We can't get our daughter to wear her brace for scoliosis. What will happen if she doesn't wear it enough?
Let's start with why she isn't wearing the brace. Is it because of peer pressure or self-consciousness about how she looks? Are there skin sores or even ulcers? An ill-fitting brace can be fixed easier than dealing with the social issues.
Education is the next important key. Your daughter should be told how many degrees her curve is and how fast it's changing (getting worse). The doctor can also estimate how much more growth she has left. This will help her see how much more the curve could progress. And she should be told that the curve could continue to get worse for a while after growth has stopped.
About 10 percent of the patients with AIS do stop wearing the brace. Some have difficulty breathing. Others have nausea while wearing it. Problems with skin breakdown are often named as the main issue. There may be social or psychologic problems.
So far long-term studies have focused more on what happens to patients years after treatment. Without some force to stop the curve it will get worse. Deformity with a visible rib hump is possible. If it gets severe enough the lungs and heart can be compromised affecting general health.
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