MY BRACE JOURNEY BEGINS

Below I mentioned that I may discuss how the pain developed and led to my first back brace. Well actually it was not a brace. That depends on your opinion and standards. The pain kept getting worse and got to the point that it would radiate down into my buttocks and legs. Well I went to the Doc (Doctor) however I like to call them Docs. I am not so sure that they have the perfect answer when it comes to using a brace to treat certain types of back pain. I think it is important to do my own research and then go in and tell the Doc what it is that I think I need. Guess what, most of the time they agree. Well I went in and explained that I needed some kind of brace (support) to take away the pain I have described. The Doc gave me a prescription. I was not sure what it was for. He said to make sure not to wear it all the time so my mussels would not get weak. He suggested that I go (and I did) to what I refer to one of the McDonalds type of orthotic places. The reason I say that is that they take you in and if you are not getting a made to order (expensive) item, they slap it on you and shove you out the door with out listening to what it is that you really need or are looking for. They just look at the prescription, charge your insurance almost $100.00 for about a $35.00 item (for which you end up with a co-pay) (if you have insurance) and out the door you go totally unsatisfied. So the first back brace that I received was a “corset.” A skimpy thing, that is made from canvas and straps. This is pictured above in two views. I never was satisfied with this corset thing. I never gave me the support that I needed and no one seemed to want to hear that. Anyhow I had that for quite some time. I finally decided that I definitely needed something else but I was not sure what. I noticed that when my back was hyperextend that the pain would be relieved. I went and saw a Doctor who was a friend of mine and guess what. This doctor actually said where is your pain and then said (notice I said doctor) what is it that you think you need and would assist you. I explained that I wanted something that would hyperextend my back and that I could use as a temporary measure while I was sitting at work or driving. That is when I seemed to have the most pain at that time. This doctor gave me a prescription for a TLSO. Finely, I was going to get some support and something that I thought would assist me. Again, guess what? The doctor wrote on the prescription “TLSO Jewett Brace” he was listening to what I felt I needed and was going to try to assist. Off I went to the Orchardist with my TLSO Jewett Brace prescription in hand. I was for sure not going back to that same orthotics provider. I rummaged and rummaged through the telephone book to find a small orthotic provider where I would be considered something more than an ICD Code for billing and not going to get any attention if they did not think I needed a large ticket item. I did a little research on the Internet. This was just a little while after the innovation of “search engines” on the Internet. It was Pre-Google, if anyone can remember that. Well I searched and found what appeared to be a smaller orthotics company. Off I went to this smaller orthotics company with my TLSO Jewett Brace in hand. Again, guess what? This time I found an orthotic provider that listened to me for the first time. I don’t say this because he agreed with me but rather he really listened and understood that I needed some kind of more support than just the corset. He actually took the time to talk to me and ask me what he thought that I thought would assist me. We settled on the TLSO Jewett Brace (pictured above). At that time I was looking for something to use while I was sitting at work or driving a car and could be put on and taken off easily. At that time I was not really concerned much about cosmetics or what it looked like. I did not think that I would be wearing it for long periods of time or need to wear the brace in public that much. The Jewett TLSO is really a nice brace and offers quite a bit of versatility. It even fits under suits. However it does set off metal detectors. I will talk about the Jewett TLSO brace later in another segment. Just to perk your interest I will say that if you use a Jewett brace, you can’t own just one. Remember Lay’s potato chips? You can’t just eat one! You are going to want more than one for parts and versatility in what they can accomplish for you. I used that Jewett TLSO for quite some time. Even though I was getting support for my back the pain continued to worsen over time. I ended up using the Jewett TLSO more than I thought that I ever would. It really was and is a very good brace for me. However in the summer with shorts and a T- shirt, the Jewett TLSO brace is really quite a piece of body jewelry, especially from the front. Oh my goodness the looks at the mall that I would get. You think no one had seen such a brace in their life before. Eventually I got to wanting something that would give me the same kind of support but that I could wear under my clothes. Hence my voyage begins through the world of the orthotic brace world. The first deviation in this voyage was the grey plastic corset (LSO) brace that you see pictured above. The way I got this is interesting. I kept going back and back to that smaller orthotic company that I mentioned above with the orthotic provider that really listened to me. Well eventually I think he got tired of listening to me (a person can only take so much – no matter how patient and nice they are) and had me try on this grey corset chair back type thing. This was to give me something that I could get under my clothes and which would give me more support that the corset. When I went to ask how it was to be paid for the orthotic provider told me, don’t worry, it’s free, we have a lot of them. That person no longer works for that company. I wonder why. I no longer use that brace as I was later told it was putting my back in the opposite position that I wanted it to. Did I say that I got that brace for free form an orthotics company? Do they give braces to heavily insured patients for free? Hmmmmmmmmm. Some time later I was told that I should have never been given the corset either. That the corset was doing more damage than good and that the field of orthotics was steering away from corsets. There will be more discussion about that and cervical braces later, because they gave me another corset several years later. That one, I cannot figure out at all! Well it’s getting late and this post must be getting a little booooooooooring????? At some point I will get into how my back problems worsened from commuting and sitting and how I graduated and journeyed from brace to brace including a CTLSO. I sure love those Jewett braces. Let’s talk further about that. My first fitting in a Jewett TLSO brace was really rather interesting. Did I say cervical braces? I suppose I did. How does that fit in? Tune in later!