did really well as far recovery and when I went to the doctor last week he said I was fusing well. That is just my story and without the brace I am fine. I wore the stimulator at bedtime so I never had to worry about it interfering with any clothing. That is just my story. I am not really sure why my doctor told me to wear a brace I guess maybe he thought it was useless. After reading all the posts I am actually glad I never did have to wear one. Angela

well, I know a lot of drs these days don't require the brace, but I should do what my dr says. That way I can't be held responsible if something goes wrong, you know, like" well I told her to do this and she didn't follow my orders.....". I am glad I do have mine just b/c I am a dingbat and would bend and stuff. I started wearing it all the time now when up. WE'll see what my xray shows.

Mel, the brace is agony I know, but sometimes we have to suffer to get better. Consider your self lucky. I wore my brace everyday for a month after my fusion and then the dr ordered xrays and for some reason was not satisfied. For the next month I had a permanant cast that I had to wear. It was heavy, hot, itchy and I was totally miserable. I was never so glad to go back to the dr and let them cut that cumbersome thing off of me. Just thought I would share that with you and make you feel a little better about wearing that aggravating brace. Good Luck!!! Keep Smiling!!!

Tammy

Hi Mel1977 & to All the rest of you brace wearer's, I too wear a back brace and I have for about 14 yrs. I do not like it, but it keeps me from needing so much pain medicine. Yes, mine can slip down out of place. For Newleaf, a brace helps with compression, if thats what you need. A Stimulator is implanted and does feel like a Tens Unit only more so. You can turn it up or down but a implant is for people that have a lot of pain. They don't let you have it just because you ask for it. Usually it's a last resort. Meaning you have tried everything else. Good luck to you fellow brace sufferes. I hope the Stimulator does all the work for you!
Billie

I did not have to wear a brace after my double level fusion but had it done out of town... when I switched docs for follow up to a local doc, he gave me a corset brace because of the pain. It did help but at times could be more painful by stabbing me on the sides. I guess different docs require different things but I did fine without the brace.

Fused

i had to wear mine for 3 months after my IDET. the protocol is 2, but i didnt want to risk it so i wore it for 3. yeah i didnt like it either. bshire :angel: