# Anyone Have Experience With Scoliosis ?



## SmkSignals (May 2, 2005)

4-5 months ago our 11 year old daughter was diagnosed with Scoliosis. It is a double major curve. In Nov 08 her thoracic degree of curvature was 55 degrees, and her lumbar curve was 42 degrees. We had a MRI done and her spinal cord is fine. We started with a back brace over 3 weeks ago. It is a Boston Brace. We understand the brace does not necessarily corrected the curves. We were hoping to prevent more curvature until she grows a bit more prior to any kind of surgery.

Well yesterday we had a check up and her lumbar degree of curvature is now 61 degrees. Her thoracic curve increased one degree to 56. The doctor said this is a very aggressive curving of the spine. We now have surgery for spinal fusion scheduled for the end of July. We are in the learning stages of what to prepare for 'pre op' and 'post op'.

Just poking around looking for other people with the same experience and how things went ...


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## MJRey (Jan 21, 2005)

Smk,

Sorry to hear about your daughter. About 16 years ago we had to deal with spinal issues with our 1st son (long sad story) and we met with many doctors in the So Cal area. We found a doctor (Dr. Saul Bernstein) at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute (SCOI) that was really good. He knew a lot about Scoliosis and Kyphosis (our son had both) and had good contacts with people doing the latest work in the area. He also worked with some docters at the Minneapolis Spine Institute (www.tcspine.com) and they were the ones that finally figured out what was really going on with our son. The institute in Minneapolis is excellent and having someone that has contacts at world renowned facilities helped in our case. They couldn't do anything in our sons case since the underlying condition ended up taking him from us. There have been great advances in treatments for these conditions and they should be able to help your daughter. The spinal cord news is good as there can sometimes be problems with that as well. It will probably take some time but they should be able to manage the condition until she's done growing.

Good luck and take care.


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## 5th Time Around (Jul 8, 2008)

I am sorry about your DD also. I have 2 children with abnormalities. My DD was diagnosed last Sept at age 12 of having Kyphosis. She had been complaining about her back hurting for years. I asked the pediatrician for years and even had normal xrays. I decided to take her to Orlando to the Arnold Palmer Childrens Hospital for evaluation. Though I do not know her degrees of Kyphosis I was advised it was too late to do anything besides physical therapy. She did well at first with physical therapy but has not kept up at home the way she should. They told me that her growth plates showed she was too developed for a brace.

Then my DD was diagnosed with pectus carinatum (pigeon chest) at age 13. I had also plead for help locally but had to travel to get him help. He is currently wearing a brace. The only over option is surgery to remove bone in his sternum. It hasn't affected him emotionally yet but I don't think we will do the surgery as his is more cosmetic than anything else.

My best wishes for you and your family that you find the care for your daughter that she needs.


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## jnk36jnk (Mar 9, 2004)

I am sorry to hear about your daughter but it is a good thing that you have been able to diagnose this earlier rather than later. No one figured out that I had scoliosis until I was pregnant with my first child. Of course not much could be done to correct it. I have a 53% curvature now and the older I get the more crooked I get. I figure by the time I am an old lady (not too far from now) I will be all bent over looking at the ground! I have lost two inches in the past ten years and sometimes have difficulty breathing. So, if you can get some sort of correction going, all the better. J


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## kibitzer (Feb 11, 2008)

My heart goes out to you.

I am a Licensed Massage Therapist in NY. One of the modalities I practice is called Bowenwork (aka Bowtech, in other countries). We have had some good results with this very gently hands-on therapy. It is non-invasive, and can be used on newborns through the elderly. 
Despite the seemingly small moves on the person's skin and muscles, it can have HUGE results. Since you have a few months until surgery, it might be advantageous (sp?) to try a non-invasive approach, too.

(Bowenwork originated in Austrailia, and came to the US in the 1990's. It is practiced in over 31 countries, by more than 25,000 practitioners.)

I am not sure where So Cal is in CA exactly, but you can look up practitioners on Bowenwork.com for someone close to you. Sandra Gustafson is an instructor in the Oakland area, I believe. There may be others closer to you.

Please feel free to email me at [email protected] yahoo.com (remove space) for more info. The website has good info, and looking up Bowenwork or Bowtech can get you to more international sites.

- Andrew


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## CanadaCruizin (Jul 3, 2004)

Our 10 yr old daughter has scoliosis. I don't know what the numbers are (curvature, etc) but we enrolled her in synchronized swimming and it has help a great deal. My wife (the nurse who knows the numbers) also has it and she says exercise helps and with DD swimming twice a week, it has reduced the curve. Can't say it will help for everyone, just saying it has helped in our case.


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## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

So Cal = Southern California

Darth Sydneous - Man, that's fantastic!


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