To Brace Or Not To Brace

There are many pros and cons for wearing a brace while sustaining an injury. The topic of whether patients should wear braces for their variety of injuries has been a heavily debated topic for numerous health care professionals alike. While they provide support, they can be used to heavily as a crutch, therefore slowing down advancement of the healing on its own. So do braces really help?

The reason a patient may choose to use a brace can be for any of the following: onset of acute pain, chronic pain, post surgery, or to prevent the progression of injury. Braces are the most useful post-surgery when ordered by a surgeon and used in conjunction with a physical therapist. However, the majority of people use braces which are found at a local pharmacy or sporting goods store.

Pros:

• After surgery they can be very helpful for stabilizing.
• Lower level braces are useful for limiting movement by relieving demand on a certain area.
• Back braces support your abdomen, and improve posture.
• If returning to a labor intensive job after an injury, they can avoid the body from receiving too much strain.

Cons:

• There is concern in the medical community that long-term brace use can result in the atrophy of muscles due to lack of use. Muscles and ligaments which don’t have to work due to support of the brace could weaken.

• When wearing a brace, the physical demand removed from one area could move to another in order to compensate.

• The injured area may become more vulnerable, even more so then if the brace had not been worn at all.

The use of braces are usually helpful when worn for a short period of time. However, using a brace long-term for preventative reason may place you in a situation you were trying to avoid. Try limiting your brace usage to several hours of day.

Have a question? Call us at 619-437-6450 or email us at results@resultsrehab.com