Can wearing a brace lead to increased muscle loss?

A common question concerns a potential drawback of wearing an orthosis. Patients are concerned that immobilizing the limb while wearing the orthosis could lead to further deterioration of motor function. Orthoses are intended for specific situations and limited periods of time (e.g., during the workday or when walking outside the home). This period is far too short to trigger a process of muscle atrophy. It is important to note the basic principle of the human body, which is adapted to prolonged periods of rest (e.g., daily sleep at night) without experiencing muscle atrophy.

Scientific studies have shown that the first subtle signs of muscular changes at the microscopic level are detectable only after more than 24 hours of complete immobilization. An adverse effect of a brace (in the sense of disuse atrophy) would only be expected after several days of continuous wear. Overall, concerns that wearing braces accelerates the progression of the disease are unfounded. In medical practice, the opposite phenomenon is observed: orthoses are often “forgotten” (even when they are available) and are not always used when they could be beneficial (e.g., to make walking easier when wearing a peroneal orthosis).