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Hey everyone. I’ve been a lurker on here and other Scoliosis forums for quite sometime. I have been doing my absolute best to educate myself on the condition and all the possible treatments. Well to begin..I am a 26 years old male. I am a professional bodybuilder, or at least used to be. I started training at the age of 15, and won the Canadian Junior nationals twice at the ages of 19 and 20. When I was 23 I started developing severe pain in my right shoulder, elbow, hip and knee. I continued with my training and started with your standard Physio/Chiro rehab stuff. Ever since the pains have got progressively worse to the point that at the present time I can no longer train at all. According to the ultrasounds I have developed tendonitis in my shoulder and elbow and have lost over 30lbs of muscle as a result of not being able to train.
Now here is where the scoliosis comes in. When I was 19-20 I noticed that when I would train I would always be a bit asymmetrical. In other words, any lift that I would perform with a barbell, the barbell it self would be slightly crooked on both the horizontal and vertical plain. I never really thought much of it. When the pains got bad at 23 I tried to fix this issue, but noticed that I physically couldn’t. It wasn’t a matter of strength, I just could not do any exercise symmetrically regardless of whether I was lifting 300lbs or 10lbs. I sought help at the time,had an X-ray of the spine and that’s were my research started. I wasn’t really given diagnosis. I was told that my cervical spine is straight, T spine is straight, but there is a very mild lateral deviation of the lumbar spine measuring under 10 degrees. Now I understand that a curve under 10 degrees is nothing to worry about is and is technically not even categorized as scoliosis. I ended up seeing an orthopaedic surgeon anyways and after some other imaging tests it was discovered that although the lateral deviation in my spine is very slight, there is a significant rotation aspect to it - something that would usually be present for curves with much larger cobb angles. So basically although I barely have any lateral deviation, I have pronounced rotation of the spine. The orthopaedic surgeon basically told me that it is what it is, and that there is nothing that could be done.
I wanted to ask if anyone on here from the US has any advice for me. I live in Canada, so seeking multiple opinions from professionals is very hard. It takes 2-3 months to see a single orthopaedic surgeon here. I am looking to travel to the US to see if any of the surgeons can help me. I am not sure exactly who to seek help from, but I figured spinal surgeons, especially those specializing in scoliosis would be the most qualified. I’ve discussed my issue with a sport medicine doctor and I was told that my problem can not be resolved without surgical intervention. I have basically got the the point where I would have to quit my career as a professional athlete unless the issue of my back is addressed. So although I do not fit the category of the standard scoliosis patient that requires surgery, the problem is significant enough to end my career if not addressed.The pain that I have is situated in the shoulder/elbow/knee, but those are essentially symptoms that have developed over the years from wear and tear directly as a result of the asymmetrical loading while training - caused by the rotation in the spine.
Thanks for any input. J
Now here is where the scoliosis comes in. When I was 19-20 I noticed that when I would train I would always be a bit asymmetrical. In other words, any lift that I would perform with a barbell, the barbell it self would be slightly crooked on both the horizontal and vertical plain. I never really thought much of it. When the pains got bad at 23 I tried to fix this issue, but noticed that I physically couldn’t. It wasn’t a matter of strength, I just could not do any exercise symmetrically regardless of whether I was lifting 300lbs or 10lbs. I sought help at the time,had an X-ray of the spine and that’s were my research started. I wasn’t really given diagnosis. I was told that my cervical spine is straight, T spine is straight, but there is a very mild lateral deviation of the lumbar spine measuring under 10 degrees. Now I understand that a curve under 10 degrees is nothing to worry about is and is technically not even categorized as scoliosis. I ended up seeing an orthopaedic surgeon anyways and after some other imaging tests it was discovered that although the lateral deviation in my spine is very slight, there is a significant rotation aspect to it - something that would usually be present for curves with much larger cobb angles. So basically although I barely have any lateral deviation, I have pronounced rotation of the spine. The orthopaedic surgeon basically told me that it is what it is, and that there is nothing that could be done.
I wanted to ask if anyone on here from the US has any advice for me. I live in Canada, so seeking multiple opinions from professionals is very hard. It takes 2-3 months to see a single orthopaedic surgeon here. I am looking to travel to the US to see if any of the surgeons can help me. I am not sure exactly who to seek help from, but I figured spinal surgeons, especially those specializing in scoliosis would be the most qualified. I’ve discussed my issue with a sport medicine doctor and I was told that my problem can not be resolved without surgical intervention. I have basically got the the point where I would have to quit my career as a professional athlete unless the issue of my back is addressed. So although I do not fit the category of the standard scoliosis patient that requires surgery, the problem is significant enough to end my career if not addressed.The pain that I have is situated in the shoulder/elbow/knee, but those are essentially symptoms that have developed over the years from wear and tear directly as a result of the asymmetrical loading while training - caused by the rotation in the spine.
Thanks for any input. J
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