Other Surgeries to Fix Scoliotic Problems

[Tina_R]

My case is similar to yours - I probably had a slight case when I was younger and it went undetected. I had "low back pain" for most of my adult life - starting in my early 20s but pretty tolerable. I just dealt with it. It did get worse as I got older, but it was all muscular pain that I could handle. There was nothing noticeable about my spine being slightly crooked. At some point around my early 40s, my rib hump appeared but I didn't know what it was. I went to a local orthoped and he said that was the "classic scoliosis hump - how long have you had that?" I had noticed about 4 months prior to that appointment. He did scoliosis xrays and my curve was around 24 degrees. He said that in adults it usually doesn't change much. But mine did, - my curve was getting about 2 degrees worse per year. By age 52 I was having all sorts of issues but was still fairly active so they weren't really treating me. By age 54 I was when it got really bad and I had surgery at age 55.

By the time of my surgery, my curve was around 32 degrees - so not really all THAT bad - but it was pain the drove me to surgery. I had everything on the list: rotted discs, the one half decent disc had ruptured, stenosis, nerve impingement....

I had a great outcome, all things considered. I still have residual "pains" that we all probably have - but they are very tolerable - nothing near what they were before surgery.

My surgery was at TCSC - so I felt that I was in good hands. I am going up next week for my 4-year follow up x-rays. Hopefully I will hear that my nothing has shifted and it all still looks good!!

Kathy

Kathy, I was 10 years older than you when I had my surgery and I probably should have gotten it done sooner, by your age.
I thought they never straightened curves as small as 32 degrees but waited until they got larger. Or is pain the determining factor, maybe it's teens that wait until their curve gets larger? I forget what Linda said.