LOC treats scoliosis with the LOC Scoliosis Brace, a bespoke brace designed to address the three-dimensional nature of a scoliosis curve. It can also help address associated rib flare.
For Daisy, LOC’s in-house manufacturing team created a bespoke bracing solution that allowed her to wear her pectus brace over her scoliosis brace, so both conditions could be treated together.
“Daisy initially wore the bracing for 22 hours a day,” says Sara. “Naturally, that was challenging for her. It’s not the most comfortable experience! But she persevered, as we knew it was important to undergo the treatment whilst her bones were still flexible. LOC offered fantastic support – they were always able to speak to us on Zoom or Skype if we needed advice and to see us in the clinic even during the pandemic. In particular, I was extremely impressed with the Covid-safe measures they have implemented. As a clinician working in a hospital myself, I felt they implemented exactly the protocols that I would expect in a medical environment. That was important to us – and I’m sure to all of LOC’s patients. When you are wearing an orthotic, there are always times when you are going to need to see your clinician face to face to deal with adjustments and that kind of thing. In my opinion, their care was the gold standard.”
“I really enjoyed going down to London and the orthotists were all really nice. There I had my pectus brace fitted and the adjustments made it more comfortable. Of course, I struggled with wearing that brace and it was uncomfortable at the start. However, I persevered and I eventually stopped noticing it was there and it just became part of my life.”
Daisy’s exercises played an important part in her treatment. Sara was impressed by the quality of the programme LOC designed, and by Daisy’s commitment to following it.
“Daisy picked up on the exercises very quickly. She’s very astute, she could feel when she wasn’t doing the movements quite right and corrected that very quickly. All of the exercises could be performed at home, using things we had lying around the house like a towel rail, so it was feasible to stick to the programme without having to buy lots of expensive equipment.”
Daisy’s results
By July 2020, Daisy’s follow-up scan showed a slight overcorrection of her scoliosis. This was an important milestone, as it meant LOC could begin to reduce how long she needed to wear her scoliosis brace each day.
“Daisy was so pleased,” says Sara,” because this meant that LOC could start to gradually reduce how long she needed to spend in her Cheneau-Gensingen brace each day. By the time she returned to school in September 2020, she didn’t have to wear the Cheneau-Gensingen brace during the day at all, but she still had to wear her pectus brace for 20 hours per day. At her most recent scan, her scoliosis was back down to 10 degrees, so LOC has completely corrected it. Daisy is much happier with the appearance of her chest as well – her carinatum was very one-sided, but now that asymmetry is hardly noticeable, and she only has to wear her pectus brace at night. The first consultant we saw estimated that she may have to wear a spinal brace until around the age of 18, which would have been at least another four years. But LOC has achieved outstanding results for my daughter in less than a year. This kind of bracing treatment is not easy, it takes perseverance. But the combination of Daisy’s perseverance and LOC’s outstanding care has given us results we could not be happier with.”
“By February 2021, I was out of my scoliosis brace and only wearing my pectus brace for 16 hours. Currently, I am wearing my pectus brace for 12-14 hours a day and I am very happy with the results of my treatment. I am very grateful to all the amazing people at LOC and I want to thank them for helping me so much. In the year and a half since my treatment started, I have come so far and I am incredibly happy with the results and I am incredibly happy that I persevered.”
