ScoliSmart Activity Suit is a scoliosis brace to wear while walking and doing chores for scoliosis patients. It is advertised (and demonstrated with their follow up x-ray images) as something that can actually begin to somewhat straighten some of the curve as well as it provides a lot of pain relief!
I don’t know about the straightening of the curve for myself. I prefer not to allow multiple and excessive x-rays on myself when I can avoid them. I do know it curbs a significant amount of my own back-induced pains.
And after 3 years of at first wearing it daily for months and to now– I only wear it occasionally, when I might have some garden chore or heavier housework. And my back hardly spasms anymore. I no longer have to wear it to brush my teeth at the end of the day!
And I’ve honed more of the rest of my own complexity of “things to do for pain” that are explained all over this site– for myself.
But this is another of my most treasured items!
I have two of these bracing suits from this company. There is an incredible amount of valuable scoliosis info on the site. Click through the arrows under research and results at the bottom of their page (linked above) for example.
This brace offers a less restrictive support than traditional back braces. And they offer support for those of us that never want to have back surgery.
If you ever have the choice, choose any brace over back surgery. If there is any other way to work with herniated disks, nerve compressions or scoliosis, do anything you can to choose the alternate.
Once surgery is performed for any issue in your back, there is no going back. And in my entire lifetime, I have known zero people that I know have gotten back surgeries of any kind who ever found relief. Instead, they all, all of them, suffered more than before. Often the pain was more debilitating than before the surgeries.
So do what you can to put off and avoid back surgery if at all possible.
This particular brace in fact, is not even called a brace. It’s called an “Activity Suit”.
And unfortunately, Medicare and Medicaid take them at their word in the description and often consider it “exercise equipment” that’s not covered.
But be that as it may, it’s a brace. It’s a brace that you can put on and go for a walk and you will be helping to re-train certain other supportive muscles while relieving a good amount of pain, all while taking a gentle walk.
It is doctor prescribed.
I had my chiropractor order the scoliosis x-rays that I submitted for the custom fit and the doctors at ScoliSmart took care of the rest. The doctors there offer an extensive exercise training course to also work to retrain the muscles. I have not been.
They also have very specific nutrients for scoliosis pain. Their basic nutrients in general are part of the supplements here discussed already, like Vit. D and K2 etc. HOWEVER- they have since added a ton of hormone stimulating supplements. Their formulas, even their pain formula linked has been changed and the fillers and excipients are not listed.
So the suggestion is yes, the idea is sound that nutrients are needed. The better idea is to use the Peat suggestions listed for thyroid, Peat-brand-only progesterone and other supplements only as I’ve listed. My list is safer and many have found their co-use beneficial.
Use caution when getting supplements from this company. The brace though is fantastic!
Another note, because some main ingredients in their pain formula supplement is turmeric/curcumin and black pepper (and the capsules are full of fillers and other “stuff” besides, which are only discovered after you order or through an email request as they don’t disclose their ingredients online) and I have had gall bladder issues in my past, I skip their suggestions.
However, I think their advice about what’s needed is interesting, unique, and a different way of looking at back issues for sure. If you don’t have intestinal, IBS, gall bladder issues, you might want to try their supplements to see how it goes.
But do keep in mind that many of us with scoliosis and other back issues have IBS symptoms. Because the muscles are always skewed because of the deformities, this pulls and changes the intestinal cavity and how those organs arrange themselves.
Changing diet to eliminate poisons and intestinal irritants, and changing foods and supplements to few and specific to help remediate the pains of IBS can go a long, long way in helping to remediate back pains.
The nutrients on the Scoli site target inflammation. But the real food discussed within this site here and supplements needed and how to find them in clean versions to follow are definitely anti-inflammatory.
So except for the turmeric, you would have what you need if you follow the Peat suggestions I already laid out. And if you could follow those suggestions here, yes, your pain has a high chance of becoming less.
There is also another recommended companion company that is invaluable if you decide to invest in the ScoliSmart or another formal scoliosis brace.
It is a woman-owned business that makes specialty undergarments to make the braces even more comfortable.
I had the owner, Tina, make me a custom pattern for tops in the color black that would fit correctly under my brace. She uses the pattern she created for my body every time I re-order. The thought that went into the design, the type of fabric, the detail and way the garments are sewn are just incredible, astonishing.
I love wearing the undershirts she made even when I’m NOT wearing the brace! The fabric is soft and has a very gentle support stretch to it that helps my posture brace or not.
She has family that has scoliosis and has a blog and their website with tons of additional back information and sharing.
And as a note and in general:
If you don’t have scoliosis, but are still protecting herniated back disks or other back injuries that the medical complex was not able to repair or made worse, ask a licensed physical therapy expert about getting some kind of protective brace to wear when you are doing laundry, chores, yard work or hiking. You want to support the area and not make anything worse by doggedly driving your body.
One of my clients had 4 herniated disks and was passed along through the medical system to no avail. She needed to heavily use cannabis for much of her relief.
AND she refused to wear a brace belt of any kind when she would head out hiking madly. She would strap on 25 to 30 pound backpacks and head out hiking in defiance. We haven’t kept in touch so I don’t know if she broke. But it was as if she wanted to. One small ankle slip over a rock and it could have been a real wrench.
Please give yourself assistance if you can do so safely, so you can still enjoy the activities you want to still be able to do.
Use high top boots when you walk off-trail, off-sidewalk.
Wear good quality New Balance or similar support and stabilizing shoes when you go for a walk.
Use support braces even if simple ones if you can safely.
And take regular breaks and rests from your strenuous activities if your body has been so broken.
