Finally got my xray results yesterday...

[T I N A]

Finally got my results yesterday...the curvature isn't all that bad so that's good...

Here is what it says:

Cervival Spine

The normal cervical lordosis is replaced by a kyphosis. The intervertebral disc spaces are well preserved. There is no posterior osteophyte formation and posterior ridging at any level.

The facet joins show no unexpected finding for a 40 yr old patient.

The uncovertebral joints show no intrusion on the intervertebral foramina at any level on either side. There is no evidence of an ossified cervical rib.

Thoracic Spine

There is a scoliosis convex to the right in the lower thoracic region measuring from the upper border of T8 to the lower border of L1, the scoliosis measures 25.1 degrees off the straight line.

Lumbosacral Spine

There is counter scoliosis convex to the left in the mid lumbar region which correlates with the curvature of the thoracic spine. In the lumbosacral spine the intervertebral disc spaces are reasonably well preserved. There is no posterior osteophyte formation or posterior ridging at any level.

The facet joins show no unexpected findings for a 40 yr old patient.

If someone can give me a better explanation without all the long words, I would greatly appreciate it! I am waiting for Physio Therapy to start and he gave me Naprox 275 mg once daily...I have to go for bloodwork to measure inflamation and see if I have rheumatoid arthritis...

Thanks...

[LindaRacine]

Hi Tina...

You have a relatively mild scoliosis without much degeneration. From the side, your neck curves the wrong way. I had the same lack of lordosis in my neck, and was able to correct it by doing some physical therapy.

Regards,
Linda

[T I N A]

Thank you so much Linda

I have my assessment appointment for physio on the 17th so I'm pretty anxious to start up with that again...it might atleast get rid of most of the pain anyways...atleast I'm hoping...

Again, thanks!

[AILEA]

Linda, if you don’t mind asking.....How did you correct your lack of lordosis?

My daughter has it, and no doctor has never offer us a solution or treatment

[T I N A]

I went for my physio assessment today...my physio therapist said that there really shouldn't be any pain invovled with Scoliosis and Kyphosis with the curve degrees I have...he had access to my xrays so my husband and I looked at them again with him...he explained many things to us...today I learned that my Cervical Kyphosis is higher than it normally should be...also, he observed on the xray that a nerve on the right hand side appears visibly different on the xray than the others...I have many headaches on the right side of the head and it could explain why I have so many headaches...

Also learned that my Lumbar Lordosis is much more curved than it should be...he also said that my Thoracic area is "flat" which is not usually normal...he asked if I have taken falls before and I said yes, I have taken a few...so, he said we have a LOT of work ahead of us and that we will be working on it...he wants me to do physio twice/week for now...doesn't want me doing much around the house and no extra walking than what I'm doing now...he said I was very vulnerable for herniated discs...he said we would be doing lots of traction (stretching) in the next session...

When he was doing his assessment, when he got to my T8 region, it really hurt there as well which surprised me as I don't really have daily pain there at all...only in the C6-7 and lumbar regions...

In a few weeks from now, if I don't see a difference at all, he will request that my doctor send me for a CT scan...

I was feeling all positive about my first physio session today but after those news, it really brought me down again

I am going for bloodwork Tuesday that will check for Rheumathoid Arthritis, Spondylosis and Osteo Arthritis...

He also mentioned something about having Hyper Movement? Anyone else hear of that before?

[jrnyc]

hey TINA
you dont want any herniated discs...i could handle my scoli until i herniated discs at work...lifting a little kindergarten chair! it doesnt take much...sneezing the wrong way can do it!
be careful how you lift things...anything...
and good luck with PT...hope it helps you!

jess

[T I N A]

hey TINA
you dont want any herniated discs...i could handle my scoli until i herniated discs at work...lifting a little kindergarten chair! it doesnt take much...sneezing the wrong way can do it!
be careful how you lift things...anything...
and good luck with PT...hope it helps you!

jess

Absolutely right I don't want any of those! I have a friend that suffers from them and the pain is so severe...I work with veterans from WWII and presently work with a 90 year old veteran...thank GOD he's able to do alot himself as I really don't know what I would do I could always send my husband over to do the job for me...

Thanks for replying

[titaniumed]

Hi Tina

The cervical kyphosis, or lack of lordosis in the neck is very common with scolis.

One of the things that I would do, and still do once in a while, is to take a towel, and roll it up so its about 3 inches round, and while laying on my back, use it to support the neck. Place it in the small of the neck. This also has a vertical traction effect, pulling slightly upwards which is a good thing.

You want to make sure that you are not elevating your head, the purpose of this is to support and slightly lift the cervical vertebrae thus re-establishing the natural lordosis.

This works great when you visit someone, or stay in a motel that has thick firm pillows. Its always nice to have soft down pillows, as they are easy to mold and shape into the correct height.

You have a mild scoliosis, and physical therapy and staying active will help you considerably.

Follow Doctors orders with Naproxen. Do not take more than allowed. Always read the fine print when taking ANY medications.
Ed

[T I N A]

Hi Tina

The cervical kyphosis, or lack of lordosis in the neck is very common with scolis.

One of the things that I would do, and still do once in a while, is to take a towel, and roll it up so its about 3 inches round, and while laying on my back, use it to support the neck. Place it in the small of the neck. This also has a vertical traction effect, pulling slightly upwards which is a good thing.

You want to make sure that you are not elevating your head, the purpose of this is to support and slightly lift the cervical vertebrae thus re-establishing the natural lordosis.

This works great when you visit someone, or stay in a motel that has thick firm pillows. Its always nice to have soft down pillows, as they are easy to mold and shape into the correct height.

You have a mild scoliosis, and physical therapy and staying active will help you considerably.

Follow Doctors orders with Naproxen. Do not take more than allowed. Always read the fine print when taking ANY medications.
Ed

Thank you so much for all this information I have only used the Naproxen once so far...I don't want to use it if I don't have to...I just use the regular Aleve if I have too much pain...I really don't want to result in pain meds if I don't have to...will try to put up with as much as I can without having to turn to meds for it...I am confident with the physio therapy...it's helped me before when I did it for 3 months twice/week...

I have a really hard time laying on my back because there's too much pain in the lumbar area...perhaps after we've done a few weeks of physio it will allow me to lay on my back more...

I appreciate all the information I get and will definately try the towel thing as soon as I am able to lay on my back...thanks so much!

Also, is it common to have a "flat" thoracic region? Is there a name for that?

[rohrer01]

Just an FYI, naproxen and Aleve are the same thing.

[T I N A]

Just an FYI, naproxen and Aleve are the same thing.

Yes, they are the same but there's the Aleve that you just buy without a prescription (we just got Aleve in Canada a month or two ago) and then there's the prescribed one that is stronger and that's the one I don't want to take unless I REALLY have to...

[T I N A]

Well I've been doing physio twice/week for one month now...not much improvement thus far...the last two sessions (this week) went very well, finally! I have a really good Physio Therapist and he seems to really care and be sympathetic of my condition but he really thinks there's more to it than the Scoliosis and Kyphosis...my lumbar lordosis is really bad though, much bigger than it should be...they ruled out about 6 major things which is good but am still waiting on results for Spondylosis I believe it is...my doctor doesn't think I have it though but he wants to narrow it out...My doctor has put in a referral for a MRI or CT scan...haven't heard from the hospital yet...I guess there is quite a waiting list for MRIs so my PT said a CT scan would probably be good... The traction machine really seems to be helping lots...he put me on it the last two sessions and it feels really good...been doing my neck exercises religiously and my neck really hasn't been that bad...I start at 25 lbs on the traction machine and went up to 50 yesterday If I am able to reach 75, he will not increase anymore than that...the TENS machine seems to be helping too...I started out at 8 and now am up to 12...it's not much but like he said, my back is in very bad shape and cannot take much of anything That's why they think there's more to it than the scoliosis and kyphosis...my back keeps cracking (same sound as a knuckle cracking) all the time and he really hopes he can hear it crack to see where it's coming from and what may be causing it...of course it never seems to want to happen when my PT is around...I'm only using my Neproxen when I really have to...I had a relapse 3 sessions ago when he gave me new excercises and was in excruciating pain...he told me not to do those at all anymore...so I'm still waiting to learn more about my condition and where I stand in it...

My PT said it would require a lot of time, patience and work to decrease such a large lordosis...I told him I was very patient and had lots of time...

Thanks for reading!