It's taken me a long time to get to this topic, so what better reason to talk about it than during its awareness month? Below I discuss the definition, symptoms, types, causes, and treatments for dealing with this particular form of chronic back pain.
What is Scoliosis? Simply put, it's a curvature of the spine. Anything over 10 degrees on an x-ray qualifies. There is an S curve and a C curve, depending what shape the spine goes in. Mine actually curves to the sides and out, making it hard for me to lay on the floor for exercises and giving me 2 permanent bruises on the skin of my back where the spine presses against it.
What are the symptoms? You may experience low back pain, stiffness, muscle fatigue, numbness from pinched nerves, a visible curve, a lean to one side, one shoulder blade looking bigger than the other, or uneven appearing hips, legs, or shoulders. Something interesting to note is that while minor Scoliosis shows up just as often in boys as it does girls it is 10 times more likely to get worse in girls and become an actual issue. Thus, if you receive a diagnosis as a teen it's important to keep monitoring it and make sure the curvature isn't increasing over time.
How is it diagnosed? I know when I was in school they would always make us line up in gym class with our shirts over our heads to go down the row and look at our spines. The funny thing is, even though I was going in for x-rays for back pain starting at the age of 6 none of my gym teachers ever suspected anything from looking at me in the locker room. Gym teachers are not doctors or nurses and I always wondered why they were tasked with this weird objective. The only real way to test for Scoliosis is to have your back x-rayed and these have improved greatly since the ones I was getting in the early 90's.
What are the types? About 80% of Scoliosis cases are Idiopathic, meaning we don't know what caused them. It's rare, but you can also have Congenital, which comes from the way you are formed in the womb. Your vertebrae can be be incomplete or not divide properly when being formed so you would already have Scoliosis at birth. Neuromuscular means the Scoliosis stems from another condition like Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, or a spinal chord injury. And finally, Degenerative occurs when your joints and disks wear out as you age. The types also range depending on where in the back the curve appears, the thoracic, lumbar, or both regions.
What are the cures? While there is no technical cure for Scoliosis, there are treatments to attempt to straighten the spine and relieve some of the associated symptoms. If discovered early enough you can wear a back brace to straighten out the curve while you continue to grow during puberty. If a child is still growing and the curvature is severe then a spine and rib-based operation can be performed. This means that a doctor uses hardware to attach rods to the spine ribs and adjust them as the child grows. If the curvature is severe enough and the patient old enough then spinal fusion surgery can be done. During this operation, pieces of bone are placed between the bones of your spine and pieces of hardware hold them in place until they fuse together.
How does this condition affect my life? While we all know that Scoliosis leads to back pain, but how does it affect the rest of the body? I wish someone had told me sooner that it can lead to pelvic pain because I didn't see this correlation when I was young and couldn't figure out why I was unable to insert a tampon or have sex. If the curvature of your spine is low enough then it can tilt your pelvis, causing nerve and muscular pain. This can obviously lead to issues in the whole lower half of your body, such as Piriformis Syndrome, Sciatica, and general discomfort standing for any length of time. In my case, my Scoliosis has worsened over time and led to more issues over the years. While I've always had Vaginismus, I did develop worse symptoms experiencing whiplash from a bad car accident in 2013. Suddenly hiking became difficult, sitting through a movie, or bending to do the tasks at my job. I've found comfort from soaking in epsom salt baths, sitting with a lumbar support, applying my TENS unit, sore no more oil, and monthly massages. Daily stretching is also very important for all of us, but especially those with chronic pain. Don't let this condition rule your life! It's very common and there are plenty of people out there who can relate and commiserate with your experience.
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