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Hi there!
I'm 31, have had scoliosis since I was a teenager. When I was diagnosed at 14 I already had a double curve, with over 40 in the thoracic. At the time we went for the Copes brace, which I wore religiously in high school and even a bit into college years. In retrospect I really wish I was braced with a different brace like Cheneau, because the Copes brace did not keep my spine from worsening. By the time I was out of college I had 55T, 46L, but a surgeon did not recommend surgery. I hardly thought about my back in my 20s, traveling a lot, keeping fairly active, going on hiking trips, including two-week trekking in the mountains with a heavy backpack (which may have made my lumbar worse but it was beautiful..). Over the past year or so, my low back has been giving me increasing trouble, so I went to take new x-rays and see another surgeon. My thoracic was at 57 and my lumbar at 53 - a perfect S. So the curves did not progress tremendously over the decade, despite the fact that I was doing pretty much nothing for my back. The new surgeon - he operates on adult patients, mostly with degrees of 70 and over, really surprised me by saying he still does not recommend surgery, and that he is glad that I never had it done. This partly was a relief because I dread having the operation performed - I have had nightmares and panic attacks about it - but also made me extremely confused. With all this emotional stress after seeing the doctor, my back has been acting up even more, and I am obsessed with it, noticing the little aches that I probably ignored in the past. One night I could not sleep because I felt that my leg is going numb - which it wasn't.
Are there people out there with curves like mine and trying to treat their condition in some way that is not surgery? I am ready to commit the time and money for therapy that will treat the pain symptoms (which at least in part are psychological, I think), and I would sure love to keep my curve from progressing further. If I pull this off, I am certain I could live with my scoliosis and not have the operation - the appearance does not bother me as I am perfectly centered, and I am not very self-conscious about it, maybe a little bit when I am at the beach, but that's it.
I am planning to start massage treatments, and Schroth treatments, just to try them out. I really don't want to lose hope that surgery can be avoided, especially after a surgeon advised not to have it done, but reading this forum makes me very pessimistic.
Cheers,
Maria
I'm 31, have had scoliosis since I was a teenager. When I was diagnosed at 14 I already had a double curve, with over 40 in the thoracic. At the time we went for the Copes brace, which I wore religiously in high school and even a bit into college years. In retrospect I really wish I was braced with a different brace like Cheneau, because the Copes brace did not keep my spine from worsening. By the time I was out of college I had 55T, 46L, but a surgeon did not recommend surgery. I hardly thought about my back in my 20s, traveling a lot, keeping fairly active, going on hiking trips, including two-week trekking in the mountains with a heavy backpack (which may have made my lumbar worse but it was beautiful..). Over the past year or so, my low back has been giving me increasing trouble, so I went to take new x-rays and see another surgeon. My thoracic was at 57 and my lumbar at 53 - a perfect S. So the curves did not progress tremendously over the decade, despite the fact that I was doing pretty much nothing for my back. The new surgeon - he operates on adult patients, mostly with degrees of 70 and over, really surprised me by saying he still does not recommend surgery, and that he is glad that I never had it done. This partly was a relief because I dread having the operation performed - I have had nightmares and panic attacks about it - but also made me extremely confused. With all this emotional stress after seeing the doctor, my back has been acting up even more, and I am obsessed with it, noticing the little aches that I probably ignored in the past. One night I could not sleep because I felt that my leg is going numb - which it wasn't.
Are there people out there with curves like mine and trying to treat their condition in some way that is not surgery? I am ready to commit the time and money for therapy that will treat the pain symptoms (which at least in part are psychological, I think), and I would sure love to keep my curve from progressing further. If I pull this off, I am certain I could live with my scoliosis and not have the operation - the appearance does not bother me as I am perfectly centered, and I am not very self-conscious about it, maybe a little bit when I am at the beach, but that's it.
I am planning to start massage treatments, and Schroth treatments, just to try them out. I really don't want to lose hope that surgery can be avoided, especially after a surgeon advised not to have it done, but reading this forum makes me very pessimistic.
Cheers,
Maria
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