View Full Version : Fatigue, pain, associated with scoliosis
KiranA
11-11-2003, 12:30 AM
Hi all,
I'm just curious as to what others do to reduce pain and fatigue associated with scoliosis. I'm pretty sure I'll be opting for surgery as soon as I can clear my schedule to get it done. I find that regardless of how active I am, I still experience fatigue because I feel like I'm constantly holding myself up. I have a severe S curve in my spine, one measuring at 63 degrees, the other at 72. I've also developed a rotating scoliosis, and now I'm also developing a curve which sticks my ribs out, I believe it is called kyphosis. It's not a pretty sight. I thought I'd get away with not having rods put in my back, but by the looks of it, I won't be able to deal with all of this much longer. Any input would be awesome.
Thanks,
Kiran
"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." - Oscar Wilde
antiquity
11-11-2003, 02:14 PM
Hi Globe, our curves sound similar. I understand the fatigue that comes with having to constantly stabilize yourself. I have a custom molded back with lateral supports which help a lot, plus my seat back reclines allowing me to lean back so that I don't feel like I'm always leaning forward. As long as I'm sitting supported or lying on my side with a wedge between my ribs and hip, I won't have any pain.
My rib cage is rotated too which causes one shoulder to be higher than the other.
Spinal fusion is major surgery. Before you agree to have it done make you explore all of your options, including the different types of fusion. A search in Care under "scoliosis" should turn up a lot of info.
Kaprikorn1
11-11-2003, 02:58 PM
Globe...
I can't speak to the scoliosis issue but from someone with rods and fusion from L3-T9, I haven't had any trouble with my appliances/fusion. There was a lot of pain at surgery site and especially at the bone donor site at top of iliac (pelvis).
Most pain was gone by about 3-4 mo's post surgery except at donor site. That sucker hurt for over a year!
Not sure with that much dual curvature what the decompression/straightening would be like but I was brought into ER with upper body at about 60 degree forward bend (due to L1 burst) and they straightened and decompressed me with the rods then added the fusion for stability.
I feel it was successful as I can now walk pretty well and stand and sit fine. The biggest problem is that since my fusion goes down to L3, I only have L4,L5 for low back flexion. It gives me low back pain and disks there are showing slight degeneration after 2 years.
One thing to think about....how will straightening and fusion effect your racing?
Kaprikorn1
>I have a severe S curve in my back, and it has >also started to rotate. I think I would have >been okay, if it had stabilized, but it appears >to be getting worse. I'm having some breathing >issues, and I'm in constant pain. I'm >constantly shifting my weight, trying to make >myself more comfortable. I find long distances >hard to push in my everyday chair, just cuz >sitting upright can get tiresome.
My curve isn't as bad as yours, but I have the same problems of rotated shoulder (my right side is torqued forward), feeling crooked and shifting aound trying to get comfy, inability to reach things (like my keyboard - I used to be a much better typist.) I no longer use a manual chair. Don't know how much of my pain is scoliosis-related.
Alan
"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"
stormie464
11-13-2003, 01:38 PM
globe...i also have a severe curve. when i saw this post it brought back some trying times for me. i had to wear a brace for 8 yrs...they found my scoliosis when i was 9. i sometimes wonder to this day if that brace did anything for me. i too have pain and sometimes get a sharp feelin around my lungs & ribs. i was fortunate though and always able to exercise...never letting that dam scoliosis beat me. i also had a mom that was always on my ass.... "stand up straight" lol. as for the surgery...my doctor - who was one of the leading scoliosis specialists in new england at the time - back then advised my mom against it...maybe things have changed today. i know there were other methods used besides the steel rods but have forgotten about all that over the yrs. good luck http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif
stormie
Wise Young
11-13-2003, 04:14 PM
Kiran, I just posted an answer to your question on the SCI (Clinical) Research Forum in the topic entitled Guille, et al. (2003). ...vertebral wedge osteotomies for the fusionless treatment ...scoliosis (http://carecure.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23305)
People who look at me tell me my left shoulder is lower than my right, yet I always feel like I'm falling and tilting to the right.
Alan
"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"
KiranA
11-18-2003, 06:33 PM
I'm no doctor, Alan, but when I started to develop an S curve, that's how I looked. What happens is you have a C curve, and your body wants to naturally correct it, so you start forcing your body to go in the opposite direction. So the falling sensation that you were feeling was prolly from a curve in the lumbar area and now, you've developed another curve to balance out in the higher thoracic(sp) or cervical area. If it's bothering you, request an xray. It'd be great if you were able to prevent it from getting any worse.
Good luck.
"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." - Oscar Wilde
I had an x-ray, but it was unfortunately taken laying down., which greatly reduces the curve. We need to find a place that can take me sitting up.
Alan
"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"