In a recent study conducted at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and reported at SpineHealth.com, bracing treatment for scoliosis was found to be significantly less effective for teenagers who are overweight.

The finding that bracing as a treatment for adolescent scoliosis is less effective for overweight teens is significant, as wearing a back brace is the only non-operative treatment for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis currently advocated by the spine medical community.

The study we to which we refer included 276 adolescents between 10 and 17 years of age treated for idiopathic scoliosis at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children between 1991 and 2001. Of the 276 adolescents, 34 were considered overweight.

All the patients in the study were prescribed the Thoraco-lumbo-sacral-orthosis (TLSO) brace, which is custom-molded to fit under the child's arm and around the rib cage, lower back and hips. The patients wore the brace for an average of 14 hours per day.

Treating idiopathic scoliosis with a back brace is designed to halt or significantly reduce the spinal curve from progressing. Generally, back brace therapy is recommended for patients who are still skeletally immature with a curve of 25 to 40 degrees.

Currently existing scientific literature suggests that excess soft tissue between the brace and the spine may compromise the brace's ability to exert the necessary biomechanical forces on the spine. This study supports that suggestion.

Overall, almost half of all teens in the scoliosis study had no more than a five-degree increase in the primary curve following brace treatment - viewed as a successful treatment. But the study also found that the teenagers who were overweight were 2.5 times more likely to have scoliosis curvatures that progressed despite wearing a brace. Of the 34 overweight teens in the study, only 29 percent were treated successfully and 44 percent eventually needed surgery to correct the spinal curvature.