My DD may have scoliosis - anyone dealing with this?

M

MadnNatsmom

Cathlete
During a routine physical, her ped noticed that one of her shoulders were lower than the other and has ordered xrays for this Saturday.

My dd copes with severe food allergies and I just want to weep that something ELSE has been thrown across my athletic and spirited little girl . . . *sigh*
 
My DD has a slight case of this (she is 20) she is absolutly fine other than slightly rounded shoulders. I also have a slight curviture of my spine...since working out I find the right side of my back is a bit more muscledthan the left.
My DD rides horses, runs, works out...leads a normal life:) Hope this helps
 
My daughter's doctor noticed a slight curvature of the spine during a routine physical last year and tracked it with regular 6 mth x-rays for a year to see if it was getting worse. It didn't. She suffers no back pain, it certainly doesn't stop her from playing tennis and soccer, running, jumping and tackling other soccer players.

Your daughter will probably also be fine. At a recent visit, another doctor told me that sticking kids in chest braces for scoliosis was a thing of the past, unless the degree of curvature is severe and I think that is unlikely in your DD's case, because if she had a severe curvature, well, you'd have been alerted about it before now, right!

I remember being upset and anxious last year when my doctor mentioned "scoliosis" in connection with my daughter and I tormented myself looking up nasty images of acute spinal curvature online. God, I do not advise it, although it does have the positive side that it will reassure you that your daughter has nothing like that!

Clare
 
Wow, this thread is timely! My DS (13 1/2) yo was just diagnosed Wednesday with scoliosis and has an appt w/ an orthopedic specialist today. From what I read, they don't recommend braces unless the curvature is greater than 25 degrees. (Not sure what the cutoff is for the rotational aspect.) It also depends where the curvature is located (thoracic, or lumbar

DS has had annual check ups which included scoliosis checks and it was never apparent before this year. Ironically, the spinal curve showed up on a chest xray done to diagnose pneumonia!

Personally, I'm panicked because he hasn't hit his growth spurt yet and apparently the big worry is they can't predict what the spine will do during that time. :confused:
 
Find out how many degrees the scoliosis is. My daughter had 12 degrees and it was resolved thru chiropractic care.
 
We used to get "tested" for scoliosis in grade school, and our nurse sent me to a specialist because she thought I had it. Turns out my rib cage is uneven and it throws my spine out of whack. As long as I get adjustments every 6 months or so it's no big deal (I'm 28 now).

I wouldn't panic, hopefully it will just be a minor inconvienence.
 
How old is your daughter? My daughter is 14 1/2 and was diagnosed with Scoliosis last November. I was just sick about it. But after seeing a specialist, we were told that her case is mild (about 12-14 degrees-thorasic curvature). The specialist said that it shouldn't cause her any pain or problems, and if it did to come back. She had been complaining of pain for a while, that is how we found it in the first place. Long story short, I ended up taking her to a chiropractor and she is having great results with that. We went to a couple before we found a good one though. When she leans down to touch her toes, you can see that her shoulders are far more level than they were before, and she feels better and is sleeping better/less tired. She is also very active with Tennis and Soccer, like your daughter. The activity is a good thing. I have tried to get her to do yoga because I have heard that is good for scoliosis also, but she finds it very boring.....hope this helps.
 
I have it, my sister has it and my husband has a mild case. It's never been much of an issue for me. My sister used to have a lot of problems in high school but doesn't really have any issues now. All of us go to a chiropractor and I know there are some quacks out there, but my chiropractor is AWESOME.
 
I second Liann's love of her chiropractor! I switched about 11 years ago and won't go anywhere else. I was diagnosed w/ scoliosis around my freshman year in college. Can't remember the degree - pretty significant. Maybe 18? Ironically after years of swimming and physicals it wasn't caught until I was older. It was a great motivator for me to begin working out. And I've been running for 11 years (39 yrs. old now). I do have some back/neck pain which has gotten a little worse after having 3 kids, but my chiropractor keeps it in check so it's not bad. Part of it is my fault - should focus more on core stregth. Just kind of prepare yourself for the xrays. I wasn't really prepared and when the doc put them up there I about fell off my chair realizing these were pics of MY BACK. Again, mine is a very defined "s" shape and it was NOT hard to see. I'm fine now, but it really threw me for some time.

Keep us informed on how things turn out. It's shocking to hear at first but most of the time it really isn't that bad. I'm fully expecting my 11 yr old to develop it. Hang in there, take a deep breath, and be thankful if you can that it could be something much worse :)
 
My apologies to the OP for hijacking this thread and not being a soothing voice of reason but I'm partly to moderately freaked. We just saw the orthopedist today and my son's curvature is 30%!!!

The orthopedist does not want to put him in a brace yet. He wants to take another set of xrays in 6 mos & see if there's any change. He said this has been there for years but it must have accelerated since my son's last physical check up in late August, 2010 as there's no way the pediatrician would have missed this. (He knows our pediatrician & our school nurse & said they are excellent.)

Hyperventilating here, people....:confused:
 
Sorry to hear that Joan! Try not to freak out - there are so many approaches and different options that may/may not work for everyone. This is going to sound terrible, but ... there is a gal tha works at our local Target. About two years ago she ended up having surgery for her scoliosis and was thrilled with the results. Obviously she was fully grown and it's not a desirable option but there can be good outcomes. How old is your son? Deep breath ...
 
He's 13 yrs and 8.5 months. He'll be 14 in late July.

Thank you so much for the reassuring thoughts. Trying to breathe...
 
I am feeling for you right now. My oldest daughter, now 17, was diagnosed with scoliosis in 8th grade. she had a severe S curve. Her curve was opposite to the way most people had it , so she had to have an MRI to rule out an Arnold Chiari malformation. Luckily, she did not have this. Her thoracic curve was 100 degrees and her lumbar curve was 106 degrees. She eventually had to have surgery to implant rods for correction. That was two years ago. She has recovered nicely. She does have some pain from time to time . She does have to think about her protecting her back. but overall, I feel that she is living a normal life.
 
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