Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

What do you think will be the future "fix" to spinal curvature?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • What do you think will be the future "fix" to spinal curvature?

    Health Care is having new discoveries everyday. What do you think will be the future of fixing or curing spinal curvature.
    I've heard about artificial discs being created and available already.
    Do you think these discs can replace spinal fusion? Not sure how.. i would assume that you would put a cage/rods in to support the bone chips and you would replace the real discs with the fake one.
    Do you think we can detect congenital and idiopathic scoliosis before they even start spreading quickly?

    I'm not sure if i should even think about surgery. Although my shoulder blade irritates, itches, kyphosis, lumbar lordosis, scoliosis, hamstring tightness.
    What if these exists in the next 10 years and is available to the public?
    Then you will never be able to restore the real spinal discs you once had. However, when there's an advantage there also has to be disadvantages.

  • #2
    my mum talked to me a lot about the future when i was considering surgery and in the end i knew i couldn't wait around for any advances in technology. i was in pain and i'm only 18. i still live with my parents so they could look after me, plus if i had waited and my curve progressed further (although i'm skeletally mature, my curve was over the 40 degree mark so had the risk of progressing slowly) i would have compromised on correction. i've had surgery now and achieved the best result possible and i can get on with my life.

    i know in the states certain surgeons were beginning to do keyhole surgery on thoracic curves, but the doctor pioneering this has since stopped doing surgery this way as he believes it's currently not as effective as regular surgery and is looking into ways it can be improved for the future. VAST surgery is starting to become more common, but i'm not sure if it's only suitable for certain patients.

    the problem with the idea of artificial disks which you proposed is that they would not be organic matter and i'm not sure how they'd work in the sense of a fusion. and with scoliosis being detected better, well for that you need screening and that's something everyone seems reluctant to do because there's this major mentality that "oh but the kid's scoliosis isn't severe, it may not progress, why bother exposing them to radiation". i'd love to see a screening programme in practice as i think the benefits far outweigh the costs, and i think screening is the key to preventing surgery, but it's also going to be a tough job to make it happen.

    apparently orthopaedics is 20 years behind every other branch of medicine (developmentally) and when i think of all the people i've heard had surgery in the 60s and 70s, and even in the 80s and early 90s and think how far it's come and how much better my treatment has been, i'm glad i live now and not then. i'm not sure how things can be made better but there's nearly always a way
    diagnosed aged 14 (2001)
    braced from july 2001 to february 2003 to hold curves
    fused T11-L3 on july 16th 2005 (aged 18)
    Discharged by surgeon july 11th 2007 (aged 20 and almost 2 years post-op)
    scoliosis support forum

    Comment


    • #3
      Like marmyte, my daughter shouldn't wait to see if there would be better technology in the future. She too was skeletally mature and her curves-Kyphosis and Scoliosis-continued to increase. Her doctor used the best techology he had available to him. We just hope and pray that it will be enough for her.

      Mary Lou

      Comment

      Working...
      X