THinking of alternative treatments

[shaneric25]

just curious george (hehe) what are your curves right now i mean there is kinda a point when you know that they have a good chance of getting worse in adulthood and this may just be me but if i am going to end up having to have the surgery i would drather have it as a teenager than as like a 40 when i dont have the time or money to do something like that and with me it kinda looks like if my brace doesnt make my curves tons better i am going to have to have the surgery whether or not its "barbaric" which i am pretty sure its not i have done alot of research and most people regain alot of there flexibity back so i am not really to worried about that when chances are that when i get older i could have horrible back pain and breathing problems but you know thats just me. and i am not saying that surgery is the way to go either i think it should be last resort too if exercises and bracing dont work. so what i am saying here is dont right off the back say surgery isnt the answer becuase its success rate is a ton better than it use to be and recovery time is a fraction of what it use to be. i hope that i could be of some help

[Karen Ocker]

George:
Isn't that a lot of radiation, having x-rays so often?

Karen

[GeorgeDittmar]

well my curves right now are 25 in my low back 48-52 in my mid back and 50 in my upper back. now i bet i will be getting a crapload of people saying surgery now LOL.
i dont have to worry about the money end cause my dads job gives him kick ass medical insurrance wich is great for me sense i have been accident prone for a long time hehe but i know what you are saying. as i have said before i would rather live with a curved spine and some pain than have surgery but as i have also said if my spine starts to ingterfeir with my breathing or organs then i will do the surgery no questions asked. right now my chiro and ortho think my back is actually going to stabalize it self. i am seeing the ortho surgeon who does the harrington rod stuff in like 2 weeks so its not like i am totally not looking at surgery its just that i would perfer not to have that done hehe



actually i dont think the radiation from the x rays is a huge amount, odvoisly i will have more radiation than most people but hey my dad used to work in the nuclear reactor room on us subs and they didnt give him any protective stuff when he was down their and he is fine hehe and i know they have huge walls to seperate the core i am just using it as an example.

[GeorgeDittmar]

i made an error. my upper back is actually only at 40 degrees, saw the x rays again and it said 40 , though it said 50 oh well. lol

well i saw the new x rays and my back is in fact stable and has in my low back and mid back gotten better, not by alot but better none the less. my mid back now is 47 degrees instead of 48-52 and my lower back is at 23 degrees instead of 25. well i am happier now

[dapsbounce8]

You better believe you're going to get a lot of people saying you should have surgery!!! 47 degrees is no joke. My back was at 48 before I had surgery and I only had a single curve! My shoulder blade stuck out a lot, I had a hump on my back, and I was in a lot of pain, basically anytime that I bent my neck. That included doing dishes, homework, and, my favorite thing in the world, horseback riding.

Its true that surgery is no joke, and should be the last option, but if you don't correct your back, you will be in pain for the rest of your life, and (as others have said) you could potentially have breating problems. In my opinion, pain for a year caused by surgery is better than pain for life.

How old are you? I ask because after a certain age your curve will stop growing, so if you are still fairly young, your curve could get a lot worse. I think its great that things are working so well with your chiropractor, but he can only heal you temporarily. Its going to be a pain in the neck (haha) if you have to see him for the rest of your life.

I hope I've been helpful! I respect your decision, I just want to give you information that will allow you to make the best choice. GOOD LUCK!

[GeorgeDittmar]

i know its no joke, did i say it was a joke?. i realise you guys want to give me advice and i have heard it but its getting tiresome to hear you should only do this and that. even though my curves only went down a degree or two i consider that a small victory at least. if you dont want to see it as that then fine but dont try to bring me down, this post isnt pointed at any one person its just ment for people who want to try to do that

i am 16 right now and i know it could get worse but it hasnt yet wich is a good thing i think so far. if it gets worse then i will do bracing and if that doesnt work then i will do the surgery

[dapsbounce8]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that you thought surgery was a joke. I was agreeing with you by saying that surgery is a serious matter that should be put off for as long as possible. My comments weren't meant as a direct attack to you, but as a suggestion to a situation that many people face.

I regret that you took my words in a attacking sense - that was not my intention.

[GeorgeDittmar]

oh well my bad. its just that its tiring to see alot of posts that seem to put down alternatives to surgery. after a wile all posts seems to read the same. i guess i just mis read yours. sorry man

[shaneric25]

ok i know you know that curves can get worse in a relatively short amount of time but just thought i should say this my curves stayed the same for like 5 months and my doctor was about to stop making me come but the very next appointment which was like 2 or 3 months later it had shot up like 15 and at the appointment before both curves had gone done like 2 or 3 degrees so just becuase they look better doesnt mean anything as i found out becuase of that i am not in a brace so ya

[UMKCwmn]

George--I know exactly how you feel--being put down for not having surgery...I have another thread on here asking people to look into alternatives. I like chiropractors, they have been friends of my scoliosis infested family for about 50 years or longer. I considered being one until I realized I would have to cut open a dead body...something I can't do. And, for HotPinkShoeLaces--I think was it, the other Sarah, they do go through some intense school for several years. I'm not trying to put you down, I just wanted to make sure you know. I'm not down with doing surgery unless I'm close to dying from from it. I have too much to do in my life to be down for over sixth months, and then even more recovery time later. I am used to being the only girl in the bank that I work at who can lift the $1000 bag of quarters. I would hate it if I couldn't do that. And I got called "uneducated" three different times. People weren't actually reading what I wrote. I am so happy your spine is getting better. That is awesome. But as far as the STRS system, I've looked a little on the website, and it looks like it would help. They are working with the whole body and not just the spine, which is excellent. But as far as outcomes, I read the "patients profiles" page or whatever it is, and it looks promising, but I haven't heard anything from doctors or anything else. Good luck with everything!

[GeorgeDittmar]

well i am seeing the surgeon on thursday so that way we have all the bases covered

[dapsbounce8]

Good for you - I like that you are looking into alternatives to surgery, but not shutting the possibility out.

[GeorgeDittmar]

my feeling is that I will only do surgery if i really truly cant avoid it. like if my curve significantly increases from like 47 to 69 or somthing like that or if it starts to affect my organs in any way. most likely i will go into bracing at first if it starts to get worse by alittle

[dapsbounce8]

You haven't had a brace before? I would highly recommend bracing to prevent surgery. I wore a brace for five years, and though I still needed surgery, the brace keep my lower curve from developing, so I only needed surgery for my upper curve. Braces are annoying, but real miracle workers as well.

[LindaRacine]

George...

You should not be getting scoliosis x-rays done every month or two to monitor your curves. It's too much radiation. Here's the abstract of a recent study on the subject:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q..._uids=12852471

There are a lot more studies showing the same outcome. Most of the subjects in these studies had x-rays only every 6-12 months!

Regards,
Linda