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Hi,
I'm new here and wanted to see if anyone out there might have experience or an opinion about my situation. I'm 52 and was diagnosed with a double major curve around age 10; never treated with brace or surgery. I began experiencing intermittent pain starting in my 30's and got checked around age 38 to see if my curve had worsened. According to my orthopedic doctor who was close to retirement, there was no significant change. I didn't think to ask what my curves were at the time but I remember that when I was around age 14 the doc was concerned that if my curve got "one degree worse" we would have to discuss taking some action. .... but I finished growing and, of course, the thinking back then was that curves were stabilized from then onward.
Fast forward to my forties when I noticed more pain, especially concentrated around my left SI joint. I noticed that back exercises that I'd done for years I could no longer do without experiencing lingering pain (especially involving sit ups and lower back stretching.) A few intense short pain episodes drove me to the doctor where I got x-rays and discovered my curves have worsened...77 degree right thoracic and 83 degree left thoracolumbar. I have lost 2 inches of height so far.
A recent visit to an new orthopedic specialist gives me no reassurance for the future. He believes that curvature degree severity matters little in determining the need for surgery -- only chronic debilitating pain would indicate surgery. He said I was "well balanced" but admitted my curve is "pretty severe" and that I will continue to lose height and shrink in my torso and is of the school of thought that no exercise can prevent progression. He said I will eventually wind up with my rib cage resting on my pelvic bone.
I have been lucky so far with the pain, because even though it's chronic and nagging and sometimes worse with extended periods of sitting and standing, mostly I can get by without painkillers (so far and for the most part). I've had a few short courses of PT, which have helped. At times it does flare up, and when it does, I can't help but wonder what I'm in for regarding pain and disability in the future. But this doctor claims he's seen "old people twisted up like pretzels" and still doing OK.
Needless to say, I left the appointment feeling uneasy and worried. Also this doc felt no need to do anything other than confirm my height loss, so he did not order more x-rays. As I said, his focus is just completely on pain. He left the impression that I just need to accept it and live out my life untreated. He said I was lucky I never got the surgery as a teenager (I agreed) and that my curve will never progress as fast as it did during puberty. (I couldn't help but wonder after I left -- if scoliosis like this can have such a benign prognosis, why operate on the younger ones?)
Surely there must be others similar to me in terms of age, curves and having never been treated? I wonder what our prospects are down the road -- are we looking at certain pain and disability along with our increasing deformity, or....??? I think my biggest fear is one day finding that I need surgery but am too old for it.
I'm new here and wanted to see if anyone out there might have experience or an opinion about my situation. I'm 52 and was diagnosed with a double major curve around age 10; never treated with brace or surgery. I began experiencing intermittent pain starting in my 30's and got checked around age 38 to see if my curve had worsened. According to my orthopedic doctor who was close to retirement, there was no significant change. I didn't think to ask what my curves were at the time but I remember that when I was around age 14 the doc was concerned that if my curve got "one degree worse" we would have to discuss taking some action. .... but I finished growing and, of course, the thinking back then was that curves were stabilized from then onward.
Fast forward to my forties when I noticed more pain, especially concentrated around my left SI joint. I noticed that back exercises that I'd done for years I could no longer do without experiencing lingering pain (especially involving sit ups and lower back stretching.) A few intense short pain episodes drove me to the doctor where I got x-rays and discovered my curves have worsened...77 degree right thoracic and 83 degree left thoracolumbar. I have lost 2 inches of height so far.
A recent visit to an new orthopedic specialist gives me no reassurance for the future. He believes that curvature degree severity matters little in determining the need for surgery -- only chronic debilitating pain would indicate surgery. He said I was "well balanced" but admitted my curve is "pretty severe" and that I will continue to lose height and shrink in my torso and is of the school of thought that no exercise can prevent progression. He said I will eventually wind up with my rib cage resting on my pelvic bone.
I have been lucky so far with the pain, because even though it's chronic and nagging and sometimes worse with extended periods of sitting and standing, mostly I can get by without painkillers (so far and for the most part). I've had a few short courses of PT, which have helped. At times it does flare up, and when it does, I can't help but wonder what I'm in for regarding pain and disability in the future. But this doctor claims he's seen "old people twisted up like pretzels" and still doing OK.
Needless to say, I left the appointment feeling uneasy and worried. Also this doc felt no need to do anything other than confirm my height loss, so he did not order more x-rays. As I said, his focus is just completely on pain. He left the impression that I just need to accept it and live out my life untreated. He said I was lucky I never got the surgery as a teenager (I agreed) and that my curve will never progress as fast as it did during puberty. (I couldn't help but wonder after I left -- if scoliosis like this can have such a benign prognosis, why operate on the younger ones?)
Surely there must be others similar to me in terms of age, curves and having never been treated? I wonder what our prospects are down the road -- are we looking at certain pain and disability along with our increasing deformity, or....??? I think my biggest fear is one day finding that I need surgery but am too old for it.
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