Comments about ‘Learning to live with scoliosis’

wonderful examples

Sometimes they have to insert a rod in your back to keep it straight. After a life of pain that rod may need to be taken out in later life and replaced. The brace is a good option if you can limit your therapy to wearing one.

Thanks for the story. I was diagnosed with mild scoliosis at age 16, and while it has not hindered my life's activities at all, it was pretty traumatic at the time. I didn't know anyone else with scoliosis and nothing about the disease. I applaud these girls for being so open about their braces and Shriners for helping these girls find cute, comfortable things to wear. The disease is very manageable and I think the best solutions are information and support.

I had surgery to put rods and screws in my back 2 1/2 years ago. I got 3 infections and had to be in a nursing facility for 45 days, get 6 antibiotic infusions a day. Now the infection has come back and I had to have the hardware removed because it had attached to the hardware. I am now in a facility for another 45 days with antibiotics. Now they tell me that the antibiotics have turned against me. My white blood cells count is too low. I am absolutely miserable and it seems that there is no end to this battle.
DO NOT GET RODS AND SCREWS IN YOUR BACK TO CORRECT SCOLIOSIS. THE PAIN IS WORSE THAN IT EVER WAS. IF A DOCTOR SUGGESTS THIS FOR SCOLIOSIS RUN AWAY.

My middle son had an 18 inch rod screwed to his spine almost 20 years ago. He has done hard physical work and is now in the Canadian Army scheduled in a combat role for next spring.

My suggestion to Tina is get a good lawyer and get some compensation for the bad times.

Lucky for these girls that the school screening found the scoliosis when it did. I did not discover my scoliosis until much later in high school, and by that time it was too late for a brace to do anything to help. My doctor told me about having a rod fused to my spine, but I refused to have it done when he said it would likely not take the pain away, just prevent the spine from curving.

I deal with the pain on a daily basis, and exercise to keep my stomach muscles strong to help deal with the pain.

I feel bad for people like Tina above. Stories like hers is the reason I have not let anyone touch my spine surgically. I just wish I had received a school screening early enough that wearing a brace would have helped.

This was a timely article for our family. Our 10 year old daughter was diagnosed three days ago with "S" shaped scoliosis. It was discovered during a chest x-ray for possible pneumonia. More x-rays were done and scoliosis was determined. That helped explain the mysterious back pain. We will be taking our daughter to PCMC to an Orthopedic Specialist to determine what to do now. It's good to know that there are other young gals out there with this condition that are taking it in stride and maintaining a positive attitude.

My daughter was hit by a soccer ball so hard that I took her to a doctor and he was wise enough to get an x-ray that showed that she had scoliosis. Unfortunately, after that I took her to a specialist that told us that because her cartilage was showing that is was "sealed," that she was fully grown so all she could do was exercises. He didn't think a brace would help. She grew another 4" in height and now her back is so much worse. I would suggest that anyone who notices back pain or tiredness or maybe just that their clothes don't seem to fit right that they be examined. And if a brace will help, please use it to prevent further pain and problems in the future. Good luck to you, Tina. I hope you will get well and not have any more problems.

I was diagnosed with Scoliosis when I was in the 4th grade. My parents opted for me to wear a brace, however the brace I had went all the way up to my neck and even held my chin up. I did get the torso brace right before I went to HS. I was supposed to wear it 23 hours a day, only taking it off to shower. My doctor did say I could take it off if I wanted to play sports. I played EVERY sport. Kind of funny how I am good at every sport, just not great at any.

I hated my parents for forcing me to wear the brace, but now I see their wisdom. It did make for tough times as a teen and late in HS, I slowly stopped wearing the brace.

I am 40 now and live with pain. I have had to stop skiing and golf, maybe once a year now. Have sort of got used to the pain and the occasional injury and will likely have to have surgery at some point, but I am sure it would be much worse had I not worn the brace.

Sorry... in reading my post it looked like I was miserable. That is not the case. I have a great live and I am very happy. I was a very successful athlete in HS and still lead a fairly active life. I enjoy watching my kids activities more than my own anyway. At my 20 year HS reunion I still had people ask me if I still wear the brace.

It is great that these girls found this problem early. I would however suggest that these girls not only follow what their MD's have suggested, but also look into a qualified Chiropractor for management of this condition. I know from first hand knowledge the benefits of good chiropractic management on this condition. There are many around, but I would suggest Vanguard Health Solutions of Draper.

My daughter was diagnosed with this last year. We were nervous and unsure what to expect. We did as much research as we could without knowing what we were looking for, really. The Web can sometimes make things seem much worse than they really are. We were referred to Shriners and they have been outstanding!!! My daughter's curve is mild and at our last appointment it had remained essentially unchanged so we were thankful for the power of prayer. It's encouraging to see these young women accomplishing so much and I hope this gets more information out. Good luck to them!

@BeckyP | 11:27 a.m.

I agree with you: check out what chiropractic can do. My chiropractor has fixed the curve in my neck and low back. I googled scoliosis and chiropractic and found some interesting articles about the success some have had in correcting scoliosis with chiropractic care. One family had a miserable time with their daughter's surgery for scoliosis, so when their son was diagnosed with it too they decided to give chiropractic a try. His condition was corrected and they wish they had known about it for their daughter. It's certainly worth looking into!

for your advertisements for Chiropractors. They can't correct scoliosis. Go to the mall and hand out some pens or something.

Chad Braithwaite is the one who looks like he has scoliosis!

Although I was glad to see something written about Scoliosis (I was diagnosed with it 15-years ago), this article was disappointing in so many ways. There wasn't much substance to it. The article didn't provide any pointers for living with Scoliosis. It only touched on teenage girls who only care about finding clothing to cover their braces. Of course all teenagers care about is image, but when they get older they'll find there is much more to the disease than that. This article was missing advice/comments from a healthcare professional's perspective as to how to deal with Scoliosis. The article also could have used the perspective of someone who has lived with Scoliosis for years, rather than just teenagers who have only had to deal with it for a short time. I remember being terrified when I was diagnosed at age 13. I had no idea what it meant for me. Since my curve was so bad, it was too late to get me in a brace. I had to have surgery to put rods in my back instead. The article gave no mention of people in this situation.

For everyone who says they decided to forego getting rods put in their back, can I just say how dangerous that is? If I hadn't had rods placed in my back 15 years ago, I would be dead by now. My spine would have continued to curve and eventually collided with my heart and given me a heart attack. Yes, surgery is scary, but sometimes not taking action is even scarier. My life would be far worse had I not had surgery. Only a really bad doctor will make your situation worse. Life will be more painful for a few months while you recover, but it will be worth it in the long run.

I just googled scoliosis and chiropractic and the first thing I found was from the National Scoliosis Foundation and stated "Virtually no formal research exists documenting chiropractic's effectiveness in managing scoliosis." So I would question any chiropractor who says they can correct scoliosis

I didn't know I had Scoliosis until I was 50 years old. Didn’t seem to bother me.

Thank you for the information about scoliosis. My daughter was just told she has it and needs to wear a brace 16-18 per day. It was nice to see other girls need to wear it too. My daughter just turned 12 years old. So far that is the only treatment that she needs. Her curviture is at 28 degrees. The doctor said we caught at just the right time.