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  • Cause unknown!

    I saw a scoliosis specialist a few weeks ago. All the usual was seen on my x-rays and MRI's: bone spurs, disk bulging, narrowed neuroforamen. The worst area is from C4-T2.

    However, given the curvature, the doctor said that I should have symptoms on my right. I have them on my left. For that reason, he thought something else was the cause of the pain on my left and sent me to an orthopedic surgeon. The Ortho could find nothing except the scoliosis.

    When ever I bend forward (such as when leaning over one's dinner plate while eating, or over a desk while writing or typing), I get a significant pain mid-way between my spine and my left scapula. Then, my shoulder begins to ache, I get a burning pain on the back of my arm and my two outer fingers on my left hand get tingly.

    The pain gets so bad that I sometimes have to leave the dinner table and lie down mid-meal.

    I spent twenty or so minutes leaning over a broken coffee machine last week, trying to fix it. I was in bed for the rest of the day.

    Now what?

  • #2
    Hi cogito
    all i know is tingly usually means nerves..something pinching/pressing on them maybe??
    i am sure others on this forum will have suggestions..

    i am so sorry that you are in pain so often...i hope you find answers & solutions too..

    best of luck
    jess

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    • #3
      Before my sons surgery he always complained of a pain in the spot you described. I don't know if bending forward increased it or not but do know after surgery the pain was no longer there which to me suggests that it was the scoliosis that caused his.

      Ramona
      mom of Patrick, age 15 at time of surgery
      diagnosed July 2006 curves T58 L 38

      Nov. 2006 curves T72 L38
      also lordoscoliosis

      feb.2007 curves T79 L43

      Surgery May 16 2007
      fused T4 to L1

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      • #4
        That area between the scapula and the spine on (the right side) is the only place my daughter ever had pain with her scoliosis. The pain appeared after she reached ~55*, not before, with a lot of rotation.

        The curve had been moving an average of 5* a month for at least 5 months as documented on serial radiographs but I think the combination of curve and rotation was getting to be such that something (muscle, ligament, tendon, etc.) reached some physical limit on the stretch required.

        The pain persisted several weeks after surgery but then disappeared and hasn't returned. She is 17 months out.
        Sharon, mother of identical twin girls with scoliosis

        No island of sanity.

        Question: What do you call alternative medicine that works?
        Answer: Medicine


        "We are all African."

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        • #5
          I agree that you must have a nerve being affected. If your fingers are tingling, it's possible that your neck is being affected.

          I recommend a consultation with a chiropractor. They may be able to reduce the pain and tingling even though they can't fix the scoliosis. It's worth a try since any possible surgery would be months away.

          I go to a chiropractor to make my curves as "happy" and least dysfunctional as possible.
          Living life after a Milwaukee...
          And still crooked as a jail bird...

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          • #6
            I do know that pain management doctors can do alot with nerve pain..Dr Neuwirth told me that i wasnt getting help from epidurals cause my pain was caused by a mechanical problem, not a nerve problem..but IF the problem is caused by nerves, pain management injections would be helpful...

            so, it might be worth asking the doctor whether a referral to pain management would be useful...
            then again, some problems related to scoli are caused by scoli!!!

            best of luck
            jess

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            • #7
              Going to see my Physical Therapist

              Thanks for the responses! It is very frustrating when you get bounced between doctors, each with a different diagnosis.

              Given the location of the pain in my back, it doesn't seem likely that my shoulder is to blame. The most significant pain is about 2-3 inches from my spine and so quite far from the shoulder.

              I have a fantastic physical therapist who has helped with my back before -- and my hip & SI which were damaged in an accident. He has a better grasp of anatomical issues than many doctors I've seen. I'm hoping he'll have some answers.

              I've also upped my meds to 300mg of Ultram ER daily. Last winter during a bad spell, the doctor gave me a prescription and I used some of it before returning to my standard 200mg. I have a month or so left.

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