DD just diagnosed w/scoliosis. Any advice?

[tiawolfe]

DD, 10, was just diagnosed with scoliosis. We haven't seen the ortho yet, but the pediatrician said there is a double curve, one is 19 1/2 degrees and the other is a little less than that. She had x-rays done about 6 months ago due to pneumonia, and the doctor said there was no curve at that time. Since it progressed so suddenly, and she is so young, we are probably looking at some sort of brace.

My husband had scoliosis in high school, and thinking about my daughter going through all of the things that he did (discomfort, teasing, etc.) is breaking my heart.

Has anyone else had to deal with this? Are the braces very cumbersome?

I'm one stressed mama! Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[barkley]

I wore a Milwaukie brace for scoliosis all 3 years of high school-I think the braces have gotten less cumbersome and more comfortable over the years but it still wasn't that horrendous to deal with. as for discomfort I used like a felt adhesive fabric to cover portions of the brace that rubbed my skin, and because the darn thing acted like a mobile sauna (I went down SEVERAL pant sizes w/in the first few months) I took to wearing men's undershirts ('wife-beaters') underneath the brace to absorb perspiration. the main thing I remember is some difficulty in finding clothes that fit well over it but thankfully jumpsuits were popular then and they worked really well.

dd was diagnosed with scoliosis when she was younger but it was less severe than mine so we would just go in about every 6 months to track it. she was given the same back exercises I was prescribed when I was a kid (they didn't even start testing in the schools for this until I was in 9th grade so many of us that could have been treated w/o back braces were diagnosed too late).

 

[goofy!]

DD, 10, was just diagnosed with scoliosis. We haven't seen the ortho yet, but the pediatrician said there is a double curve, one is 19 1/2 degrees and the other is a little less than that. She had x-rays done about 6 months ago due to pneumonia, and the doctor said there was no curve at that time. Since it progressed so suddenly, and she is so young, we are probably looking at some sort of brace.

My husband had scoliosis in high school, and thinking about my daughter going through all of the things that he did (discomfort, teasing, etc.) is breaking my heart.

Has anyone else had to deal with this? Are the braces very cumbersome?

I'm one stressed mama! Any advice would be appreciated!

My niece was diagnosed at 16 with severe scoliosis. Hers was in the 20's, 22 degrees if I recall correctly. The xray looked like a big S, none of us could believe she was still standing.

She had surgery and had two rods placed in her back. She never wore a brace.

She was out of the hospital in less than a week. She had to take it easy, but not limited, for 6 months. It has been a couple of years now and she is fine.

She "grew" 2 inches after the surgery and was all of a sudden taller than her older sister. That was worth everything to her It was all very non traumatic.

 

[Hardy]

Both of my kids have scoliosis. One is braced, one is not yet. 20 degrees may still be in watch and wait mode. My kids are X-rayed every 4 months.

My sons double curve is so high, his most recent brace is doing nothing. It may be we just have to wait and see how bad it gets. He does have a night brace with neck attachment that helps. My daughter (just turned 11, diagnosed at 9) has a single lower curve about 20 degrees, it appears to be 25 degrees but she has a leg length discrepancy so a block under her foot for X-rays fixes that.

A 20 degree curve is nothing to worry about, if it doesn't get any worse, she won't have any problems. It's once they hit around 50 where they may have to surgically fix it, because it may progress even after she's done growing. Just note the brace is meant to hold the curve, not fix it. My son (13, diagnosed at 12) is at about 35 or so and we are hopeful he gets through growing without getting much worse.

If you get a brace, a tight fitting seamless shirt is the way to go. A memory foam mattress topper is also great. They actually have shirts for under the brace the orthotist can get you. My son uses power slim Hanes shirts as his preferred though.

 

[StitchBuddy]

Sorry to hear about your DD. My DD was diagnosed at age 12. Her's was curved in two places and rotated in the hip area. I cringed everytime she had a growth spurt. She took a saliva test, it can predict if it should progress later in life. We went back every six months for years. She is 17 yrs old and a senior, she was finally released this past summer. Hers finally stopped progressing. She has about a 28 degree curve in both places. They don't usually do surgery until it hits the high 30's or 40 degrees. My DD is a competive athlete and is going to compete for a D1 school. Keep your chin up and try not to fret. I know it is scary. I spent many sleepless nights worrying about what would happen. It is very interesting to me that my DD just shrugged it off. Her attitude was, so what my back is curved. I think (know) it was much harder on me than it was her.
I had a student go through the surgery and came through it just fine.
Feel free to private maessage me if you want.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I got a call from the school district nurse when DS16 was in 8th grade. She said she was checking all the 8th graders for scoliosis and said she measured an 8-9 degree curve in DS's back. She recommended taking him to the pediatrician, who measured it at a 9 degree curve. He also ordered a back x-ray which didn't show anything different. The doctor said most orthopedists won't look at scoliosis unless the curve is at least 20 degrees, so DS's case is mild. We went back 6 months later after he'd grown another inch, and the curve was still 9 degrees, which is good news. The only way it's affected him is that one arm hangs slightly lower than the other. He does a lot of shows with a theater group, and when the costume designer sees him coming, she knows she will need to adjust his sleeves.

I would hope that kids wouldn't tease your DD if she has to wear a brace. My friend had scoliosis surgery in the summer before we started high school. She came to school with a body cast. Other kids asked her questions about it, but I don't recall anyone being mean. That was the early 80s.

 

[Minnie-Mickey]

DD was also diagnosed. I was also told she had spina bifida occulta and missing vertebrae. Not sure what there really is to do as she is already 5'7". Trying to get her to exercise to make her back stronger.