Fortunate, but scared down the road.

[cardioman65]

I am 45 year old guy with no insurance. I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was 16. I was always active and really blessed with no pain except my back has locked on me in my many years and have the terrible muscle imbalance in the lower back and abs and legs that I must deal with. I am a personal trainer and what I want to know, is there anyway to reduce the curve, just by a few degrees? I am very tight and when I have stretched in the past, it just hurts my back and really does not feel good! I have a 48 degree lumbar curve, performed by a chiroprator, however, I am not sure if that was correct. When I was 21, it was 40 degrees lumbar, not sure of the thoraxic reading. I am in fear of someday having surgery! I hear lots of horror stories about it and have prolonged it, but right now, have not suffered major consequenses from this and I feel good, but age is not on my side! Can someone tell me what you have to go thru with the surgery?

[Elisa]

Hi, I don't have scoliosis but my son (14) does. Before he was seen by a pediatric scoliosis specialist I took him to a chiropractor to see if he could get some relief from his constant back pain and he really had a hard time determining the degree of his curve. He estimated it to be a LOT less than it actually was, which was about 90 degrees at that time. I'd suggest getting yourself seen by an actual scoliosis specialist and getting an x-ray to determine exactly what is going on with your spine and go from there.

[LindaRacine]

I am 45 year old guy with no insurance. I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was 16. I was always active and really blessed with no pain except my back has locked on me in my many years and have the terrible muscle imbalance in the lower back and abs and legs that I must deal with. I am a personal trainer and what I want to know, is there anyway to reduce the curve, just by a few degrees? I am very tight and when I have stretched in the past, it just hurts my back and really does not feel good! I have a 48 degree lumbar curve, performed by a chiroprator, however, I am not sure if that was correct. When I was 21, it was 40 degrees lumbar, not sure of the thoraxic reading. I am in fear of someday having surgery! I hear lots of horror stories about it and have prolonged it, but right now, have not suffered major consequenses from this and I feel good, but age is not on my side! Can someone tell me what you have to go thru with the surgery?

Hi...

First, I would not trust any chiropractor to be able to measure scoliosis curves accurately. However, since you don't have insurance, it doesn't sound like it's going to be easy to get to a specialist any time soon.

I think there are a lot of different therapies that can correct your curves by a few degrees. The most accessible would probably be:

http://www.yogaforscoliosis.com

You might want to visit the Adult Surgical forum to read some of the posts. Describing what one goes through with surgery in a single post is an almost impossible task. And, if 100 of us described what our surgical journey was like, you'd hear 100 very different stories.

By the way, I'm moving this to the Adult Non-Surgical forum (from the Parents & Family Members forum).

Regards,
Linda

[Resilience]

I agree with the two previous posts. I'd add that you may be able to have an initial consult with a Scoliosis Orthopedic Specialist and X Rays for under $500 if paying cash, the price of an iPad, and it may be very worthwhile. (I am an RN and CFO for my family and wow have we had a lot of medical bills lately....)

I am your age and have Scoli as well. While I am no trainer I do work out with one, who now helps with my daughter as well. I had basically ignored / represses my Scoli for many years until ironically right before my daughter was diagnosed. I learned that it's expected for people to progress a degree a year after they are done growing, so I hadn't progressed as much as I could have. Really because of my daughter I've done a lot of reading on the subject and have learned a thing or two to help myself as well. I'd recommend the book Twists Curves and Bends by Wellings. The author is a physical therapist who has Scoli. Torso Rotation exercises feel good for me to do, without too much weight. I do get adjusted as well from time to time, with an Osteopath, but I had seen a Chiropractor for a few years in my 20s. And I love my foam roller!

Best wishes to you on your journey. I think there is a place for pro active training / stretching for adults our age.

[lscott87]

I am 45 year old guy with no insurance. I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was 16. I was always active and really blessed with no pain except my back has locked on me in my many years and have the terrible muscle imbalance in the lower back and abs and legs that I must deal with. I am a personal trainer and what I want to know, is there anyway to reduce the curve, just by a few degrees? I am very tight and when I have stretched in the past, it just hurts my back and really does not feel good! I have a 48 degree lumbar curve, performed by a chiroprator, however, I am not sure if that was correct. When I was 21, it was 40 degrees lumbar, not sure of the thoraxic reading. I am in fear of someday having surgery! I hear lots of horror stories about it and have prolonged it, but right now, have not suffered major consequenses from this and I feel good, but age is not on my side! Can someone tell me what you have to go thru with the surgery?

Hello,
I am a 52 yr old female who had the scoliosis surgery on October 11th, 2010. I am 7 months post op and feel wonderful. After suffering with tremendous pain for almost 15 years, I am PAIN FREE!. I have a wonderful, gifted adult scoliosis surgeon from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD. I am fused from T2 all the way down to S2. I have 30 rods and screws. My surgeon, Dr. Khaled Kebaish, told me that he could take my pain away--and he did! I did not know that I had scoliosis until I turned 40. I have had every treatment under the sun, injections, accupuncture, narcotics, phys. therapy, etc. Dr, Kebaish removed all of my discs and fused the entire spine. I lost range of motion, but I've learned how to do some things differently. Would I go through the surgery again? My answer in in a heartbeat!. I still have a long way to go, but I have a new lease on life. Don't be scared--you just have to find the right doctor.
lscott87

[Pooka1]

I have 30 rods and screws.

I think you have the record for number of rods. The previous record was two as far as I know. :-)

[LindaRacine]

I'm sure s/he does not have 30 rods.

[Pooka1]

I'm sure s/he does not have 30 rods.

So am I. :-)