How was your scoliosis first detected?

[Joe O'Brien]

My own scoliosis was detected through an xray I had because of a high school football injury. One of my children was detected in a school screening, one by a pediatrician, and one by us.

Please let us know how your scoliosis was first detected.

Thanks.

[~Jessica*]

On January, probably Saturday the 26th 2002, my Mum suggested we went to my Aunts house so she could drop something off there, have a little chat and I could get a dip in the pool (it was a hot day!) Of course I said I would go, who wouldn't!? When we got there, after a little while I changed into my purple bikini and jumped into the pool. My Mum and Aunt were chatting outside under the shade while I played in the pool with my 2 younger cousins. It would've been at least 3-4 hours later until my Aunt noticed something.

It was when I stepped out of the pool using the ladder, and the right side of my body was facing her and she noticed something. She noticed my rib hump; it was as huge as Quasimodo's. They called me out of the water and inspected me. I remember my Mum telling me, "Stand up straight, Jess!" and I said "I am!" There was no mirror, no nothing for me to check out what they were talking about. I heard their mumbles though as they were checking me out; they were like "She doesn't look straight" "This doesn't look right", etc. Of course I was worried, who wouldn't be. I had no idea what was going on, and when we got in the car later that day Mum said to me that she was going to make an appointment for me to see the doctor. Two days later nothing had happened so I asked her about it and an appointment was made for the next day...January 29th, Tuesday 2002 - the last day of the school holidays.

When I went to the doctor’s surgery he knew exactly what it was. I remember my doctor saying, "This is pretty marked scoliosis." 'Huh!? Oh no, what is scoliosis?' Is what I was thinking at the time. After a short explanation, he hopped onto his computer and typed a few things, muttered to himself, printed something off and he was done. He was searching for a special orthopaedic surgeon and referred me to one. He talked to my Mum and I a little bit more and I felt like crying because they kept referring to me as deformed. It was such a harsh word and to hear it from my own Mum was worse. But I tried to keep strong and kept a neutral face. I had to go get an x-ray done sometime that day which was annoying because I also had an orthodontist appointment; my day was too busy for me considering it was the last day of holidays. I had the x-ray done after my orthodontist appointment and had the x-rays dropped off back at the surgery.

When I finally had time to myself I went to my room and looked in the mirror. My eyes were watering as I looked at my rib hump. I hated myself for never really noticing it. I could hear Mum explaining to Dad what the appointment was for and I was just confused so I went on the Internet. I search up this condition and found a really detailed but plain looking site. I read all about bracing and only read the title 'surgery' as another option, and from then on I wanted surgery. I thought it would be a good experience to have an operation and I wouldn't have to wear a brace for years, but then again my vision of a brace was vastly distorted. Imagine metal headgear some people have to wear for braces and turn that into a body brace - that's what I thought it would be like.

That night my friend Jana came online and I told her all about it. I don't know what I would've done at school because I don't think I would've had the courage to tell me friends face to face but she was nice enough to fill them in on the details. I had lots of hugs and sympathy from people, which I liked at the time too because I've never had anyone care for me so much, and if anyone did they never showed it. It was just nice to see people worry for me; it let me know how much they really did care for me when I considered myself as 'another person'.

[Debbie]

Oh Jessica, as a Mother of a beautiful scoliosis-free daughter, it breaks my heart to hear how badly you were hurt during an already stressful time. You know, Jessica, sometimes as parents, adults forget that children are listening and watching everything we do and say, especially at a time when you are already confused and hurting. I'm sure your Mom didn't realize how what she was saying must have sounded to you and that is unfortunate but somewhat understandable.

As I look back at the time when I was diagnosed with my scoliosis, I think I must have been a lot like you. Trying to keep a straight face, not letting anyone see my cry and always being the "good girl and daughter". However, I was lucky to have had 2 parents and a doctor(my doctor was the Dr Harrington) who were always very careful and thoughtful in describing everything to me and never using words like "deformed". I wish it had been easier for you.

But you sound like you're a wonderful lady(I hope that doesn't make you cringe at my choice of words!) and you've handled all that you've gone through, just beautifully and I know that I would be very proud of you if you were my own daughter.

Keep up your spirits and let us know how you are doing. If I can ever answer any questions or anything like that, I'd love to be of any help that I can. You're welcome to email me if you would like, at ddkrus@hotmail.com or ddkrus54@yahoo.com.

Be safe, Jessica and God Bless you,
Debbie

[Debbie]

At the end of the summer when I was 12, my father noticed my back seemed "crooked", as I walked by the pool in my bathing suit. As soon as we got back from vacation, I went to see my Pediatric Specialist, he sent me to an Orthopod, and the orthopedic sent me to Houston to see Dr. Harrington, whom he had just seen at a seminar on the treatment of scoliosis. Dr. Harrington diagnosed my scoliosis, my curve at that time was 58 degrees I believe. He gave us the option of a Milwaukee brace or surgery and my family and I chose the surgery. Six months later when I came back to Houston for the surgery, my curve had progressed to somewhere around 64 degrees.
My surgery was done on Feb. 1, 1966, I was 12 yrs. old.

Debbie

[Carmell]

My daughter's scoliosis was diagnosed by the pediatrician just prior to her 13th birthday. She is now 17 and maintaining a 40deg lumbar curve with a 26 degree thoracic compensatory curve and significant rotation. She has annual checkups with the orthopedist.

My son was diagnosed at 19 weeks gestation with a curved spine. At birth, his congenital (thoracic) curve was 45 degrees. By 9 months old, the curve was 75 degrees. He is now 8yrs old and has had spinal fusion and Titanium Rib implants done. His congenital curve is rigid at 65 degrees, and his lower curve is stable with continual rod expansion procedures.

[GeorgeDittmar]

hi am am brand new to the board and found out i had scoliosis about 12 hours ago at my chiropractor. i was a new patient to him and because i was new he took an x ray of my back to see if any of my back problems were caused by anything in the spine. boy how was he shocked to see my spine. from what i saw my lower back is curved, dont know how much yet but i will know monday. what made me and my mom really mad was how the school nurse last year saw that i had it and we went to my doctor to pursue it but he pretty much just dismissed us and the nurse as being worry some patients, he has had that feeling towards me and my mom ever sense i had a anxiety problem in 7th grade. so now we have cut ties with my doctor and are reporting him to the state and admininstrative boards and being neglagent. but my chiropractor,who is really nice and actually cares about his patients, said that sense i am 16 it will be easier to get it more aligned than curved.

well that was a long one. lol

[busymum]

Hi!
I'm new to this and live in Australia! I was diagnosed Wednesday (11th Feb 04). I had sort of always known that I had it but never actually had it diagnosed. My brother and mum also have it. At my school they never had any screening for this, unusal as as far as I know all schools have this. I have always had back trouble but I just put it down to being so tall (6FT). It wasn't till I was pregnant with my first child that it really gave me trouble. I couldn't get anything done seen I was pregnant then after I gave birth just never went to the doc about it. It played up again when pregnant with my 2nd and I knew I had to get something done. 4 months now since I gave birth and my back pain has been getting worse and paracetamol doesn't work at all! I also suffer migraines and was thinking the other day whether this maybe caused from the scoliosis. What do you think? The doc said it is only a mild case, but still enough to give me pain and make things uncomfortable for me. Sometimes I can't twist my back as I get a sharp pain down my spine.

[Jill K]

I was diagnosed with my scoliosis 2 years ago, but before then when ever i looked at my ribcage, on always seemed to be bigger and the other smaller. I did not know what this was, but I kept looking at the strange shape. But little did I know it was because of my scoliosis which is currently at 42 degrees. I also felt that the bottom portion of my left ribs were "missing" because they went further into my back causing them to not show as much. This also confused me until I was diagnosed.

[OneofFive1]

I was told I had scoliosis by my doctor about 2 years ago.

[harr321]

My daughter was first diagnoised with scoliosis during a school exam. I took her to the Dr. and he had a wait and see attitude since it was only slightly off, even though she had one hip protruding and the other not. He measured her back by using an instrument to run along the spine, last year it showed approx 15 degrees. I asked for an x-ray last year but wasn't persistent enough, so between Jan. and June her back changed now she is at 51 degrees and 14 years old and too old to brace and now they want surgery. I wished i had been persistant, the x-ray would have been more accurate and bracing might have helped.

[LindaRacine]

harr321...

Don't beat yourself (or your daughter's pediatrician) up. :-) It's entirely possible that the scoliosis was correct, and your daughter's curve really was only 15 degrees when it was detected. Most reputable scoliosis specialists would not put a teenager with a 15 degree curve into a brace.

Unfortunately, curves can increase drastically during growth spurts. When that happens, there's almost never anything that can keep the curves from progressing.

Regards,
Linda

[harr321]

Thanks for the infor. As for her growth spurt, it was very small. That is why it is so puzzling. But thank you for letting me know it can change quickly. For right now we are not going with surgery. I'm looking into myofascial release therapy or the Alexander technique for yoga. She doesn't have any pain so i want to see what we can do to keep it from getting worse. If it does and she starts to have pain we can look into surgery down the road. But she is athletic and wants to be able to remain mobile.

[Lanna]

If you read the post I posted about how we found out it will let you know. My daughter is almost 13 yrs old.

Mom to Lanna

[Mary Lou]

My daughter was diagnosed by our family physician at her 12 y.o. check up just a few months before she would have been checked in school.

Mary Lou

[SkiAnn]

Discovered at about age 7 by a family doctor with follow-up and confirmation at the a Childrens Orthopedic Hospital in Seattle, Washington. Progressed gradually until a laminectomy in 1998, at which point it progressed very rapidly until my spinal fusion in November of 2004.
Gayle