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    Hi all, Hope everyone is well I posted earlier that I am having pain, I'm assuming from my scoliosis, but maybe not. It seems everyone has known about there scoliosis from a very early age. I am now 52 and I remember noticing in my teens that 1 of my hips looked higher than the other. So I assume I have had this a long time but no one ever brought it up. My mom is now saying well you went to the doctor's plenty, I wonder why they never mentioned it. Anyway, I have lived a very normal life, managed and worked as a hairstylist, for over 20 years on my feet most of the day, and never had back pain at all. When I went inot labor with my 1st child at 34 the anesthegiologist mentioned it and I just thought, Oh well, as it never bothered me. Now....... a few years ago I noticed my lower back starting to hurt if I stood or walked too long. Mother had same thing so I figured old age coming. Had to walk a couple blocks to an appointment and I didn't know if I was gonna be able to make it without sitting down. The next day I felt like I had been hit by a truck. Could hardly walk that day. Alot of pain in hip area. Fast forward to last year and now. Started with shoulder pain (which pcp said was bursitis without x ray or anything I now no longer use him) Couldn't put my arm over my head for 5 months. Now have pain just about everyday. Wake up multiple times a night to move cause am hurting. Also feels like some nerve problems. I just wondered if anyone knows if you can go on so long with nothing hurting and get hit like this with it? I guess you can but wish I'da known sooner although don't know if anything would have made a difference. But I am the type of person who tries to stay knowledgable (sp) in everything and when reading these posts I am clueless. I have been reading different sites since I was told what it was but I am still in shock that I have something that used to seem so harmless but not now. Anyway, sorry for the long post, and thanks for listening, Stephanie

  • #2
    I was diagnosed at 13 but didn't start to have problems until my 50s, living a perfectly normal life until then. I thought I would get through life with it, provided I just kept exercising...it wasn't to be. Exercise did ease the pain somewhat, but it just kept increasing.

    Have you seen a scoliosis surgeon, Stephanie?
    Surgery March 3, 2009 at almost 58, now 63.
    Dr. Askin, Brisbane, Australia
    T4-Pelvis, Posterior only
    Osteotomies and Laminectomies
    Was 68 degrees, now 22 and pain free

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    • #3
      Hi Jennifer, You sound like the same as me. I just turned 52 last week. Started having scoliosis related problems, I think, a few years ago and getting worse. I am scheduled to see a scoliosis surgeon at University of Md. Friday. I did see an orthopedic guy but he just said you have severe scoliosis, gave me a flector patch and basically that was it. I felt like saying what, am i suppoosed to put these all over my body, cause it doesn't just hurt in 1 spot. LOL Thanks for replying, Stephanie

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      • #4
        hi Steph
        my scoli was diagnosed when i was 31, but it was manageable til i herniated discs, at around age 53 or so...then all heck broke loose...things got worse, the pain got much worse, & i now have degenerative disc disease, spinal rotation, spinal stenosis, arthritis, listhesis, hypokyphosis, sciatica, etc etc...

        scoli can cause pain other places than the spine...if the nerves get involved, pain can radiate all over the place...i'd wait & see what the scoli specialist says...general ortho docs don't usually know enough....

        best of luck with the appointment...
        jess

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        • #5
          Yeah, the more I think of it (listening to many others too) age 50 - for women, men-o-pause I s'pose - DOES seem to be a major (bad) milestone scoliosis-wise...

          Kind of a second puberty in a way, and hormones DO clearly play a role...(#&^%$"^# them! grumblegrumble)
          Not all diagnosed (still having tests and consults) but so far:
          Ehler-Danlos (hyper-mobility) syndrome, 69 - somehow,
          main curve L Cobb 60, compensating T curve ~ 30
          Flat back, marked lumbar kyphosis (grade?) Spondilolisthesis - everyone gives this a different grade too. Cervical stenosis op'd 3-07, minimally invasive

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          • #6
            Amanda, I went through menopause at 55 and a year later is when my scoli-related problems began. The following year when I consulted with a surgeon at Northwestern, he told me that surgeons were seeing more and more patients like myself, post-menopausal women with increasing pain and worsening deformities. In my opinion, it’s better to have this taken care of before the deformity leads to significant height loss and ribs settling on the pelvis. Had I known 10-15 years ago that surgeons were successfully straightening spines in adults, I would have opted for surgery then even though I was not experiencing pain. Sooner or later it all comes tumbling down.

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            • #7
              You know, it's funny you should mention menopause. I have had severe anxiety attacks all my life and dealt with them, but when i hit menopause it got so bad I had to quit working. I worked 2 and 3 jobs all my life. Never sat at home, now I never leave. The back started then to but didn't really connect it till recently. Steph

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              • #8
                True, gosh how true is that., Menopause. My pain certainly took a turn to for the worse when I started that, and has of course continued. I honestly and truly never thought of it either. Feel a bit of an idiot now, believe me.

                Lorraine.
                Operated on in 1966, harrington rods inserted from T4 to L3, here in Australia. Fusion of the said vertebrae as well. Problems for the last 14 years with pain.
                Something I feel deeply,"Life is like money,you can spend it anyway you wish, but can only spend it once.

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                • #9
                  hi Steph
                  menopause made a lot of things worse for me, so i went on bio idenetical hormones...they work fantastically for me! the synthetics i was on prior to that did nothing for me!

                  however, menopuase did NOT do anything to my spine...at all...herniating discs did it...big time!

                  i have read books about hormones..bio identical vs synthetic..i know there are those who dont trust any hormones after menopause...but my life was un-livable prior to taking them...so i am willing to take whatever risks...from what i've read, risks are less with the bio identicals ...
                  they are waaaay more expensive, compounded at a pharmacy, as is the doctor i see, who doesnt take insurance...but i figure it is all worth it..to me, anyway...

                  best of luck...
                  jess

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                  • #10
                    My sister went to the doctor when she was 14 because her waistline curved in more on one side than the other. He told her that nothing was wrong, but she would never be a model. That was in Cincinnati in 1970. Four years later, I was diagnosed in Rochester,NY with scoliosis. When my sisters came to visit when I was in the hospital, my doctor checked them and said they both had small curves. Back then, like now, you have to be in the right area to be diagnosed. The school district where I live now started checking for scoliosis 8 years ago, but stopped 2 years ago because of no money in the budget.
                    T12- L5 fusion 1975 - Rochester, NY
                    2002 removal of bottom of rod and extra fusion
                    3/1/11 C5-C6 disc replacement
                    Daughter - T7 - L3 fusion 2004

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                    • #11
                      Stephanie,
                      You sound like me. I turned 49 in September and it seems like for 2 weeks straight it has been one health matter after another. No one ever mentioned to me about having a curvature until now. I've had lower back pain and severe shoulder pain to the point I can't move my arm, I blamed it on 10 years of working in a hospital years ago. Now there are times when my back is hurting so bad I can't hardly move. I was also informed at the same time that I am going through menopause and have the start of osteoporosis.

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