1. Who should I contact if my brace is causing me problems?
Contact your Orthotic Department right away to arrange an appointment. It is important that any problems are resolved quickly.
2. Who should I contact if my brace needs repaired?
Contact your Orthotic Department right away to arrange a repair. You may not need to be present for this.
3. Can I go to the toilet in my brace?
It’s up to you. Most people are able to go to the toliet with their brace on. Others find it easier to take it off.
4. Do I need physiotherapy as well as wearing the brace?
Exercise is good for the body generally, but we do not refer for specific physiotherapy. Swimming is excellent, doing front crawl or back stroke. Yoga and pilates type exercise is good. It is best to avoid high impact activities like trampolining.
5. How do I take care of my brace?
You can clean your brace with a damp sponge using soap or skin friendly cleaning agent or antibacterial wipes. Keeping your straps fastened when your brace is off will prevent the Velcro from catching hairs and fluff.
FAQs written and answered by our patients
Thanks to our patients for providing these questions and many of the answers (updated 07/10/2021).
P1. What should I wear under my brace?
Our patients say “I recommend wearing a vest top under your brace, something that goes over your hips.”
P2. Will a brace mean I need to size up in clothes?
Our patients say “Depending on what you are wearing I don’t think you need to. Jumpers and T-shirts you don’t need to, especially if baggy. I’d say maybe tight jeans and stuff like that you may need to.”
P3. What should I wear?
Our patients say “You can technically wear anything you like over your brace. Things like tight tops, bodysuits you can’t wear unless you wear your brace over it. Things like jeans, leggings and shorts you can still wear and normal tops and hoodies / jumpers. Just make sure your comfortable. There are lots of YouTube videos that can help you with this.”
P4. Will it affect my sport? Will I be able to do it?
Our patients say “Yes, swimming, dancing, anything you can still do if you wear a brace. It won’t effect your sport too much although your body may be different and things may be harder to achieve. However, no matter what it is you can still do it!“
P5. Does a brace hurt?
Our patients say “Short answer is yes. Especially when you first get your brace it will be rather painful. After a while it gets better and you may find that it hurts without your brace. Your back will probably be more achy than painful. Long car rides or something that puts a lot of pressure on your back can be painful.“
