Originally Posted by nospam (Post 857767)

By February I start to notice my hands are cold and numb. I start to have problems opening water bottles and jars which my wife opens with ease. We go back to the neurologist and we are all thinking TOS!!! I try to wear the S3 brace to see if it helps but only a little and just too annoying. I ordered a garment from Intellishirt since alignmed never responded to my inquires regarding their postureshirt. I had ordered the wrong size, but luckily they are in Newport Beach and let me exchange that afternoon. Upon wearing the garment I immediately feel a reduction in hand pain & numbness. My grip strength returned back to normal and my headache decreased. I start researching Vascular Surgeons with TOS experience immediately.

Originally Posted by nospam (Post 859745)

The S3 brace was useful for one thing. My postural muscles in the back were completely asleep 2 years ago. The S3 brace helped me stretch my overly tight chest muscles so I could activate the muscles in my back. Once I had done that, the S3 brace was nothing but trouble. The S3 brace is cumbersome, overly tight, and has that irritating zipper. Even though they "custom" fitted me at Alignmed in Santa Ana the S3 was never comfortable.

When I showed the S3 to the physical therapists, they did not like it (these therapists shared an office with the physician who prescribed it, not a good sign). It just pulls your shoulder back and down. Not only does it do the work for you, its posture correction is not even correct. Another therapist pointed me to Intellishirt, but I didn't try it until much later. Since insurance paid for the S3 brace, I thought maybe they would pay for Alignmed's PostureShirt...they would not.

I pulled the trigger on the Intellishirt when they released the sleeveless tank version (it was called GUN SHOW at that time). I figured this had to be more comfortable than the S3 and it was. I don't feel the stitching at all, it just feels like an exercise shirt (like Nike DriFit). The only problem I have is that neck bothers me a little. I have a thick neck (17.5") and I don't like shirts touching it (I hate turtlenecks!). The posture correction is mild but effective, you can't really feel a noticeable correction but yet your posture is improved. My therapist says this is because the shirt offers a suggestion/reminder but your muscles are doing the work.

I moved to a new therapist last year because my insurance changed. The new place is actually considering selling the Intellishirt. My therapist tried the Eve shirt for women and she liked it. The only downside was that it could be seen under the short sleeved shirt she wore that day, so it wasn't very fashionable. I'm thinking of buying one for my wife (she gets tensions headaches from bad posture when she is stressed). I just wish these weren't so expensive!

When I saw they had a V-Neck for men I jumped on it. Not only is the neck comfortable for me, the postural correction is better than the tank. Stand with your hands at your sides, keep your arms at your side and rotate your thumbs away from your body. Your posture should automatically correct. This is the effect of the Intellishirt (this is also the most effective stretch for my TOS). I don't notice any downward pressure on the shoulder or collarbone. This shirt is designed to be worn by athletes and exercised in, no one would use it if it were cumbersome.

Originally Posted by nospam (Post 866052)

Keeping my elbows at my sides at all times has made a huge difference for me (driving, typing, sleeping, etc.). The IntelliSkin garment is also a great reminder and help keep flares at bay - www.intelliskin.net

Originally Posted by nospam (Post 858234)

I wear the POSTURECUE™ V-TEE during the day and the POSTURECUE™ TANK at night. Just be warned that you must raise your arms above your head to get these on over your shoulders. The shirt is very lightweight and just feels like an exercise shirt once you get it on. Shirt can be machine washed but hung to dry.

Originally Posted by Anne4tos (Post 865019)

The LARGE Intelliskin arrived the other day and the fit is much better. Took it for a 10 minute test drive and had no vaso-spasms in my right hand. This was an immediate symptom I got while wearing the S3.

The Eve shirt is very long. I can't emphasize that fact enough, so if you are short it may be a negative feature for you. For me, it's perfect! The S3 came above my waist and the Intelliskin comes mid-butt.

I used it this morning to clean out the refrigerator and kitchen. Two tasks which require less than ideal posture. It feels good and brings me back to neutral when I'm done bending and twisting, but 20 mins will be enough for today as I feel some muscle twitching below my scaps.

I will be keeping it as a bottle of Sriracha chili sauce exploded all over the front, so it's now white with many red dots - don't think it meets Intelliskin's return policy anymore. :)

Originally Posted by Anne4tos (Post 874335)

klm: I wear the Eve shirt, but I think I'm going to get the bra too.

The one con with the shirt is it's ugly. The way it's cut with a high neck, longish sleeves and a GIANT Intelliskin printed on the side kind of limits you from hiding it under clothes, besides a turtleneck! The bra has a scoop neck and no sleeves. The support may be better in the shirt, but I'd be able to wear the bra out of the house. It may also be a cooler option for summer.

A previous brace (Alignmed S3) did make my TOS worse by putting pressure over the clavicle and plexus. So far, I have noticed no increased symptoms when I wear the shirt and the stitching position by the clavicle is fine.

Originally Posted by Anne4tos (Post 875925)

Love it! I cleaned out my pantry the other day with Eve and we did a bang-up job. :) It keeps my right scapula stable rather than flopping all over the place.

Now that I've owned it a bit, my only complaint is that is seems to stretch out quickly. Even though I'm only wearing it an hour at a time at most, it seems to grow and lengthen on me. I'm 5"12" and it will soon be a mini dress on me if it's not washed after a few hours of use.

Originally Posted by Anne4tos (Post 876063)

I didn't realize they wanted $95 for the bra too. :eek: It's 1/2 the Eve shirt! Women get ripped off all the time with small clothing!

Originally Posted by Anne4tos (Post 876063)

Julia: I can't give you any advice on the bra as I don't own it yet. It looks like it offers no support in the deltoid/tricep area. What intrigues me about it is the possibility of being able to wear it in public and it could be hidden under clothes. I like the scoop neck and no sleeves on it.

Since you are 5'2", I don't think the Eve shirt will fit you well. I'd stay with what you are currently using. The Alignmed product was extremely short on me while the Intelliskin is almost to long.

Intelliskin was good about returns and exchanges as long as the product was in excellent condition. I don't think you'd have a problem returning it if it irritated your symptoms or didn't offer the support you were hoping to get.

I didn't realize they wanted $95 for the bra too. :eek: It's 1/2 the Eve shirt! Women get ripped off all the time with small clothing!

Originally Posted by chroma (Post 876359)

Intelliskin Foundation Shirt 2.0 arrived Friday. Will try on Saturday. :)

Originally Posted by chroma (Post 879671)

I tried the large and was surprised that it was so tight in the arm pits. No better than the medium. It did have more material in the middle far upper back close to the neck, but that wasn't where I needed it.

Overall, the Intelliskin is a no go for me. I think if they did custom shirts where they measured out your shoulder, chest, upper traps, etc., and then cranked out a shirt for your body, it would work great. I believe it will also work great if you are fortunate enough to have a good fit with their existing shirts. Sadly, that is not the case with me.

jkl626 mentioned that they liked "The Spinal Q Brace". Um, wow, looks hard to order: http://www.spinalq.com/ (web site comes up blank under any browser at this time). :rolleyes:

Originally Posted by jkl626 (Post 896256)

Hi,
Does anyone have the intelliskin Bra? My chiro recommended it or the Eve shirt. They make one with a zipper now, so that might be a good way to go-easier to get on and off. I already have 2 posture shirts, but dont do that much for me as I have small shoulders.
Thanks for any input

Originally Posted by nospam (Post 896272)

The new zipper collection also features:
http://shop.intelliskin.net/ZIPPER-COLLECTION_c_23.html

Videos
New Zipper Product Zipper Collection
New Cool Jade fabric on the IntelliSkin Zipper Collection
New Zipper Empower PostureCue™ Sports Bra'

Originally Posted by jkl626 (Post 898694)

Went and bought the zipper bra today from Intelliskin. It is a little hard aroind the shoulders, The one with out the zipper was a little softer but I liked the zipper and th look of the black one under T-Shirts. i wore it for 2 hours while at the drawing board. My shoulder started getting sore after awhile anyway. I will try it without it for awhile as you arenot supposed to wear it too much at first.

First impressions: very similar to the alignmed posture shirts, but easier to wear under shirts. not alot of shoulder support,but good scalpular support. I tried on the Eve shirt and thought it had better support, but I am waiting for a long sleeved one to come out for winter before I spend more $$$$.

My spinal Q brace gives much much better support everywhere,just a bit bulky and hot and I cant wear it for very long either.

Originally Posted by stos2 (Post 898860)

Thanks so much for sharing. I was thinking of ordering one, but my PT said I could have compression issues as I am not able to wear my Bra strap on my left shoulder.Do you think it compresses at that point? I also have issues with the car seat belt, I am usually pulling it off my shoulder.
My left shoulder is tighter and does come forward, so I thought it might be a good idea to have the posture cue bra. Of course she is good at manual therapy and we are working on external rotations, but I just thought the posture cue bra might be able to hold the position of the shoulder after therapy as I feel like a million bucks after therapy and the good feeling does last a couple of hours , I wonder if it would help to hold it longer with the posturecue bra .

Originally Posted by jkl626 (Post 898868)

It doesnt seem to be that tight for me around the shoulders,or have as much compression as the Eve shirt. but then I have small shoulders. I havent worn it enough to see how I feel about it,but I'll keep you posted. You can order it and then return it if you are not satisfied. Or if you are in SOCAL they let you come and try them on which was very helpful!

Originally Posted by jkl626 (Post 899674)

I wore my intelliskin bra under a dress last night-it worked great!
See Photo!
it is the zipper model.

Originally Posted by Laur3d (Post 903017)

I got my Intelliskin Posturecure zipper bra Wed. I can absolutely tell the difference. It feels so much better when I'm wearing it. I can also feel more pain creep back in after I take it off. I would recommend it since you can return. The best money I've spent since surgery.

Originally Posted by Laur3d (Post 903173)

I can wear for hours at a time. Definitely doing any chores or for in the car. After re-reading their web site it looks like I was supposed to build up to wearing for longer periods of time. But to be honest it just feels better when it's on. There is NO compression in the shoulders at all. It's like an oversized sports bra or mini vest. So think of how the sleeves differ. It pulls your shoulders back very gently- very comfortable. I will probably get another. I would say if you can go in for fitting definitely do that. I got lucky and mine fits perfect.

Originally Posted by stos2 (Post 905159)

I am going to be in So Cal to see Dr.Ando next week so I will definitely go to the store and get a fitting. Thanks for your thoughts and letting me know that it doesn't compress at the shoulders. I am excited to get one.:)