Possible resolving scoliosis in 8 y/o boy

[leahdragonfly]

Hi all,


I have posted a little about my 8 y/o son, Torrey's scoliosis. We have watched his back closely since he was 3 y/o, when his 6 y/o sister was diagnosed with JIS. His x-ray was straight at that time. Around age 5 he developed a slight rib hump and back asymmetry. His pediatrician felt it did not warrant an x-ray and monitored Torrey every 6 months with the Adams forward bend test. We held off on x-rays because it seemed to stay the same. About 18 months ago, when he was 7, his rib hump and asymmetry got worse so he was x-rayed, which showed an 18 degree right lower thoracic curve.

Torrey had a normal MRI at that time and we elected to continue to watch, although our local ortho offered bracing if we wanted it due to our strong family history (Leah stapled, and me braced then fused as an adult). That was definitely a no thanks! We planned to go see Dr Luhmann at Shriners St Louis if his curve got to 20 or more.

About 9 months ago Torrey's x-ray was measured at 15 degrees, and his pediatrician thought his back looked a little better. Over the summer his back continued to look good, though we have done nothing special. Last month (when the forum was down) he had a follow-up x-ray which was measured at 12 degrees. Now I know there is a 5-10 degree margin of error, but I am thrilled that his x-ray went down 6 degrees instead of up 6 degrees! I think his back looks improved from what it did at 18 degrees, and looking at the two x-rays side by side, the recent one is definitely straighter.

We are very happy right now and are cautiously hoping Torrey might dodge the bullet and grow out of his scoliosis.

[Pooka1]

Gayle that is so wonderful! I am so happy for Torrey, you, and the rest of your family. It certainly seems like things are going in the right direction. You have an honorary doctorate in managing scoliosis cases in my opinion. :-)

You need to catch a break and it looks like you have. :-)

Best regards,
Sharon

[LindaRacine]

I've heard and read about curves that resolve themselves for years. It's one of the things that makes me discount anyone who says their kids had a small curve and that it went away after <choose one or more> bracing, exercise, massage, etc.

There's a reason why "wait and see" is the right thing to do for curves <25 degrees.

Congratulations Gayle. I'm delighted for you.

--Linda

[Pooka1]

I've heard and read about curves that resolve themselves for years. It's one of the things that makes me discount anyone who says their kids had a small curve and that it went away after <choose one or more> bracing, exercise, massage, etc.

There's a reason why "wait and see" is the right thing to do for curves <25 degrees.

That one article on Greek children indicated the largest groups were resolving or stable. The smallest group was for progressive curves. I can't remember if that was all kids including early onset or not, though.

It's also the origin of the phrase, "braces are for the parents, not the child." PT is in the same category as far as anyone knows also. It's like looking only at the treatment group. If you did that with BrAIST you would falsely conclude that bracing keeps over 70% of kids <50* by maturity. But if you add the control group you see half of the control group ALSO remained <50* by maturity, presumably just by sitting on the sofa and eating ice cream. Just because controlled studies are hard to do doesn't magically make them unnecessary. Having a child with a small curve do something, anything, and then claiming that's what helped the curve is folk science.

[titaniumed]

Gayle

This is very good news.....It’s the kind of news that puts a little smile on your face. (Or mine)

I am so happy for you guys

Ed

[JenniferG]

Wonderful! I hope Torrey's back continues on the right track.

[mariaf]

Great news, Gayle!! I could not be happier for you and Torrey!! I think your family is due for some good luck where scoliosis is concerned - and hopefully this is it.

[rohrer01]

Gayle,
That same thing happened to my son. When he was about 8 years old I noticed some asymmetry and the doc did an x-ray and measured him around the same as your son. We just watched and waited. He never appeared to look worse, so I took no further action. When he was about 15, he fell pretty hard snowboarding and I had to take him to the doctor. They did x-rays and the scoliosis was GONE!!! They noticed some benign spina bifida occulta, but that was it. They gave him some muscle relaxants for the sprain and he was fine.

[leahdragonfly]

Well 3 years has gone by since I started this thread, so I thought I would update it since juvenile cases are so uncommon. Torrey has been x-rayed once a year for the last few years, with his back visually looking about the same. He has had a left, upper thoracic curve that wasn't mentioned in his x-ray three years ago, possibly due to postural variations, not sure.

His x-ray last year:
18 degrees left, T1-T9
16 degrees right, T10-L1

And this year:
12 degrees left upper T
5 degrees right lower T
Lumbar is straight

I'm not sure what to make of the variation in the left upper thoracic curve, since the original x-Ray 3 years ago showed a right lower thoracic curve, then the next x-Ray showed the curve seemed to swap sides or change to a high s-curve with a left upper curve that had been cited as the primary curve measuring 18-19 degrees in one x-ray. Neither of the two local pediatric orthos who saw him a few years ago had any opinion or interest in why the curve seemed to vary in location. Now we just follow with his pediatrician since there is no point seeing an ortho for curves staying in the mid-teens with no treatment required. I'm very happy that he continues to have a non-progressive curve, even after over 2" of growth over the summer as he approaches age 12. The ice cream therapy seems to be working!

[Pooka1]

Such excellent news, Gayle!

I tried to find that one article about wildly changing curve patterns in JIS but I failed. I recall the article clearly but can't find the reference. I am not clear on why the search terms I am using are not finding it on this group or in google. Anyway, there were wildly changing JIS curves that changed apex location, and direction over time. :-)

This certainly seems to be a resolving curve and I agree it is likely the ice cream therapy! Another good therapy with proven results is the laying-on-the-couch-no-PT-therapy. :-)

Best regards,
Sharon

[rohrer01]

Gayle,

It appears that curve patterns can change over time. Like I mentioned earlier, my son's scoliosis completely disappeared. Those curves are so small that the right curve isn't even considered scoliosis, YEAH! Upper left curves are nearly impossible or impossible to create with posture. We just can't bend our spines sideways through the shoulder girdle. With that said, a 12^o curve is barely considered scoliosis. It appears that your son dodged the bullet there. I'm very happy for you!

On another note my daughter, who is in her mid-twenties, had a scoliosis checkup after more than ten years. This was awhile back and I'm not sure if I posted this already, but she came up with no curve as well. At least that is what she told me.

Rohrer01

[leahdragonfly]

Thanks Sharon and Rohrer. I'm curious about the JIS article you mention...there are so few JIS articles at all.

I'll definitely keep an eye on things but not feeling worried at all at this point.

[rohrer01]

Gayle,

This is just a thought, but there could be quite limited knowledge about true JIS, thus fewer articles on the subject. I say this because unless the JIS curve/s are large enough to catch attention they are likely going undetected until at or around puberty when things seem to shift for the better or worse. In those cases they are classified as AIS because the smallish JIS curves went undetected. There's just no way of knowing. The only reason my kids were detected early was because of my experience with scoliosis and my eagle eyes being constantly on the lookout. Most parents without experience with scoliosis would not have thought to check their kids regularly for scoliosis. My husband and I detected an anterior rib hump on our grandson when he was four that looked characteristically like mine. It turned out that he had a 6^o curve. His new pediatrician says no curve and my daughter isn't as aggressive about looking out for this as I am so isn't worried about it. I feel that this responsibility falls on me. With that being said, I'm not too aggressive at checking him as that is his mom's responsibility and the responsibility of his doctor. If anything substantial to the eye shows up I'm sure one of us will catch it in time for treatment to be. So if my grandson develops a curve that is over 10^o, how should it be classified?

My point is, they miss a whole lot of JIS because they don't start looking until these kids are in the AIS age group. Therefore, not a whole lot to write about, especially with no curve patterns to look at and follow EXCEPT in the wee little ones with significant curves. I know I've mentioned this before, just not on this particular thread.

Rohrer01