You mean there's more?
Unfortunately, yes, there is. A lot more. I'll only name a few.
Breathing. I've mentioned before, that scoliosis can effect your breathing.
Neck. Your neck may get thrown off and be sore.
Legs. Lengths of each of your legs may be different.
Hips. Could be off vertically. Could also rotate off horizontally. That can be slightly painful.
Shoulders. Will most likely be different heights.
Ribs. Squished together more. Or more spread apart. Depends of direction of curvatures. May develop "rib humps".
Posture. Could possibly develop kyphosis. A front to back deformity of the spine. (scoliosis is side to side.)
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
.Physical Therapy.
Its an option. it really is. Don't believe doctors when they tell you that its not. It is, and it really can work! I do know this one from personal experience.
I have been doing physical therapy since the end of my 7th grade year. (I am now in the middle of my 10th). I have found that it really helps. If I actually do it.
The first few weeks of my intense therapy sessions, the curves in my spine decreased by almost 15 degrees. If I would have stayed for another two weeks, just think about how much better my spine could have gotten!! It could have been almost back to zero degrees!!
It got worse after i went home for a while, because I wasn't the most compliant with doing the exercised that he assigned me to do. i know that if I would have, my spine would have been at least at the same curvature when i went back. The next time, I did just a week of intensive therapy, after that week, I was a lot more compliant with my exercises, and I kept my curvature the same, I think I may have even decreased it a little. It continued like this for a while.
Lately, I haven't been doing my therapy. I can really tell a difference. My scoliosis is getting worse, and I am a lot more sore these days. I advise, that you keep up on your therapies, then you will feel so much better, and be able to get over your scoliosis faster, and more comfortably.
I have been doing physical therapy since the end of my 7th grade year. (I am now in the middle of my 10th). I have found that it really helps. If I actually do it.
The first few weeks of my intense therapy sessions, the curves in my spine decreased by almost 15 degrees. If I would have stayed for another two weeks, just think about how much better my spine could have gotten!! It could have been almost back to zero degrees!!
It got worse after i went home for a while, because I wasn't the most compliant with doing the exercised that he assigned me to do. i know that if I would have, my spine would have been at least at the same curvature when i went back. The next time, I did just a week of intensive therapy, after that week, I was a lot more compliant with my exercises, and I kept my curvature the same, I think I may have even decreased it a little. It continued like this for a while.
Lately, I haven't been doing my therapy. I can really tell a difference. My scoliosis is getting worse, and I am a lot more sore these days. I advise, that you keep up on your therapies, then you will feel so much better, and be able to get over your scoliosis faster, and more comfortably.
.Surgery.
Surgery, is not something that I have a personal experience with. I do have my own opinions on it though.
I do not believe that surgery is the best or only option at all times. At times, it is the best option. Some peoples scoliosis can progress to the point that it is hard for them to breath, because the spine will start to push against the ribs and lungs. Or, it can progress to the point that they are in major pain constantly, that no amount of pain killers can help to lessen. When your scoliosis gets to that point, then I would say that surgery is probably the BEST option.
When I hear people say that surgery is the ONLY option, that really makes me upset. Its not. There is always physical therapy. (Also bracing..not what I would EVER suggest though.) There are many different types of physical therapies, that I will talk about in a different post.
From what I have heard, and learned from reading, and listening to my own doctors talk, surgery can sometimes cause more pain to a person, than a severe case of scoliosis can. I know of a patient that my doctor is doing some rehab with right now, has curvatures that are over 100 degrees, and she still has normal respiratory numbers, and is only a little sore. But, there are also some people that have cases of scoliosis that are only in the 30's or 40's but they have very low respiratory numbers. Every ones case is different, just like every one body is too.
If you think about how a scoliosis surgery works, having two metal rods, a bunch of screws, and possibly other medal and plastic objects put all up your back, and having to have a large incision from the top of your back to the very bottom, you would probably grimace in pain. I know I do.
But, if a person is already in A LOT of pain, then a surgery may be what the best thing to do is.
I do not believe that surgery is the best or only option at all times. At times, it is the best option. Some peoples scoliosis can progress to the point that it is hard for them to breath, because the spine will start to push against the ribs and lungs. Or, it can progress to the point that they are in major pain constantly, that no amount of pain killers can help to lessen. When your scoliosis gets to that point, then I would say that surgery is probably the BEST option.
When I hear people say that surgery is the ONLY option, that really makes me upset. Its not. There is always physical therapy. (Also bracing..not what I would EVER suggest though.) There are many different types of physical therapies, that I will talk about in a different post.
From what I have heard, and learned from reading, and listening to my own doctors talk, surgery can sometimes cause more pain to a person, than a severe case of scoliosis can. I know of a patient that my doctor is doing some rehab with right now, has curvatures that are over 100 degrees, and she still has normal respiratory numbers, and is only a little sore. But, there are also some people that have cases of scoliosis that are only in the 30's or 40's but they have very low respiratory numbers. Every ones case is different, just like every one body is too.
If you think about how a scoliosis surgery works, having two metal rods, a bunch of screws, and possibly other medal and plastic objects put all up your back, and having to have a large incision from the top of your back to the very bottom, you would probably grimace in pain. I know I do.
But, if a person is already in A LOT of pain, then a surgery may be what the best thing to do is.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
.pain?.
I find that heat helps, I've heard ice is good too. Taking a hot shower or bath always seems to make the pain or tightness lessen.(:
Friday, March 2, 2012
.Brace.
There are 6 different types of scoliosis braces. They all have a different purpose. But they also all help to prevent the progression of scoliosis.
The three most commonly used types of braces are, the Boston Brace (Thoraco-Lumbo-Sacral-Orthosis "TLSO"), the Charleston Bending Brace, and the Milwaukee Brace.
The Milwaukee Brace (pictured below), is commonly used for high thoracic (mid-back) curves. It extends from the neck to the pelvis and consists of a specially contoured plastic pelvic girdle and a neck ring connected by metal bars in the front and the back of the brace. The metal bars help extend the length of the torso and the neck ring keeps the head centered over the pelvis. Pressure pads, strategically placed according to the patient's curve pattern, are attached to the metal bars with straps.
I wore the Boston Brace, when I had a scoliosis brace. (Pictures in THIS post)
Sleeping in the brace was really uuncomfertable. My mom ended up going to buy me some foam wedges to sleep on, because it was hard to breath while laying flat. Those helped SOOOOO much.
When I went to school when I had my brace on, I tried to have a good attitude, and laugh about the jokes that some people made, and also tried to joke about it myself. It wasn't easy. I went home from school a lot and cried. After a while though, I learned it wasnt quite so bad. I learned that I could still have fun, and do things with my friends. I also learned how to make jokes about, or freak people out with my brace.
When kids were being rude to me and making fun of me, not just because of my brace, usually it wasn't because of that. I would tell them to punch me in the stomach. They would hesitate, but I would swear it wouldn't hurt, because I literally had rock hard abs. After a few minutes of talking people into punch me in the stomach, they would. After I would show them my brace, and they'd freak out, and I'd have to explain to them what it was.
Another time I was sitting in my Utah history class, and I leaned forward just a little, which made my brace pop out a little in the back. The boy sitting behind me started to FREAK out! I just started laughing really hard, (probably making people think I was actually crying.) I told him, and the rest of the class what it was, but my teacher still got mad and sent the kid to the office. After class I had to tell the teacher that it was okay, and that I wasn't offended, that I thought it was really funny. (Part of my not being offended could have been that I had the BIGGEST crush on this kid...haha)
Anyways, after a while I learned that the brace wasn't that bad. (And that I could get a lot of boys to talk to me...) Even though I only wore my brace for a few weeks, if you are having to wear one for a longer period of time, YOU CAN DO IT!!
The three most commonly used types of braces are, the Boston Brace (Thoraco-Lumbo-Sacral-Orthosis "TLSO"), the Charleston Bending Brace, and the Milwaukee Brace.
The Milwaukee Brace (pictured below), is commonly used for high thoracic (mid-back) curves. It extends from the neck to the pelvis and consists of a specially contoured plastic pelvic girdle and a neck ring connected by metal bars in the front and the back of the brace. The metal bars help extend the length of the torso and the neck ring keeps the head centered over the pelvis. Pressure pads, strategically placed according to the patient's curve pattern, are attached to the metal bars with straps.
The Milwaukee Brace was the first modern brace designed for the treatment of scoliosis. Developed by Drs. Walter Blount and Albert Schmidt of the Medical College of Wisconsin and Milwaukee's Children's Hospital in 1945, its design has been tweaked through the years until reaching its current design around 1975. Today, the brace is used less frequently now that more form-fitting plastic braces have been developed; however, it's still prescribed for some types of curves that are located very high in the spine.
There are a variety of TLSO braces, but the one most commonly used to treat scoliosis is the "Boston Brace."(pictured below) TLSO braces are often called "low-profile" or "underarm" braces. They are not as large or bulky as the Milwaukee Brace (see below), and their plastic components are custom-molded to fit the patient's body.
The Boston Brace extends from below the breast to the beginning of the pelvic area in the front and from below the shoulder blades to the tail bone in the back. This type of brace works by applying three-point pressure to the curve to prevent its progression. It forces the lumbar area to flex, which pushes in the abdomen and flattens the posterior lumbar curve. Strategically placed pads place pressure on the curve, and "relief voids" are located opposite the areas of pressure.
Developed in the early 1970s by Dr. John Hall and Mr. William Miller of The Boston Children's Hospital, the Boston Brace is typically prescribed for curves in the lumbar (low-back) or thoraco-lumbar (mid- to low-back) sections of the spine.
Another bracing option is the Charleston Bending Brace. (pictured below) Developed in 1979 by Dr. Frederick Reed and Ralph Hooper, the Charleston Bending Brace is worn only at night, which is why it's also known as a "part-time" brace
The Charleston Bending Brace is molded to conform to the patient's body while he or she is bent towards the convexity—or outward bulge—of the curve, the concept behind this design being that it "over-corrects" the curve during the eight hours the brace is worn.
The Charleston brace is typically recommended for spinal curves of 20-35 degrees, with the apex of the curve below the level of the shoulder blade.
I wore the Boston Brace, when I had a scoliosis brace. (Pictures in THIS post)
Sleeping in the brace was really uuncomfertable. My mom ended up going to buy me some foam wedges to sleep on, because it was hard to breath while laying flat. Those helped SOOOOO much.
When I went to school when I had my brace on, I tried to have a good attitude, and laugh about the jokes that some people made, and also tried to joke about it myself. It wasn't easy. I went home from school a lot and cried. After a while though, I learned it wasnt quite so bad. I learned that I could still have fun, and do things with my friends. I also learned how to make jokes about, or freak people out with my brace.
When kids were being rude to me and making fun of me, not just because of my brace, usually it wasn't because of that. I would tell them to punch me in the stomach. They would hesitate, but I would swear it wouldn't hurt, because I literally had rock hard abs. After a few minutes of talking people into punch me in the stomach, they would. After I would show them my brace, and they'd freak out, and I'd have to explain to them what it was.
Another time I was sitting in my Utah history class, and I leaned forward just a little, which made my brace pop out a little in the back. The boy sitting behind me started to FREAK out! I just started laughing really hard, (probably making people think I was actually crying.) I told him, and the rest of the class what it was, but my teacher still got mad and sent the kid to the office. After class I had to tell the teacher that it was okay, and that I wasn't offended, that I thought it was really funny. (Part of my not being offended could have been that I had the BIGGEST crush on this kid...haha)
Anyways, after a while I learned that the brace wasn't that bad. (And that I could get a lot of boys to talk to me...) Even though I only wore my brace for a few weeks, if you are having to wear one for a longer period of time, YOU CAN DO IT!!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
.Finding Out.
Finding out you have scoliosis can be hard. Trust me, I know.
Sometimes its a bigger deal than other times. Some people find out when they only have a slight case of it. Others find out when their scoliosis has gotten to the point that it is pretty bad.
When I first found out, my scoliosis wasn't to bad, I was told that it would probably get worse, but to not worry. At first, I didn't worry, but then I did. especially after I was told that I was almost to the point of needing to have surgery. hat scared the crap out of me.
Its okay to be scared though. Its not a bad thing. If your not scared of things, then you cant be confident in things either. Just like how there has to be dark to be light.
Things that helped me when I was feeling especially scared, and even now, that my scoliosis is the worst its ever been, is friends, family, and prayer. Im always talking to my friends about my back, occasionally I cry. Its okay!! Crying is not a bad thing! Just be sure your not doing it all the time!!
Remember that when you first find out, you are still just as capable to do everything that you were before, and later on in life you are too! Sometimes the doctors will suggest that you don't do a few certain things, but its alright, there is still sooooo much that you can do!!
Another thing that helps me when Im upset, but don feel like talking to anyone about it, is journaling, or writing a letter to someone, but to never send it. It just lets you get everything out... Its really nice sometimes.
Remember to just enjoy life!! Life is one the most amazing things ever!! You are here to have fun!! So enjoy it!! Even with any trials you are going through!!
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