I know there has been some disagreement about bracing for scoliosis but I want to let your readers know it really worked for our daughter. She has the adolescent idiopathic kind of spinal curve. She was religious about wearing it everyday and only took it off to get dressed or take a shower. The results were worth the effort!

Thank you for such a positive report. There has, indeed, been quite a controversy over bracing. In today’s health care climate of demanding evidence to support treatment, bracing has had some mixed reviews. Some of the problems stem from the fact that there are different types of scoliosis (curvature of the spine). Bracing seems to be helpful with some, but not all types.

In the case of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), it does look like bracing can keep the curve from getting worse if it is caught early enough (before the growth spurt). Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis refers to a condition of spinal curvature and deformity in children and teens that has no apparent cause. Children (especially girls) with AIS and curves between 25 and 35 degrees seem to respond better than others.

There is also some evidence that bracing seems to work the best when the brace is worn 16 or more hours a day. Your daughter’s dedication to the brace may very well be the reason (or at least one reason) why she had such good results.

Comparing children who are braced with children who do not wear a brace seems to offer some consistent evidence that observation alone (no bracing) isn’t as effective as bracing. Long-term results (what happens five-to-10 years later) in both groups are unknown.

Waiting too long before using bracing may be a factor. Studies that show a 50 to 60 per cent success rate still leave 40 to 50 per cent of patients turning to surgery for correction. That leads researchers looking for reasons why some patients have a successful outcome in hopes of selecting patients in the future who would be good candidates for bracing.