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Another ~30* at maturity progressing quickly and at a young age

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  • Another ~30* at maturity progressing quickly and at a young age

    http://drlloydhey.blogspot.com/2012/...51-degree.html

    Early this morning I saw an 18 yo young lady graduating from High School who was braced for scoliosis for several years, and thought she was all done a couple years ago when she was done growing and her curve was around 30 degrees. Surprise!! X-Ray now shows her curve is over 40 degrees with big progression of her right thoracic rib hump. It is important to realize that bracing does not always work, and that adolescents who are done growing should continue to be followed every year for repeat X-Rays at least until age 25, and then 5 years thereafter.
    So this busts the paradigm. We have several cases cited on the group of this. There is probably no safe angle at maturity where it is safe to stop monitoring.
    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."

  • #2
    hi Sharon
    i am never surprised to read about curves that progress....
    i do not know what size my curve was when young...
    i was not officially diagnosed til age 30/31...dont even remember what size curves were
    then, but someone did tell me i would have been braced with curves that size if caught earlier, so
    maybe it was low 20's....i had very minor occasional pain at that point...
    i am sure the curve(s) were there before...my ballet abilities were so different, left side
    and right side....even when early teen....
    i am not surprised that aging increases curves...wear and tear on the spine just from everyday
    life will do it...i used to carry a huge pockletbook from Coach with all my stuff in it when i was in
    my 30's and early 40's....went to work, grad school, and didn't get home for 14 hours....so i carried
    all kinds of stuff with me....it was heavy, and i carried it on right shoulder...i am sure that did not
    help....

    i just wonder why progression seems unusal to you....
    i kinda always expect it to happen...eventually....to anyone and everyone who starts out
    with curves.....

    jess...& Sparky, my puppy with the strong spine...

    Comment


    • #3
      After all the years, I never really knew what frequency one should have their follow up x-rays. Nice of Dr Hey to give some sort of parameters on this.

      Many of us have gone quite a few years without checking......some of us lucky and some not so lucky.

      I think I was lucky......and maybe a little foolish. Maybe it was part of “erasing” the thoughts from my mind and getting on with my life years ago. Maybe it was because we were taught to believe that after maturity, our curves would not progress. Maybe it was because the surgeons wanted to fuse me and I wasn’t ready as a skier......

      I had no x-rays done from 1977 to 1988. My 50 degree curves held during those years.....After age 40, it was a different story.....my luck started to run out. My 40’s were painful.

      Ed
      49 yr old male, now 63, the new 64...
      Pre surgery curves T70,L70
      ALIF/PSA T2-Pelvis 01/29/08, 01/31/08 7" pelvic anchors BMP
      Dr Brett Menmuir St Marys Hospital Reno,Nevada

      Bending and twisting pics after full fusion
      http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...on.&highlight=

      My x-rays
      http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...2&d=1228779214

      http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...3&d=1228779258

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by jrnyc View Post
        i just wonder why progression seems unusal to you....
        Jess, only certain progressions are unusual. Progression from ~30* or below seems unusual to me because the researchers and surgeons claim it is unusual. I am merely parroting what they claim. Their field.

        Progression to surgical range for curves >30* cannot be claimed to be unusual as far as I know. Only the ones that were <30* at maturity. That angle either is or is not protective against needing surgery for progression in one's life. According to the experts, it largely is. So when we see all these cases of just that on the forum, it surprises me.
        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."

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by titaniumed View Post
          After all the years, I never really knew what frequency one should have their follow up x-rays. Nice of Dr Hey to give some sort of parameters on this.

          Many of us have gone quite a few years without checking......some of us lucky and some not so lucky.

          I think I was lucky......and maybe a little foolish. Maybe it was part of “erasing” the thoughts from my mind and getting on with my life years ago. Maybe it was because we were taught to believe that after maturity, our curves would not progress. Maybe it was because the surgeons wanted to fuse me and I wasn’t ready as a skier......

          I had no x-rays done from 1977 to 1988. My 50 degree curves held during those years.....After age 40, it was a different story.....my luck started to run out. My 40’s were painful.

          Ed
          Your curves holding for years at 50* is probably unusual though we have some other cases on the group of just that.

          I am beginning to doubt any even vaguely definitive statements about any angle being protective against progression to surgical range. Too much is unknown even know. This is not merely an academic point... it ramifies through to the question of conservative treatments.
          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."

          Comment


          • #6
            protective schmetective....nonsense to me...
            find a surgeon WITH scoli....those are the docs who are any good....
            my GP has Addisons disease...she knows how exhausted i feel with such low cortisol...
            she also told me to delay next dental implant surgery planned for June...healing isn't fast or good
            with low cortisol...she knows from PERSONAL experience...the endocrinologist, on the other hand,
            does NOT have Addisons or low cortisol...he said "sure, have the dental surgery, let them pull one
            tooth and put in two implants which take 3 months minimum to heal....no problem"
            he is wrong...lack of personal experience...he is going by what the stupid medical TEXT says...
            not reality....and not experience....

            i am very sure my curves were under 30 degrees in my teens and 20's....i had zero pain, too, til i hit my
            30's, and even then the pain was minimal...
            i am really sure i am one of those "should have been protected from progression based on my
            curves at maturity" people....bah.... humbug!! nonsense!
            there ain't no "protected" curves....

            jess...& Sparky

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by jrnyc View Post
              protective schmetective....nonsense to me...
              Well after seeing the testimonials that break the paradigm, although we can't know how rare they are, I am inclined to think the paradigm will have to be adjusted. Hey has had a number of these cases just in the last few years and he doesn't react like they are jaw-dropping and exquisitely rare.

              I think a case can be made that about 100% of parents come away with the wrong idea on this issue.
              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."

              Comment


              • #8
                i really think parents and kids/teens should be told there is no guarantee
                their curves won't get bigger, with time, at some point...even if some have a better chance of
                not progressing than others...not to scare them, but to warn them....
                this idea of curves NOT progressing, and no need to watch them, is dangerous....gives some
                a false sense of security....
                i was terrifed of doctors as a kid, and as soon as i was old enough, i wouldn't go to one unless
                i was half dead...so my curves could not have been monitored...
                however, that is an exception....
                most people can and should have their curves checked on...at whatever frequency seems necessary....

                jess...& Sparky

                Comment


                • #9
                  We need to remember that kids whose curves don't progress are far less likely to appear here that are kids whose curves do progress.
                  Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
                  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
                  Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    yes, of course....
                    but couldn't there be a study comparing the two groups...
                    to see commonalities and differences between those who do and those
                    who do not progress.....
                    to tease out what factors seem to be influencing the progression or lack there of...
                    more than "degree of curves at maturity"
                    what other things are going on or influencing the outcome of curve progression
                    over time...

                    jess...& Sparky

                    Comment

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