We certainly expected it to take some time to adjust, considering the brace is made of hard, inflexible material. But, so many posts from other users indicated that they got used to it fairly quickly (within days and weeks) so we thought it would go that way for us as well.It didn't.
Dancer Girl is prone to restless sleep anyway. Wearing the brace didn't help. Edges dug into her no matter which way she lay down.
Once she got to the point of needing to wear it at night to get in her 18 hours things didn't go well. She couldn't fall asleep, or, if she did manage to fall asleep she didn't stay that way. After several hours of trying, the brace would come off in the middle of the night but the damage had been done. Dancer Girl was tired. All the time.She had lots of pillows all over her bed, tried different positions, even stuffed small fuzzy socks under her brace... nothing was working.
At her check up we talked to the orthotist who added some extra foam in certain areas (along the back edge for example) and shaved down others a bit. This worked somewhat, but not entirely.
The thing that seemed to finally work in the end was something we found on a forum post - after many, many searches.
THE TRICK: She started wearing it a bit loosely at night. This allowed for some movement to find a more comfortable position. She has gradually been tightening it and is now up to her full level and on most nights she sleeps through.
So, in the end, a bit of extra foam (at the bottom, back edge in particular), and the shaving down of some edges, combined with wearing it loosely at first is what has done the trick. She also still uses pillows to provide some support.
But it has taken three full months.It seems that for most girls, getting used to wearing it at night isn't all that difficult. Hopefully you are one of those cases!
But if not, try wearing it a bit loosely at first, gradually working your way up to making it at full tightness.
Also, be sure to talk to the orthotist. They may be able to adjust the brace just a bit in order to make a difference for you at night.
Be assured that sleep will come.
