Today I got a new scoliosis brace- my fourth to date. I’m fortunate to have a rather low-profile back scoliosis brace (my third one) and in some ways, my fourth is more so. It hugs closer to my body and sticks out less because of it. However, my fourth is bulkier in stranger places and quite considerably longer in most. Because of this, almost all of my clothes no longer conceal my brace, which really goes to show how shopping for your clothes really depends on your own, personal brace.
I started off by going through my clothes with enthusiasm; surely this lower-profile new scoliosis brace would allow me to wear more clothes. I quickly found this to not be the case at all, as nearly all my clothes could no longer be worn. Because my new brace sticks closer to my body, I can now wear shorts and skirts over it with much more ease, allowing me to wear shirts shorter than my brace since it will be concealed anyways. That being said, the longer length of my brace means that when wearing jeans or other bottoms that can’t be pulled over my brace, I need much longer shirts- an unbelievably frustrating problem. In a completely unrelated problem, a good amount of my clothes which I was sure I’d be able to wear had somehow shrunk in the wash.
All in all, I felt heavily discouraged and frustrated and simply gave up going through my clothes. It took me a bit of time to remember that all of these problems stemmed from the fact that I expected all of my old-brace clothes to work perfectly well with my new scoliosis brace- which is a ridiculous notion. Each back brace has its own benefits, drawbacks, and quirks. Their shapes, curves, lengths, and overall bulkiness are different. You just have to learn what they are and search for what works with your brace specifically.
On the bright side, I have an excuse to shop now!