Henrietta’s Story

My SpineCor brace, without a doubt, changed my life. I had three curves in my spine which is unusual, and ranged between 28°and 42°. I wore a SpineCor brace for nearly two years due to a considerable amount of back pain. My doctor was brutally honest with me about the pain and discomfort I would experience from the brace, but reassured me that it would ease over time. When I had it fitted the tears were on tap and it felt as if I had to learn how to walk again as my body was being held in such a peculiar way. But over the two years that I wore it, I grew to prefer wearing it over not wearing it, and I learnt a few tricks which made life a lot easier.

I called my brace ‘Sheila’, I know it sounds weird, but it helps a lot and means you can talk about it in public with no one having any idea what you are on about. This is useful when an urgent strap adjustment is needed in the middle of H&M.

Don’t be embarrassed about walking round the house in just your brace, especially in summer time, when it’s boiling hot outside. I used to try and wear lighter clothes on top of my brace as the extra layers were sometimes unbearable in the heat. I just made sure I had a fan when I needed it at home during the day or night. It kept me cool and made wearing my brace in the summer easier.

When I first got my brace I tried to see it as a positive to go shopping for new clothes that would be baggier and more comfortable over my brace. It also helped with picking new clothes that could essentially hide the brace from the public.

Don’t worry about the time it takes to put it on or how to do it; after a few weeks, you will be able to do it with your eyes closed, I even managed to put mine on in seven seconds, (I timed it!)

It is always better to tell people about it rather than being embarrassed and keeping it a secret; my friends were brilliant, and my teachers excused me from carrying the heavy textbooks to every lesson, which helped enormously. Obviously this is down to everyone’s preference, but as you get used to the brace and the benefits from wearing it you become less embarrassed and start to feel more confident whilst wearing it.

I always kept active whilst wearing my brace. The more that you do in the brace, the more you get out of it. I continued doing my ballet, Spanish dancing and running, and this helped the muscles in my back strengthen even more.

Nevertheless, wearing my SpineCor brace has significantly helped me. It has stopped the progression of my curves, it eases my back pain considerably, and someone even pointed out my commendable posture. Furthermore, it has made me a much stronger person inside and out, I have become more patient, positive and understanding of other people’s problems.

If someone asked me if I would wear the brace every day for another two years, I would probably politely decline, but it was certainly not something I regret and I owe a lot to my wonderful doctors and the SpineCor team for helping me manage my curves and pain over the last two years.