Thank you for the BDay wishes, NSF!

[dailystrength]

I have not been on here a lot lately and just wanted to let you all know its because I've been doing okay! Been feeling pretty good...not too much pain or limitation.... thank you all and best to all of you!

[Back-out]

That's great news, Christina! No news is good news, indeed, in that case. Thanks for filling us in - and a very happy birthday to you!!

Rereading your specs leads me to wonder whether you have any other measurements indicative of spinal problems or does your Cobb tell the whole story? For instance, my Cobb angles aren't all that different from yours, but I also have other stuff going on - DDD, lumbar kyphosis, sacral and other neuro symptoms and flat back, for example.

I've been thoroughly confused by getting so much variability in my Cobb angle readings - reasons unclear. This has made it VERY hard to decide about surgery (I go up and down depending on the latest reports! especially depending on whether serious progression seems to be indicated).

Finally, I realized that the other conditions are more meaningful in my situation...(Why I'm asking). Sometimes it seems to me too much can be made of the Cobb as the gold standard of scoliosis severity; likewise, severity of progression (or stability)...Speaking as one who has been driven nuts by focusing on it!

Happy B-Day again! You've made this "Year of the Back" a great one for you! Well done!

[mamamax]

Happy Birthday Christina!!! Hope you had a great one - Missed you - and solved the dreaded office chair while you were gone :-)

[dailystrength]

Thank you, Back-out and Mamamax! Good to hear from you both! I had a very nice birthday indeed - saw a musical and had dinner with folks and lunch at work too. And the intense "Year of the Back" has now slowed to daily maintenance, now that I seem to have found what works for me - yeah! Thank you!

Back-out, those are very good questions that you ask regarding your decision. I have always thought that my lack of pain that others here experience is indeed due to the lack of other concurrent conditions. This does make you think that the Cobb angle is indeed not the entire story.

Personally, I am beginning to see spinal curvature as a bigger issue than just the spinal vertebrae moving and twisting on their own... in my limited knowledge and from things I've read here and there, I have come to believe that the pelvic angle and the muscles surrounding the spine have great input into the "shape of things" (this may be more applicable to lumbar main curves.) So for me, much of my spine management is a mental process-- an almost constant awareness of muscle tightening and imbalances in standing, sitting, etc., how I breathe (see Twists Curves & Bends), and how I move.

I have little pain these days, but I do have occasional tingling in my left upper back area, where there used to be pain. I do wonder if this is from the spine moving in that direction... correcting itself as the lumbar has started to... I do try to get a massage monthly as well as my stretching and swimming which is my current summer routine. I can pull up straight now- it's amazing.

Mamamax hope the brace is working out well for you still!

So nice to hear from you both!