1st visit - hope

I'll admit, I was scared!  I had successfully avoided doctors, X-rays, measurements since I was a teenager.

I met Gail!  She began right away....correcting the way I sat in the chair, the way I stood, the way I laid down.  Finally someone could show me how to hold my body.  I had given up on ever knowing which way was helpful or harmful (with an s curve it is nearly impossible to visualize)

She performed a series of measurements, and we began

Because I am 49 - she said we would take it slow.  We started with some simple excercises that I would do at home

She told me that although it would be unlikely that we could correct my spine, our goals would be to relieve the pain and halt the curve from getting worse

I left with hope!

Why I chose schroth

As I searched the internet looking for alternative treatments, I became more and more discouraged.

There is not a lot of promising success stories for adult scoliosis

I stumbled on the schroth method - started in Germany in the 20's.  " The Schroth Method is a physiotherapeutic treatment system which uses isometric and other exercises to strengthen or lengthen asymmetrical muscles in a scoliotic body. Its goals are to halt progression of abnormal spinal curvature, and in the best case to reverse the curves."

Something about this made sense to me.  The idea of lengthening and stretching your spine sounded like it would help (at least alleviate the pain)

The amazing thing was that here was a certified physical therapist 15 minutes away from me.  I took this as a sign

Family history

You would be surprised to know that my family is in fact very "healthy" and active. We have had family members live well into their 90's
That being said, we can't seem to grow our spines straight!

Here is a list of my family members that have worn back braces


Me
My sister
My first cousin
My daughter
My niece


I would draw the unscientific  conclusion that it is hereditary

2nd visit

Why was I ever fighting this?  Today I layed on a massage table with a heating pad and surrounded by comfy pillows.
I added a new exercise, added a new prop (rice bag) and learned the correct way to stand.

 The excercises is a  little complicated for me, but she said I would get the hang of it.  It is amazing how a hard it is to understand your own back curves. Having never seen it from behind it is impossible to envision which direction they go in.

As I left her office my therapists face lit up and she said "you did get taller!!!"

First finding out

It was when I was when I was 9 that I remember the phone ringing.  My mother picked up the corded phone - (yes the kind attached to the wall with the rotary dial) and began to get very emotional.
She had barely hung when I found myself bent over in the kitchen.  My aunt had called to tell her that my cousin had just been diagnosed with scoliosis and that it was hereditary.

As she examined my back she started to panic.   She obsessively checked my back every second she could. For the following week, I found myself paraded in front of neighbors, relatives and anyone else willing to look - all confirming at something was not right.

I guess at one point we landed in a doctors office for the official diagnosis. I had scoliosis.

Purpose

Okay....this is a risk for me.  I have decided to share my story of living with scoliosis after years of trying to hide from it. I am 49 years old and have had scoliosis since the age of 8.
I always felt that talking about it would "draw" more attention to it. After being in a back brace through the awkward middle school years, the last thing I wanted was to create any kind of discussion about my back

Lately my curve has taken a turn (literally) for the worst and the pain is no longer deniable.  I have been forced out of hiding to explore treatment options. My goal through this blog is to take you along with my "healing" journey so that others may learn from my experience.

~ Pam