Hollywood actress Shailene Woodley struggled to breathe when wearing a brace to tackle her curved spine.

The 22 year old was diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 15 and had to wear a plastic splint from her chest to her hips every day for two years to straighten her back.

The Divergent actress found it difficult to live with the brace on a daily basis, saying, "It's like wearing a tacky, disgusting, plastic corset for 18 hours a day. In the beginning, it was hard to eat or breathe and I had to give up cross-country running. But I needed to have it to realign my spine."