THinking of alternative treatments

[GeorgeDittmar]

Hi all i am 16 years old and was diagnosed by my chiropractor with idiopathic scoliosis. i have seen a spine specialist who has sent me onto a pediatric scoliosis surgeon. All we are gonna do with the surgeon is just talk to him first, we dont plan on doing the surgery unless i really really really have too. my chiropractor told me about the STRS treatment method. we are looking into to that as a solution also. we are going to ask the surgeon about this method also to see what he knows about it. my chiropractor knows alot about it so we got the jist of it but we are still looking into it all.

Now i know some of you will prob say that what me and my family are looking into isnt what it seems as i have read in another thread. my personal feeling is that i would rather consider the STRS method than surgery any day but we are still looking into the surgery as a no other choice method. now my doctors hope that my scoliosis is in the end of curving more, wich is what i hope also.

i was wondering if any one has done the STRS method or is doing it? i just want info good or bad. we know the good and bad of hte surgery already hehe so any info would be nice


also ps i know there is no cure for scoliosis so you dont need to let me know again. lol

[hotpinkshoelace]

first things first... My dad was a doctor for many many years (until he decided to go to law school) and I can promis you, that a chiropractor is not a medical doctor, they crack your back, but they didn't go thorugh med school. So first off be weary of what they tell you because they are NOT MEDICAL DOCTORS. Also not everybody who goes to a pediatric ortho surgeon gets surgery! If you knew more about what you were saying, you would know this. I have scoliosis, and i wear a back brace, that is not surgery! I understand that your family is into the "alternative" stuff. And that is fine. Just remember that you aren't getting treated by doctors. No medical doctor would ever say to follow the STRS program, because they know it doesn't work. diet, cracking bones, exercies, ect doesn't fix scoliosis, and like my dad always said, you can move a branch of a tree a few times a week if u want, but that won't make it grow the way you want to. I would really truely recomend following what the actual doctor says, because they know the body more than your chiropractor, md's go through 4 years of med school and I believe 3/4 years of internship and residency. Not to mention that they know a little about every specialty due to their rounds in med school. My dad who was a heart doctor, knew a little about every specialty, mostly heart stuff, but he had done some of everything. I'm not trying to push my beliefs on you. But from a medical standpoint this is what I know. and that is that no md would ever say that a chiropractor could fix scoliosis. Plus what kind of nut thinks that diet could have anything to do with wheter or not you have scoliosis, that is rediculous. I wouls seriously reasearch what your chiropractor has said, but from a med standpoint, just to see the other side.

[GeorgeDittmar]

you know no offense but you seem pretty hostile about my question. you did not seem to really answer my question but question what i do.

just so you knwo my orthopedist actually told me to keep going to a chiropractor for treatment because he said he actually agreed with what my chiropractor was doing to try to help. also did i say i was gonna shrug off what my orthopedist said? no!

and also didnt i say i ALREADY KNOW THERE IS NO FIX!!

[hotpinkshoelace]

sorry if i seemed hostile, my dad had just beaten into my head well that thing abou chiropractors :) I am sorry if i seemed well hostile in any way what so ever :)

[GeorgeDittmar]

well for one i actually feel better with the chiropractic care. i have noticed my right shoulder that was much lower than my left is not level again so i feel somthing is at least helping.

one thing that strikes me in your post is that it sounded like you think chiropractors are people that just go to some place for a few months and then start a practice and start cracking backs. i can tell you that they spend years in school like other doctors and have to take a yearly reevaluation from the state to keep their license. it is actually more strict than normal doctors it seems to me.

another reason why i am listening to my chiropractor is that all my "normal" doctors didnt find my scoliosos even after i have been buggin them about back pain for 3 years and had my school nurse find that i had scoliosis last year. my doctor didnt do any thing. didnt even use that scoliometer thing when its my states policy to do that. so so far the chiropractor is kicking ass in my view.

[Mary Lou]

George...
You said Sarah was hotile...I beg to differ with you, but you are VERY hostile! Have you come to accept the fact that you have Scoliosis and will always have Scoliosis? I don't think anyone can get on with their lives until they accept the facts.
You commented something about surgeons only want to do surgery, because that's what they do.....gotta differ with you there! I asked my daughter's orthopedic surgeon to do surgery on her and she refused! Face it, your life is what you make out of it. When given lemons...make lemonade! Make sure you are doing everything in your power to make your life the best it can be whether that is with a chiropractor, orthopedic surgeon or both. Just please don't knock what others are doing for their backs, they feel like you do, they are doing their best with what they have.
P.S. Hope I didn't sound to hostile! :)

[savedbygrace]

I'm not siding with George or anything. But like George, I will try anything before resorting to surgery. I dont think anybody here is hostile. We are just expressing our points of view and that is a good thing. I am thankful for this forum that we can do that. Scoliosis and living with it is very hard. Finding the right treatment is harder. What works for 1 person might not work for another. We've seen varied results for people who underwent surgery, bracing, etc. Let's continue our input through this site. Don't be afraid to express your opinions. We are actually helping each other.

[GeorgeDittmar]

ok i am sorry for being hostile but i took offense to when she said how only nuts would suggest the strs method and how i should only listen to my orthopedist. i respect my chiropractor because he is willing to go to the end of the earth to help me and i mean that seriously. so far my orthpedist has seemed vaugly interested. as i said my family is looking into alternatives instead of surgery because of how barbaric it still is in my view and how once its done you cant undo it.

me personally i would rather live with a curved spine and back pain than have a fused spine and rods in it. now both my chiropractor think that my spine might stabalise wich would mean there would be no need for surgery at all but if it does keep curving then we would look at our options and then decide from there but mostlikley would stay away from surgery unless it was really really needed, most likely we would do bracing or try the strs method.

now i dont look at that method as a way to make my spine strait like they seem to stait. i am looking at it as a way to stabalize my spine thats all.

[hotpinkshoelace]

the surgery first off is not barbaric, they do it freaking endoscopically for goodness sakes. how is that barbaric? And they don't fuse your entire spine, just small parts. My ortho suggsted that i may need surgery some day, I told him i do cheer, and he said that the surgery wouldn't effect my ability to tumble and stuff like that. the only way that can stabalize your spine is if oyu are still growing. And the medical (meaning doctors) way of treating that is with a back brace. or you going to a pediatric ortho or a regular ortho. your curve will only stabalize if it chooses to, people wear back braces, still end up needing surgery, because the back just won't stabalize. And these are real doctors treating these people. if your doc doesn't give a care, get a new one. Because this one obviously has no clue! But really trust me, doctors have a lot more restrictions ect on them than prob any other specialty. I think you are actually quite uneducated as to what doctors have to go through, just because you are so used to this homeopathic stuff.

[GeorgeDittmar]

alright i will concede that you know more about doctors. i already know that my back will only stabalise if it wants and i know that they dont fuse the whole spine but in my case it would be most of my freakin spine if they had to do it.

now i still dont like the tone you are taking to the way i want to try to take care of this issue. didnt mary say that not to knock what other people are doing for their backs? also i dont like how you seem to think the only thing i am used to is homeopathic stuff.


also to point out i have not really been given and answer to my question but more told what i am doing is the wrong sort of thing

[Alison]

Hi Sarah

Just making you aware not all fusions are done endoscopically. It depends on many factors especially such as were the curve is in the spine and degrees of curvature, For example in Australia very few surgeries are done endoscopically and when I had my surgery in 1999 it was not even an option because My curve (68 degrees and 58 degrees) was solid and it was simply an 10 vertebrae holding operation, with only a 2 degree correction gained (basically we had run out of time and options I was at the end of my growth and had worn a back brace for 9 of my 13 years- at the time and the brace wasn't doing anything, I ended up with the same degrees of curvature that I started). I'm sorry George, I can't answer your question, the STRS treatment is still in the "experimental" or infancy stages in Australia and the only thigns I have learn about it are from the net.

Alison

[Mary Lou]

George....
Okay, I was being the mean one the other day in my response, but you did sound hostile. Sorry to say! I'm glad you haven't given up on any options. Are you completely happy with your orthopedic doctor? You sound like you really like and trust your chiropractor but maybe not your orth. My daughter is now seeing her third orthopedic doctor.....first one she hated....second one was wonderful, but not associated with a hospital that could do surgery if she needed it in the future...and so far, so good witht he third ortho. She is the one who refuses to do surgery at this time. Please keep looking until you find someone, anyone, who you feel comfortable with.
We are all in this together...let's not fight. We all need the support and advice that is offered on this forum.
:)

[savedbygrace]

George, let me know if you find out more about strs.

Lily

[GeorgeDittmar]

i trust both my chiropractor and my ortho completely its just that he sees this stuff all the time cause i go to a spine institute kind of place in my town so i dont get the same treatment with my chiro but its not like he is mean or doesnt take me seriously.

the main reason he refered me to a surgeon to talk to is because my curves are technically bad enough that i could get surgery but both he and my chiro said that sense i am still growing surgery wouldnt be needed soon if i did need it.

Me and my chiro wanna keep surgery as my super last option. me personally i would rather live with a curved back and pain than have surgery. now if my spine started to interfer with my breathing and organs then i would jump on surgery

[GeorgeDittmar]

well an update on my back even though this is supposed to be for the strs stuff hehe

well after 1 and a half months of knowing i had scoliosis my chiropractor took another set of x rays, he is doing them every month to 2 months because he finds its easier to track the progression, and well my back is pretty much in the same place so no surprise there but in my mid back my curve actaully seems a little less, he still needs to do the degree thing so i will know how my back is tomorrow.

[shaneric25]

just curious george (hehe) what are your curves right now i mean there is kinda a point when you know that they have a good chance of getting worse in adulthood and this may just be me but if i am going to end up having to have the surgery i would drather have it as a teenager than as like a 40 when i dont have the time or money to do something like that and with me it kinda looks like if my brace doesnt make my curves tons better i am going to have to have the surgery whether or not its "barbaric" which i am pretty sure its not i have done alot of research and most people regain alot of there flexibity back so i am not really to worried about that when chances are that when i get older i could have horrible back pain and breathing problems but you know thats just me. and i am not saying that surgery is the way to go either i think it should be last resort too if exercises and bracing dont work. so what i am saying here is dont right off the back say surgery isnt the answer becuase its success rate is a ton better than it use to be and recovery time is a fraction of what it use to be. i hope that i could be of some help

[Karen Ocker]

George:
Isn't that a lot of radiation, having x-rays so often?

Karen

[GeorgeDittmar]

well my curves right now are 25 in my low back 48-52 in my mid back and 50 in my upper back. now i bet i will be getting a crapload of people saying surgery now LOL.
i dont have to worry about the money end cause my dads job gives him kick ass medical insurrance wich is great for me sense i have been accident prone for a long time hehe but i know what you are saying. as i have said before i would rather live with a curved spine and some pain than have surgery but as i have also said if my spine starts to ingterfeir with my breathing or organs then i will do the surgery no questions asked. right now my chiro and ortho think my back is actually going to stabalize it self. i am seeing the ortho surgeon who does the harrington rod stuff in like 2 weeks so its not like i am totally not looking at surgery its just that i would perfer not to have that done hehe



actually i dont think the radiation from the x rays is a huge amount, odvoisly i will have more radiation than most people but hey my dad used to work in the nuclear reactor room on us subs and they didnt give him any protective stuff when he was down their and he is fine hehe and i know they have huge walls to seperate the core i am just using it as an example.

[GeorgeDittmar]

i made an error. my upper back is actually only at 40 degrees, saw the x rays again and it said 40 , though it said 50 oh well. lol

well i saw the new x rays and my back is in fact stable and has in my low back and mid back gotten better, not by alot but better none the less. my mid back now is 47 degrees instead of 48-52 and my lower back is at 23 degrees instead of 25. well i am happier now :D

[dapsbounce8]

You better believe you're going to get a lot of people saying you should have surgery!!! 47 degrees is no joke. My back was at 48 before I had surgery and I only had a single curve! My shoulder blade stuck out a lot, I had a hump on my back, and I was in a lot of pain, basically anytime that I bent my neck. That included doing dishes, homework, and, my favorite thing in the world, horseback riding.

Its true that surgery is no joke, and should be the last option, but if you don't correct your back, you will be in pain for the rest of your life, and (as others have said) you could potentially have breating problems. In my opinion, pain for a year caused by surgery is better than pain for life.

How old are you? I ask because after a certain age your curve will stop growing, so if you are still fairly young, your curve could get a lot worse. I think its great that things are working so well with your chiropractor, but he can only heal you temporarily. Its going to be a pain in the neck (haha) if you have to see him for the rest of your life.

I hope I've been helpful! I respect your decision, I just want to give you information that will allow you to make the best choice. GOOD LUCK!

[GeorgeDittmar]

i know its no joke, did i say it was a joke?. i realise you guys want to give me advice and i have heard it but its getting tiresome to hear you should only do this and that. even though my curves only went down a degree or two i consider that a small victory at least. if you dont want to see it as that then fine but dont try to bring me down, this post isnt pointed at any one person its just ment for people who want to try to do that ;)

i am 16 right now and i know it could get worse but it hasnt yet wich is a good thing i think so far. if it gets worse then i will do bracing and if that doesnt work then i will do the surgery

[dapsbounce8]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that you thought surgery was a joke. I was agreeing with you by saying that surgery is a serious matter that should be put off for as long as possible. My comments weren't meant as a direct attack to you, but as a suggestion to a situation that many people face.

I regret that you took my words in a attacking sense - that was not my intention.

[GeorgeDittmar]

oh well my bad. its just that its tiring to see alot of posts that seem to put down alternatives to surgery. after a wile all posts seems to read the same. i guess i just mis read yours. sorry man

[shaneric25]

ok i know you know that curves can get worse in a relatively short amount of time but just thought i should say this my curves stayed the same for like 5 months and my doctor was about to stop making me come but the very next appointment which was like 2 or 3 months later it had shot up like 15 and at the appointment before both curves had gone done like 2 or 3 degrees so just becuase they look better doesnt mean anything as i found out becuase of that i am not in a brace so ya

[UMKCwmn]

George--I know exactly how you feel--being put down for not having surgery...I have another thread on here asking people to look into alternatives. I like chiropractors, they have been friends of my scoliosis infested family for about 50 years or longer. I considered being one until I realized I would have to cut open a dead body...something I can't do. And, for HotPinkShoeLaces--I think was it, the other Sarah, they do go through some intense school for several years. I'm not trying to put you down, I just wanted to make sure you know. I'm not down with doing surgery unless I'm close to dying from from it. I have too much to do in my life to be down for over sixth months, and then even more recovery time later. I am used to being the only girl in the bank that I work at who can lift the $1000 bag of quarters. I would hate it if I couldn't do that. And I got called "uneducated" three different times. People weren't actually reading what I wrote. I am so happy your spine is getting better. That is awesome. But as far as the STRS system, I've looked a little on the website, and it looks like it would help. They are working with the whole body and not just the spine, which is excellent. But as far as outcomes, I read the "patients profiles" page or whatever it is, and it looks promising, but I haven't heard anything from doctors or anything else. Good luck with everything!

[GeorgeDittmar]

well i am seeing the surgeon on thursday so that way we have all the bases covered

[dapsbounce8]

Good for you - I like that you are looking into alternatives to surgery, but not shutting the possibility out.

[GeorgeDittmar]

my feeling is that I will only do surgery if i really truly cant avoid it. like if my curve significantly increases from like 47 to 69 or somthing like that or if it starts to affect my organs in any way. most likely i will go into bracing at first if it starts to get worse by alittle

[dapsbounce8]

You haven't had a brace before? I would highly recommend bracing to prevent surgery. I wore a brace for five years, and though I still needed surgery, the brace keep my lower curve from developing, so I only needed surgery for my upper curve. Braces are annoying, but real miracle workers as well.

[LindaRacine]

George...

You should not be getting scoliosis x-rays done every month or two to monitor your curves. It's too much radiation. Here's the abstract of a recent study on the subject:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12852471

There are a lot more studies showing the same outcome. Most of the subjects in these studies had x-rays only every 6-12 months!

Regards,
Linda

[GeorgeDittmar]

hmm interesting

oh also i am most likely going to be going into a brace so dont totally freak out. they want to wait and see what my next set of rays show

[GeorgeDittmar]

well i just got back from the ortho surgeon and he took more x rays and my curves are at 37 in my upper back 41 in my mid back and 31 in my low back and he told me to keep doing what my chiropractor said to do and keep seeing him and said that it looked like i didnt need a brace or surgery

[dapsbounce8]

Yeah, those curves are too mild for surgery. Congratulations on the good news!

[GeorgeDittmar]

yeah i guess the full body x ray is better at finding the curve so this has releived me and my chiro and stuff. my ortho said it looks more like my back has just balanced it self out and thinks it will stay like that for good and just wants me to keep doing the chiro practors treatment and he said it all should be good.

[GeorgeDittmar]

hehe man this is kinda funny. i just found out that my spine has an extra vertebre in my low back hehe

[MaryK]

I'm glad that your curves have stabilized and seem to be better! I had the surgery, but my curves were getting worse very rapidly! As long as the alternative methods are helping your surgeon won't consider surgery. But to keep your peace of mind I would suggest looking into what the surgery is and why it is done. It is better that you are involved with your back's health instead of sitting on the sidelines.

Also talk to your doctors about yoga. There is a type of yoga that centers on posture and muscle toning. It has helped many scoliosis patients! One thing to know, going to a chiroprator is okay BEFORE surgery but not after. Since you don't need surgery, fantastic!!!!