Scoliosis Information and Help

[windsor53]

Last year I was in a car crash and no suffer from two Herniated discs in my low back. In order for the doctors to diagnose this I had numerous x-rays and a MRI. After the scans they found that I have Scoliosis! I never knew I had this and was even checked as a kid/teen in school. Now I do and all my doctor said was not to worry about it and that most people have some curving in their spine. She then said she too has Scoliosis.
Now the insurance is saying that the Scoliosis caused my herniated disc and don't want to pay. One disc has a annual tear which is causing me some serious grief.

My question is... Can Scoliosis cause herniated or bulging discs? Even if I never had previous back issue? Any information on Scoliosis would be great too. I know nothing about it and if I should be concerned. P.S. I'm 29 years old.

Thanks!

[Pooka1]

How large are your curves?

If they are relatively small and if you have no pain prior to the accident, they shouldn't deny coverage.

If the curves are large, they might not believe that all your pain originated at the accident though an annual tear sounds like it is only of traumatic origin. If you can get some surgeons to say annual tears are never due to scoliosis and always due to trauma then I think the insurance would have to pay.

But I'm a little bunny when it comes to insurance matters so I'd be interested to hear what others say. And I don't think that even an air-tight, multiply-attested-to case of the annual tear will necessarily get the insurance company to pop for treatment.

Good luck.

[jrnyc]

Hi windsor
i have had scoliosis since age 21 at least, diagnosed at age 31...i herniated discs much later, around age 53.. ...the insurance company didnt say anything about the scoli being connected to the disc herniation...they paid for treatment...i dont understand how they could prove one caused the other...anyone can herniate discs..sneeze wrong & it can happen...

i dont know if you have access to any legal advice...sometimes unions have lawyers if you join a group, & it is very cheap...dont know if you have any legal counsel available to you...but i really think the insurance people have no right to claim what they are claiming!

best of luck
jess

[LindaRacine]

My question is... Can Scoliosis cause herniated or bulging discs? Even if I never had previous back issue? Any information on Scoliosis would be great too. I know nothing about it and if I should be concerned. P.S. I'm 29 years old.

Thanks!

The answer is yes, scoliosis can cause herniated or bulging discs, but usually only in larger curves. On the other hand, disc problems can cause scoliosis.

Sorry about your insurance issues. It's so frustrating.

--Linda

[JenM]

Scoliosis can cause herniated discs and bulging discs. I have 3 bulging discs in my lumbar spine and 2 herniated and I am only 31 years old. I believe these are a result of my scoliosis, and so do my doctors. My curves are 55 degrees and 58 degrees.

[jrnyc]

Would that be because the spine is weaker with severe scoli...i never thought of it in that way....

is this a "chicken or the egg" thing?? but i think it is wrong for the insurance companies to take that attitude...especially since they cannot prove one caused the other...

of course, my husband just herniated discs, & he has no scoli....i think it also is more likely to happen (the herniation of discs) with advancing age!


good nite everyone
jess

[txmarinemom]

Last year I was in a car crash and no suffer from two Herniated discs in my low back. In order for the doctors to diagnose this I had numerous x-rays and a MRI. After the scans they found that I have Scoliosis!

I'm 41 now, fused almost 2 years ago (±53° thoracic curve) from T4-L1.

My scoliosis was diagnosed at age 10, and I was Boston braced as a pre-teen/teen. My curve never progressed as an adult, but was *extremely* painful. I eventually had surgery as a last ditch effort to manage the pain, and part of that pain involved protruding discs at C5/C6 and C6/C7 ... an area affected by my compensatory cervical curve.

The issues at the cervical levels didn't start until 1996 when I was rear ended by a truck (in my car, sitting still) going ±55 mph. Even then, it actually didn't start until about a year after the wreck, when I had my first episode of disc protrusion. The episodes became progressively worse over the next 10 years, and by the time I had fusion surgery both cervical discs were consistently 3mm out.

Would those discs have bulged if I'd not been scoliotic, or did my compensatory curve make that area more prone to injury? I can't say.

I DO know that fixing my thoracic structural curve (and eliminating my cervical compensatory) has prevented even a single recurrence of protrusion in that area. I don't, however, think that automatically means I'd have escaped all injury with a straight spine.

If I were in your shoes, I'd keep fighting your insurance. There's no concrete proof (of which I'm aware) that shows scoliosis consistently causes disc protrusion/herniation, and in cases of severe trauma, neither has it been shown to even be a concrete FACTOR leading to injury.

Hang in there. I know the last thing you feel like doing when you hurt is fighting with your insurance.

Regards,
Pam