shrinking

[kdawn]

I just wanted to know if anyones height has gotten shorter over the years? I have lost about 3 1/2 inches. I have a thoracic curve of about 50 and lumbar curve of about 20. I don't know if this is normal or not. The doctor I saw about 3 yrs ago didn't seem to concerned with it. I am going to see someone else, just wanted to know if anyone else has lost height.

[CHRIS WBS]

One of the telltale signs of curve progression is height loss. I went from 5’6½” to 5’4” within the past ten years and began to notice that clothes no longer fit me the way they used to as I lost my waistline. I don’t know your age, but 3½” seems like quite a bit unless you have steadily been losing height over many years. I noticed my height loss as I was entering menopause, and I do believe menopause will accelerate curve progression, since my normal height seemed to be holding for most of my adult life. It’s alarming that a doctor would not be concerned about such a dramatic loss in height in one of his patients, unless of course you’re 90 years old.

Chris

[Janet]

Kdawn-
I agree with Chris - such a loss of height is not normal. I was 5'7" at age 17, and now am 5'3" at 62. Most of the loss occurred during the past 6 -7 years; I kept mentioning this to my primary care physician, whose response was "just part of the normal aging process" even tho I told him the curve was getting worse & I needer larger blouses to fit around the hump.
I changed PCPs and had to work hard to convince the new one that the curve was progressing and, no, core strengthening would not stabilize my spine.
DON'T DELAY getting an evaluation by an ortho spine specialist. If you haven't yet had X-rays & MRIs to track your progression, the spine doc should order them. If you learn that spinal fusion is appropriate for you after getting several same opinions, I suggest you deal with this sooner rather than later. My curve progression has been increasing very rapidly, and at my age, the amount of correction expected will not be as good as if my spine were more flexible.

[kdawn]

I am 34 yrs old now and when i was 18 I was 5'2", at age 31 I was 5'1/2" and now at age 34 I'm 4'11 1/2". I do have an appt. to see a neurosurgeon in about 3 wks because I also have a thoracic syrinx. The problem was the last doctor I saw 3 yrs ago told me there was nothing he could do and to learn to deal with the pain i was having. So far noone will even consider surgery. I'm short enough now, I don't have much more height to lose. any suggesions?

[The Slice]

Kdawn, you are still VERY young. I would suggest that you talk to your regular doctor to evaluate you for osteoporosis. At this age it's not real likely that you have it, but so far as I know (not much) it is possible, and could be a contributing factor, either now, or later. From what I DO understand, at menopause, the incidence of osteoporosis goes up and with that, usually kyphosis (hump back) and spinal compression. The point here is that with osteoporosis, the chances of your scoliosis curve getting worse is definitely conceivable. Now that I've written all of that, you can pretty much forget about it for now, as I decided to look up thoracic syrinx. Check out this link, but be warned it may tell you more than you want to know right now - stuff that you're better off finding out from your doctor who can explain it to you. http://www.wheelessonline.com/ortho/syringomyelia

In essence, a syrinx is related to syringygomyelia. If the syringomyelia is idiopathic, it's almost always associated with a type one Arnold Chiari malformation. One of the associated conditions is scoliosis. When was that asessment of your curve made? If that was 3 years ago, and the scoliosis is related to the syringomyelia/syrinx, then yes it seems very conceivable that the curve is in fact progressing which explains the decreasing height. Think about it, if you take a string and lay it out the way your spine is curved, and then measure straight across from one end to the other, the string will measure shorter than if you pull the string out straight and measure it. Hang tough, be brave, and take it one step at a time. Good luck.

[rainbow2010]

Between 8th and 10th grades, I lost two inches. I had surgery and gained three inches. I was 5'7" for many years. Now in the last 5 years, I have lost two inches due to arthritis and deterating discs. Now if I could just lose weight like I lose height!

[kdawn]

Thank you for the website, it was very informative. I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was 12. I wore a brace for 1 yr. I never was followed up on after the doctor released me at age 13 until 3 yrs ago because the pain was getting so bad. That was when i found out i have a syrinx. I saw 3 orthopaedics and 2 didn't seem to think it was worth worrying about and 1 told me if i woke up one morning and wasn't able to walk to go to the ER. I was so tired of dealing with doctors at this point i never followed up on it until now. I now my scoliosis has gotten some worse, only about 7-10 degrees since 13 yrs. old. Last time i had xrays the thoracic curve was at 52 to 55 degrees, depending on what doctor read it. The lumbar curve is only at about 20. I have already thought about osteoporosis because it runs in my family. I hope the neurosurgeon can give me some answers because no other orthopaedic doctor can tell me anything other than learn to live with it. Does anybody else's doctors tell them that and if so what seems to help?

[rainbow2010]

You need to find a doctor that specializes in scoliosis. Get a recommendation from this site. There are several doctors out there that say they treat scoliosis but they don't know what they are doing. I went to a neurosurgeon for my revision surgery but he didn't know what to do or how to help with other problems. i now go to an ortho that I found through this site and he is fantastic.

[kdawn]

Any suggestionsfor a doctor in tennessee?

[becky1956]

Height Loss - Doctor in Tennessee

I'm 51 yrs, long story short - back pain for 27 years, seeing medical doctors during severe bouts of back pain for the past 14 years, more xrays than I can count, 2 MRI's, 1 CAT Scan, 2 Bone Scans.......... took a Chiropractor (last month) to tell me I had Scoliosis..........

Anyway - I have always been 5'6" since I was 18. Now I'm 5'4". I live in Memphis Tennessee and am also looking for a Spinal Specialist I can work with. I am currently seeing Dr. Keith Williams, Campbell Orthopedic Clinic. He's seems to know alot about Spine problems, and directs my Scoliosis to the "medical" treatment - "surgery". But since I have currently declined this method. I sit here in pain, trying to find other venues.........

Anyway, I did locate a Dr. Linville in Memphis, his office is on the St Francis hospital grounds. Seems to be fully focused on the Spine and various conditions (I "hate" the word - deformity) (maybe I'm in denial), ... anyway, if you live in or near Memphis, you might want to check him out.

There is another Scoliosis site where you can find more doctors in Tn. I "think" it's called the Scoliosis Society. Google Scoliosis and you should be able to locate a doctor. Otherwise, the best way to find a doctor is word of mouth.

Good Luck!!!!

[kdawn]

well, I went to the neurosurgeon on Monday and he says he can't help me and referred me to an ortho surgeon. I had a MRI on tuesday because he says i might not have a syrinx or I might have some other problem that I can't spell or pronounce. I go to the ortho on the 9/26 so this will be my 5 doctor I've seen in 3 1/2 yrs for scoliosis. I'm getting frustrated because I know this doctor will tell me the same thing everyone tells me, I can't help you and learn to live with it. How does everyone else live with it. I'm trying and I don't complain but some days it's very hard. Just wandering how everyone else copes.

[Writer]

Probably everybody who has scoliosis loses height, and the amount is likely to correlate to the severity of your abnormal curves.

The reason is that scoliosis is a 3-dimensional torsion: the spine not only twists sideways, but it also has to shrink downwards as it is pulled into lateral curves that it is not designed to assume.

I'm afraid that the medical profession in most of the world does not understand scoliosis. The surgeons know how to fuse vertebrae, but that does not address the ultimate problem in scoliosis, which is generally not the spine itself but a complex set of muscle imbalances that combine to pull the spine in different directions.

We are better off consulting a physical therapist, since they are trained to work with muscles. I had debilitating back pain periodically between 20 and 4 years ago, until a PT examined me and prescribed one simple exercise -- a hamstring stretch. My hamstrings were very tight, pulling my pelvis out of alignment. No more pain, as long as I do my exercise. (My case is nowhere near as simple as that, but it does solve the pain problem.)

There are some PT specialists in scoliosis at a clinic near Washington, D.C., which isn't prohibitively far from Tennessee:

http://www.scoliosissolutions.org/

[rtremb]

Writer:
The link in your post didn't work - please can you post it again?
Thanks. Ruth

[Karen Ocker]

PT and scoliosis??? Alternative treatments.

Physical therapy has NEVER been shown to permanently correct or influence scoliosis. Once the vertebrae have become wedge shaped it doesn't reverse.
Physical therapy and other alternatives such as Rolfing(which I do now for extensive scarring), Yoga, chiro, Pilates and other exercises help some with symptoms and give pain relief but if the curves are progressing in an adult they will keep doing so forever unless stopped by surgery.
This is the sad fact no one wants to believe because it's scary.

Do a search on the forum and contact the members who have tried other alternatives and get the facts. If someone promises results with an alternative contact their patients and monitor their progress.
Hurry up and let us know the long term successes so that others can avoid surgery too.

[kdawn]

well, I saw the orthopaedic surgeon today and my scoliosis has gotten worse. Thoracic went from 52 3yrs ago to 58 now and lumbar went from 38 to 45. This answers why I'm shrinking. He says I need surgery since the scoliosis is just getting worse. I go back and see him next week for more xrays and decide what I want to do. I would be fused from T4 to L3. I would appreciate any response from people who have been through the surgery. I just don't know if I really want to do this.