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  • Steel or Titanium... Cold??

    What's your take on steel rods versus titanium, and how does it feel in the winter with the cold? I'm still presurgery.
    Sandy

    Thoracic curve was 55 degrees, now 30
    Lumbar curve was 68 degrees, now 26
    Rib rotation was 17 degrees, now 0
    Degenerated discs and sacral arthritic spurs, plus significant spondylosis
    Fused 8/13/09 at age 43 from T-9 to pelvis with iliac screws anchoring hardware to the pelvis, plus osteomies by Drs. Anthony Moreno and Geoff Cronen, Tampa, FL

  • #2
    I think it's just surgeon preference. Both have pros and cons as I understand it.

    Also, "titanium" goes better with "ed" than does "steel."
    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


    • #3
      Titanium

      I have 14 titanium screws and 2 rods. This last winter was my first experience with the hardware in the cold. It may have been my imagination but it seemed that I was cold allllll winter and once I would get cold it took forever to warm up. Shivering was rather painful so I did everything I could to not get extremely cold. Like I said, it could have been my imagination but that was my experience.

      Good luck!
      Becky, 46 years old
      Diagnosed at 13 with mild scoliosis
      Ignored until 448/07
      Left thoracic 49* T5-T11
      Right thorocolumbar 60* T11-L4
      Surgery Monday, June 9, 2008 Oklahoma Spine Hospital
      Fused T-10 to L-5
      14 titanium pedicle screws
      Corrected to approx. 10* YEA!!!
      Email

      Comment


      • #4
        I have steel screws and rods and I was freezing as well this past winter, especially if I got into the car with leather seats before the car was warmed up. I would then not only be cold, but in pain as well for the rest of the day. Cloth seats are not as cold, so didn't bother me too much. I want to move South or spend my winters in the Caribbean or Hawaii.
        Sally
        Diagnosed with severe lumbar scoliosis at age 65.
        Posterior Fusion L2-S1 on 12/4/2007. age 67
        Anterior Fusion L3-L4,L4-L5,L5-S1 on 12/19/2007
        Additional bone removed to decompress right side of L3-L4 & L4-L5 on 4/19/2010
        New England Baptist Hospital, Boston, MA
        Dr. Frank F. Rands735.photobucket.com/albums/ww360/butterflyfive/

        "In God We Trust" Happy moments, praise God. Difficult moments, seek God. Quiet moments, worship God. Painful moments, trust God. Every moment, thank God.

        Comment


        • #5
          I have titanium and I too, have felt very cold this current Winter. I put it down to being in recovery, and perhaps all my energy is still going into healing inside.
          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

          Comment


          • #6
            steel or titanium

            dear johnson bunch
            i have not yet decided on surgery...but my surgeon said he thinks steel is stronger...i said i wanted titanium cause i heard it caused fewer problems (?) ...he said he didnt agree but would do whatever i wanted in terms of material for rods...he's great & IF i have surgery, it will be with him (dr lonner, nyc)
            talk of being cold scares me off!...i have always been very cold alllllll winter & half of spring..specially cause in the northeast lately we go from winter to summer without spring, & this summer all we mostly have is chilly rain!!

            best to you
            jess

            Comment


            • #7
              I was always cold in the winter, but this past winter, which was my first fused, I could not tolerate cold at all. Mostly because if I was cold, I shivered, and if I shivered, it HURT! BTW, my hardware is stainless steel.
              __________________________________________
              Debbe - 50 yrs old

              Milwalkee Brace 1976 - 79
              Told by Dr. my curve would never progress

              Surgery 10/15/08 in NYC by Dr. Michael Neuwirth
              Pre-Surgury Thorasic: 66 degrees
              Pre-Surgery Lumbar: 66 degrees

              Post-Surgery Thorasic: 34 degrees
              Post-Surgery Lumbar: 22 degrees

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by loves to skate View Post
                I have steel screws and rods and I was freezing as well this past winter, especially if I got into the car with leather seats before the car was warmed up. I would then not only be cold, but in pain as well for the rest of the day. Cloth seats are not as cold, so didn't bother me too much. I want to move South or spend my winters in the Caribbean or Hawaii.
                Sally
                If you go to the Caribbean or Hawaii you have to take all of us along!

                Mary Lou
                Mom to Jamie age 21-diagnosed at age 12-spinal fusion 12/7/2004-fused from T3-L2; and Tracy age 19, mild Scoliosis-diagnosed at age 18.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Snoopy View Post
                  If you go to the Caribbean or Hawaii you have to take all of us along!

                  Mary Lou
                  Count me in!!
                  __________________________________________
                  Debbe - 50 yrs old

                  Milwalkee Brace 1976 - 79
                  Told by Dr. my curve would never progress

                  Surgery 10/15/08 in NYC by Dr. Michael Neuwirth
                  Pre-Surgury Thorasic: 66 degrees
                  Pre-Surgery Lumbar: 66 degrees

                  Post-Surgery Thorasic: 34 degrees
                  Post-Surgery Lumbar: 22 degrees

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by loves to skate View Post
                    I have steel screws and rods and I was freezing as well this past winter, especially if I got into the car with leather seats before the car was warmed up. I would then not only be cold, but in pain as well for the rest of the day. Cloth seats are not as cold, so didn't bother me too much. I want to move South or spend my winters in the Caribbean or Hawaii.
                    Sally
                    Sally,

                    that's why I love my remote car starter and seat warmers!! Even before surgery, I always said if my butt is warm, all of me is warm.
                    __________________________________________
                    Debbe - 50 yrs old

                    Milwalkee Brace 1976 - 79
                    Told by Dr. my curve would never progress

                    Surgery 10/15/08 in NYC by Dr. Michael Neuwirth
                    Pre-Surgury Thorasic: 66 degrees
                    Pre-Surgery Lumbar: 66 degrees

                    Post-Surgery Thorasic: 34 degrees
                    Post-Surgery Lumbar: 22 degrees

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      You're hardware stays at the same temperature as your core body temperature. If you are a person who is generally warm, then it won't be a problem.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by PNUTTRO View Post
                        You're hardware stays at the same temperature as your core body temperature. If you are a person who is generally warm, then it won't be a problem.
                        I was waiting for someone to state this.

                        I think folks are extrapolating to their (unrelated) experience of touching metal and it feeling cold.

                        I think even if the rods were very close to the skin, it is impossible for them to reach a lower temp than that of the body.
                        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


                        • #13
                          I live in Florida currently, so cold winters now is not an issue. But we have a lake house in NE Tennessee that we want to relocate to to escape these 100 degree muggy summers we're having now. The thought of being in a turtle brace in this heat makes me sweat! It's not as cold in Tennessee as in the great white north some of you guys are in, and I do have heaters in my leather seats (never use them in Florida).

                          My husband thinks titanium would be less of a cold conductor than stainless steel, but my surgeon also says the steel is stronger and that the hardware does not make you cold. It makes sense that it would remain the same temperature as your internal body temp since it's inside, but then again it's not that far under the skin or covered with any fat. My cousin in Maine complains about a steel plate in his leg freezing in winters, so I thought I'd ask from you guys that have experienced it.
                          Sandy

                          Thoracic curve was 55 degrees, now 30
                          Lumbar curve was 68 degrees, now 26
                          Rib rotation was 17 degrees, now 0
                          Degenerated discs and sacral arthritic spurs, plus significant spondylosis
                          Fused 8/13/09 at age 43 from T-9 to pelvis with iliac screws anchoring hardware to the pelvis, plus osteomies by Drs. Anthony Moreno and Geoff Cronen, Tampa, FL

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by johnsonbunch View Post
                            My cousin in Maine complains about a steel plate in his leg freezing in winters, so I thought I'd ask from you guys that have experienced it.
                            How did he determine the plate froze?

                            Isn't the real explanation likely to be his brain incorrectly interpreting the feelings in his leg as cold sensation? Brain science is in its infancy but we do know these types of things occur.

                            It is not possible for the plate to be other than body temperature. If anyone has any evidence showing this is not true then I'd like to see it.
                            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


                            • #15
                              Not actual freezing, but the sensation. And I'm sure much of what we feel is psychological. But never having experienced it myself, I had to ask.
                              Sandy

                              Thoracic curve was 55 degrees, now 30
                              Lumbar curve was 68 degrees, now 26
                              Rib rotation was 17 degrees, now 0
                              Degenerated discs and sacral arthritic spurs, plus significant spondylosis
                              Fused 8/13/09 at age 43 from T-9 to pelvis with iliac screws anchoring hardware to the pelvis, plus osteomies by Drs. Anthony Moreno and Geoff Cronen, Tampa, FL

                              Comment

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