Parents Back issue: Edema in the L4 left pedicle

[BStephenM]

We just received some bad news regarding ou daughter. One week before her 1st level 8 competition this year she was diagnosed with "Edema in the L4 left pedicle". I will place full MRI diagnosis at bottom. She is supposed to wear the BOB brace for 4-6 weeks and begin PT immediately.

https://www.bostonoandp.com/products/scoliosis-and-spine/boston-overlap-brace/

Naturally she is devastated. I am looking for any advice, guidance, tips etc.

Anyone have experience with this brace? Any suggestions on getting her more comfortable in it? She hates wearing it.
Obviously we are falling a Drs guidance.

thanks in advance,


1. Edema in the L4 left pedicle extending into the bases of the left superior articular and transverse processes, likely reflecting stress reaction. No
fracture line is visualized.
2. Mild edema of the bone marrow of the spinal process of L5.
3. Mild posterior bulging of the intervertebral disc of L4-5 resulting minimal narrowing of the neural foramina, slightly more evident on the left.

 

[BStephenM]

sorry..that should say following Dr's guidance. Forgot to mention she's a 14 year old.

 

[NutterButter]

My DD had two rounds of back issues (stress fractures in L4, L5 the first time, stress reaction in L3 the 2nd time). She was never prescribed the brace. Several of DDs teammates also had back issues and only 1 was prescribed the brace. Most of these kids saw the same ortho so I don't believe it was simply a physician treatment preference otherwise you'd think more than one would have had the brace. If you DD hates it - it might be worth a call to the Dr to see if she absolutely needs it. Or maybe it's not quite fitted correctly if it's a comfort thing and a different size is all she needs. I seem to recall that there was some 'controversy' within the orthopedic profession on whether the brace is even necessary for stress reactions/fractures. I'm not a medical professional and not at all suggesting that she doesn't need it but there is a wide variety of protocols out there on whether to brace, how long gymnasts need to be out of the gym, the time it takes to rehab and regain skills, etc, etc.