Confused! please help?!

[katie<3]

Hi guys! I am 15 and i was diagnosed when I went to my doctors office for a regular checkup. When I broke my wrist and saw the doctor, he happened to be a scoliosis specialist and I ended up getting an xray. He said I had an S curve, 15 degrees and 11. I had no pain when this was happening. That was 3 or 4 months ago and now I am experiencing pain in my back. How can i tell this is from my scoliosis? Also how can i tell if it increased? I did grow alot in that short period of time, almost an inch. I also only got my period in august when i was 14.

Also -- How do you guys deal with pain in your back? I get it when I am sitting up, like on my bed for a while without leaning against anything.

Last thing, under what circumstances would i need a brace? If it increased how much more? I definitely don't want one but i heard it helps with pain in your back?

sorry for all the questions, I am new to all this.

thanks for reading this!

- Katie

[txmarinemom]

Hi, Katie ...

"Scoliosis specialists" don't typically deal with things like broken wrists. I'd encourage you to talk to your parents about getting a second opinion for you.

You can find a list of Scoliosis Research Society specialists at www.srs.org/find.

Best of luck to you,
Pam

[skevimc]

As mentioned by txmarinemom, a second opinion would be a decent idea. Definitely find one from the srs.org website. You can search by geographic region. If they are listed there then they have done specific training in spinal deformities and that continues to be part of their practice. Maybe the doctor who gave you the diagnosis is listed. It's worth checking out.

For some general information, which you may already know. The curves you have would be considered 'mild'. This doesn't mean they are mild for you because I'm sure you are worried about them. But from a clinical/doctor/treatment point of view, they are mild. So that is a good thing. Many people have curves your size and don't even know it.

Your age is a good thing, but as you mentioned, having just started your period can add an increased risk for progression. Although it's difficult to say what risk you have.

For back pain, it's difficult to say whether or not your curves are causing the pain. I know that many people have found relief with back exercises. There are several threads on here, and elsewhere, that discuss specific exercises for people with scoliosis. Things like yoga and pilates are very helpful for many people.

There is also trunk strength training with which I am familiar. People with back pain frequently do many of these exercises to reduce pain, myself included, although I don't have scoliosis. There are also studies on strength training specific to scoliosis and these studies are discussed quite a bit on here. However, none of them specifically address pain.

I also should point out that exercises should only be done as long as a there is no reason why you can't. What I mean is, if there is some reason why you are not allowed to workout then make sure you discuss everything with your parents/doctor. Actually, you should do that with anything you read on here or other places. This forum is a great resource for information and support. Please keep asking questions if you have them.

Good luck.

[animallover]

Hi im 14 and i have the exact same situation as you my curves are 20 and 16. I have to make sure i sit straight most of the time, my main pain is in my shoulder blades.

[Angele1]

I have heard good things about the CLEAR program, especially for smaller curves such as yours. You should check it out and get all the information you can get. The smaller the curve the more likely you can get a reduction if at all possible. Just something to look into. http://www.Clear-institute.com. As someone else posted, you started your menses so you really have to watch during your growth spurts to make sure your curves don't progress.

Best of luck to you! I hope your second opinion ends up being "no scoliosis" at all!!

[Pooka1]

I have heard good things about the CLEAR program, especially for smaller curves such as yours. You should check it out and get all the information you can get. The smaller the curve the more likely you can get a reduction if at all possible. Just something to look into. http://www.Clear-institute.com. As someone else posted, you started your menses so you really have to watch during your growth spurts to make sure your curves don't progress.

Best of luck to you! I hope your second opinion ends up being "no scoliosis" at all!!

Aren't you a chiro? A Clear-certified chiro? A Clear chiro for 4 years and you only "heard" good things? Haven't you seen them in your work?

If so, why are you writing as if you are not associated with chiro or Clear?

This is the type of advertisement that NSF doesn't like I thought.

It would be good if chiros can stop advertizing so they don't get kicked off. Then patients can ask them questions about Clear, evidence, etc.

[Elisa]

Aren't you a chiro? A Clear-certified chiro? A Clear chiro for 4 years and you only "heard" good things? Haven't you seen them in your work?

If so, why are you writing as if you are not associated with chiro or Clear?

This is the type of advertisement that NSF doesn't like I thought.

It would be good if chiros can stop advertizing so they don't get kicked off. Then patients can ask them questions about Clear, evidence, etc.

Angele1 = Dr. Jacqueline Smith

I really dislike it when people pretend to be something they're not, or not be up front with who they are. *two thumbs down*

[Pooka1]

Angele1 = Dr. Jacqueline Smith

I really dislike it when people pretend to be something they're not, or not be up front with who they are. *two thumbs down*

It's almost like they try to get kicked off for something so they don't have to answer hard questions about the efficacy of their approach.

I say let Smith stay ONLY if she will answer questions about her experience with doing Clear for 4 years and not write anything else about Clear until then.

[Elisa]

Well, sidestepping who you really are sure doesn't instill confidence that's for sure. At least not to me. If you've got a good product then be up front with folk and give them the straight goods and back up what you say instead of playing dumb. There is no other way IMO.

[Pooka1]

By the way, I wish all Clear chiros would come on NSF for the purpose of presenting their evidence that their method unambiguously allows people to avoid surgery during and after treatment.

A potential problem is in what Smith has written... she is banging on about treating people while the curves are small without seeming to realize or acknowledge that the vast majority of this group needs no treatment to avoid surgery. And yet she would give Clear credit for that majority avoiding surgery. The point about showing a positive result against a very large background of natural positive outcomes seems completely lost on Smith.

[LindaRacine]

Dear Detective Pooka....

I know enough to believe you've probably got proof. Care to share it?

--Linda

[Pooka1]

Post #8 on this thread:

http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...-for-the-women

Hi Mehera,
I have seen you over at the fixscoliosis.com site. Nice to see you here too! I am a CLEAR doctor and have been utilizing this program for about 4 years now. From the standpoint of pain relief I have seen some wonderful results with my patients. The pain, in general is the first thing to go away. I attribute this to the mix, fix set protocol that we utilize. The patients I see, as you can imagine, don't want epidural injections, pain medications or surgery. I am actually often pleasantly surprised at how well they do with regards to pain. Keep in mind, as with all programs, it will work for some and not for others.

As far as pregnancy goes, I have a multitude of patients that have scoliosis and have had children and are doing well. I even had a patient state that her curves reduced while pregnant. These patients don't have small curves either. We are talking 40 and up Cobb angles.

The issue of pregnancy and scoliosis often comes up with my younger patients. I can only offer my clinical advise as to what I have seen in practice. So far, I have not had any patients experience complications due to their curvatures. I am sure there are some out there...but this has been my experience.

I have seen your blog and it appears that you have a proactive approach to your scoliosis. In my humble opinion, if you are functional with minimal pain than surgery is not a necessity. Unfortunately, once surgery is done you can't go back.

If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! I have an open mind and am not trying to push an agenda. Just want to see people get better!
Sincerely,
Dr. Jacqueline Smith

Linda, if she promises to ONLY answer questions about her evidence that Clear works from her own patients over four years and doesn't say another word about Clear then can we keep her please please please?

[jrnyc]

what is a "Clear" doctor...?
what is the specialty in medical school for that...?
that means chiropractor, correct...?

then why not say "i am a chiropractor who specializes in the Clear mehtod of treatment"...?? why mislead...some of us dont consider chiropractors to be doctors with medical school training!!!!!

presenting oneself as a "Clear" doctor is a mis-truth, in my opinion...and certainly a lie by omission...omission of the facts of one's training!!!


jess

[Pooka1]

what is a "Clear" doctor...?
what is the specialty in medical school for that...?
that means chiropractor, correct...?

then why not say "i am a chiropractor who specializes in the Clear mehtod of treatment"...?? why mislead...some of us dont consider chiropractors to be doctors with medical school training!!!!!

presenting oneself as a "Clear" doctor is a mis-truth, in my opinion...and certainly a lie by omission...omission of the facts of one's training!!!jess

If this was the UK, Smith could not legally refer to herself as a "doctor." So there is much less chance of confusion in the UK than in the US. Because of this, I think the Scoliosis Support site polices chiros getting on there and calling themselves doctors.

I have noted a lot of self-loathing among chiros wherein they are relucant to disclose they are chiros. Someone recently posted a chiro scoliosis site wherein there was NO mention that the guy was a chiro but there were all kinds of mentions about him being a "Dr." Hugely misleading.

Chiros have no training or expertise in treating scoliosis.

[jrnyc]

thank you for clarifying that...it was what i suspected...

jess