New pain

[figgy]

I have a thoracic scoliosis and so I am well used to upper back pain. However, since I started working full time 4 months ago, the pain and slowly but surely increased and become more unbearable. My job requires me to be on my feet for 50 hours a week. I t is certainley not ideal, but there is nothing else and I need to work.

A few weeks ago I developed pain in my lower back to the point where walking and bending are difficult and painful. Then last week I developed pain in my ribcage and to me the ribcage seemed more misaligned. Not sure what is going on at all, panicking very slightly. I have a docs appointment tomorrow but I will have to wait about 3 months for an x ray...

Has anyone else ever experienced change in location of pain? Or pain in th ribcage, as this is what worries me the most?

[rohrer01]

I have a thoracic scoliosis and so I am well used to upper back pain. However, since I started working full time 4 months ago, the pain and slowly but surely increased and become more unbearable. My job requires me to be on my feet for 50 hours a week. I t is certainley not ideal, but there is nothing else and I need to work.

A few weeks ago I developed pain in my lower back to the point where walking and bending are difficult and painful. Then last week I developed pain in my ribcage and to me the ribcage seemed more misaligned. Not sure what is going on at all, panicking very slightly. I have a docs appointment tomorrow but I will have to wait about 3 months for an x ray...

Has anyone else ever experienced change in location of pain? Or pain in th ribcage, as this is what worries me the most?

I have upper thoracic scoliosis with a 46* curve in the greater curve. My pain pattern is quite similar to yours. Sometimes the ribcage pain hurts so badly that I find it difficult to breathe and have had to go to the ER. My lower back pain ended up being a bulging disc pinching a nerve root. I had an epidural steroid injection for that and it feels much better. I have trouble with muscle spasms under my shoulder blades and I have actual pain in my spine. My neck hurts quite profusely, too. Why are they making you wait 3 months for an X-ray? I would find an SRS doctor in your area. Go to the Scoliosis Research Society and click on find a doctor. They will be in the best position to tell you what is going on. And I'll bet you won't have to wait three months to get in!! (maybe one or two) Best wishes!

[figgy]

Unfortunatley I live in northern ireland and the only option over here is to wait..have you any idea though why the onset of this rib pain was so sudden..it feels more like its bruised than anything and is quite swollen but there are no marks on the skin?
I do feel like my breathing is more shallow, but then i have to consider that i am a hypochondriac and its probably all in my head...

[Back-out]

I hope you have a complete physical. Your NHS should be good for that (?). You never know what could be going on and blood work and a mammogram, chest X-ray etc. are in order just to be on the safe side. Not everything is scoli related. Not an MD but this sounds like one. Maybe SOME symptoms could put you to the head of the queue. Was reading a scoli blog by a young Brit, and she was able to expedite even an MRI because of her scoliosis. Seems to me she was able to leave her job on account of it too.

It's a real shame you have to have that horrid standing job. I myself couldn't do it now as I need a walker for walking and standing for any amount of time (>three minutes). I'm afraid it's making your scoliosis worse, while a great PT regime and maybe a brace, might help you avoid later surgery - certainly a most worthy goal. You don't want to become bionic unless you absolutely must! Are you SURE there's nothing else you can do, however, boring or menial?

If you could just get yourself to the States, I'll bet you could get a receptionist job. Yanks just LOVE that brogue!

Um, the immigration problem is real, but perhaps the quota for the British Isles is better, and if you came on a tourist visa and job hunted, maybe you could find something before it ran out. Just need some cute clothes (some services provide them for job interviews!), and find some employer to fall in love with the front desk image you loan his/her office. Then perhaps they could fill out the papers for you. Looks like Europe's headed for a meltdown, anyhow.

I regard you as an emergency emigrant = seeking asylum from a devastating health problem. That's assuming you really can't change jobs there. If you don't take it as seriously as you ought, you may find you get to the point where you have no choice.

You'd lose your "great" NHS but pretty soon there will be "exchanges" for folks unable to get insurance otherwise (and besides. you might luck out and get a job with insurance. You might even start as a nanny (which could pay your way, too), specifying you couldn't do any heavy lifting or housework - just the kids' laundry. Or would that be even worse than what you have now?

Sorry, I get kind of carried away with bright ideas for others ...Here I don't even know if you have your own kids to look after! I'm just so disturbed at the thought of a fellow "scoli" going through that all unnecessary pain (job-related, anyhow) . Most of all, it's critical to avoid if at all possible, creating an absolute need for surgery when it might be warded off with the right attention now.

Best of luck with all this!

[jrnyc]

Hi figgy
i dont know what it is like in Ireland...but i suppose you have pain management doctors there, as we do here in the States..... i have been seeing one in NYC for 5 years...there are alot so injections that can be done for pain, if a patient is appropriate for such injections...... it might be worth finding out if such injections could help you......i get botox injections for muscle spasms caused by my smaller 42 degree thoracic curve...unfortunately, they havent worked for my larger 61 degree lumbar curve...neither have epidurals, which i know work for some people...have also had facet blocks, nerve ablation, sacroiliac injections...those last ones worked the best for lumbar pain...but none worked for very long...

i think the injections work or dont work relative to where the pain is originating in the back and what is causing the pain...i know my degenerating discs are causing alot of my pain, as well as my spinal stenosis and arthritis of spine...

do you know if you have other problems in thoracic area besides the scoli? i am wondering if you did something to your lower back without realizing it...have you lifted anything heavy? it is actually possible to herniate a disc and not even know it til later...
also, can you ask the doctor you will see about pain management...? does your doctor specialize in scoliosis?

i really hope you can find a solution to help you get some relief...i know how hard it is to live with constant pain! and then to have to work on your feet all day..well, that is just too much pain on top of existing pain!

best of luck
jess

[rohrer01]

Unfortunatley I live in northern ireland and the only option over here is to wait..have you any idea though why the onset of this rib pain was so sudden..it feels more like its bruised than anything and is quite swollen but there are no marks on the skin?
I do feel like my breathing is more shallow, but then i have to consider that i am a hypochondriac and its probably all in my head...

Unfortunately, us scoli poeple get labeled hypochondriacs because of our pain. I complained quite continually of pain since I was 12 years old. When I was 16 it was so unbearable that I could barely move. My mom told me to quit my crying and lie down, but she didn't realize that the pain was so severe it was almost paralyzing. I bucked up and just threw myself backwards on the bed (this was a Friday night). The pain continued through the weekend, so on Monday she took me to a chiro, who took X-rays and found a 39* curve. My mom started crying, a lot. I was the one feeling bad at this point. But she never accused me of being a hypo for pain. I sometimes got blamed for my own pain if she didn't think I was doing everything they at the Children's Hospital told me to do. Other people in my life have pegged me with that label out of "jest", but it truly isn't so. It hurts physically and emotionally. So please don't put yourself into that category unless you really are. Hypochondriasis is a real mental disorder where people are convinced that they have diseases that they hear about. It can be so bad that they can develop symptoms of the disease. I think scoliosis is kind of hard to fake. I believe your pain is real.

[rohrer01]

If your skin is swollen, I would have that investigated ASAP. That doesn't sound scoli related. I'm not even going to venture what it might be, but you might be able to get that one figured out without an X-ray.

[Lorraine 1966]

I myself had thoracic scoliosis then also a lumbar scoliosis as well. The thoracic one was a lot worse and I can remember that my ribs moved towards my right side, hard to explain. Then I had the operation and of course all improved for a long long time.
Sometimes it can make it hard to breath as the scoliosis gets worse. Figgy I would go back to the doctor I had already saw, this is only a suggestion, and just explain your symptoms are getting worse. That may hurry up the Xray, fancy 3 months waiting period, that's terrible.

Good luck, don't be scared though but just go back and make your doctor realise its not pleasant. You should not have to put up with the pain in the thoracic part of the spine either, you are having it tough.

Lorraine. xx