What are your experiences with scoliosis and/or lordosis? [name]Do[/name] you think it made pregnancy more difficult? I have both, fairly mildly. They were missed during the 7th grade scoliosis exam and diagnosed 2 years later, shortly before I turned 15.
I worry because the scoliosis is in my lower back. Y’know, the part pregnant ladies clutch in movies as they waddle around. I worry pregnancy will put extra strain on it and be painful.
I believe my scoliosis (or at least the tendency for it) is genetic as my mom has it in the same area. [name]How[/name] can I go about making sure my hypothetical future children get proper treatment and diagnosis? I was ignored because I was “too young” to be in the kind of pain I was in.
Scoliosis is absolutely genetic; your child would be examined and screened for it like any other child. It shouldn’t impact your pregnancy much but it might well make epidural pain relief more difficult/patchy.
Lordosis will be more of a problem. [name]Every[/name] pregnant woman develops a degree of lordosis simply due to the extra bulk of uterus + baby in the pelvis, thus increasing the relative curvature of the lumbar spine. It wouldn’t be dangerous unless you already have some anterior disc degeneration which could be heightened in pregnancy.
Back pain in pregnancy comes primarily from the fact that we bipedal humans maintain our upright posture via the paraspinal muscles (those in your back, next to your spine, hence the name) but 1/2 the work is done by your abdominal wall muscles, the rectus abdominus. In pregnancy those are stretched and split and do none of the work of maintaining your posture. The back muscles have to do it all as a result, and they become fatigued and achy.
[name]Even[/name] now I’m hoping for a natural birth because the needle and not being able to feel/control my body scares me a lot more than the pain does. Still, good to know in case I every need a c-section or something. My scoliosis is in the same area where an epidural is placed.
As far as I know, I don’t have any degeneration issues. The last time I went to a doctor, he felt pretty confident my pain was from my scoliosis. He gave me an insert to put in my shoe to even out my hips, and that took away virtually all my pain. I haven’t been back for ages due to lack of insurance.
What are the chances of scoliosis and/or lordosis being corrected or improved without surgery? In an ideal world, I’d be going to the chiropractor and physical therapy regularly. I have before and it helped so, so much. It might be too late for me (I was showing symptoms at 12, received some treatment between 15-18, and I’m nearly 20 now), but if I had been diagnosed and received treatment when I was younger, could it have been corrected?
[name]How[/name] do I make sure my kids are screened correctly? I was screened but they missed it. I have no idea how, considering I can [name]FEEL[/name] my scoliosis very easily. What sorts of treatments are appropriate for a pre-teen with mild scoliosis?
Having a strong lordotic curve isn’t necessarily a problem. Some people naturally just have strong front to back curvature through the spine, with more pronated feet, curvier sacrums and occiputs. It’s one possibility in a range of functional possibilities and it doesn’t necessarily mean weakness or dysfunction. With the scoliosis, depending on how extreme your sidebend/rotation is, pregnancy might make your back more uncomfortable, because as [name]Blade[/name] said, those paraspinal muscles will be bearing most of the weight of your belly. In my experience, Rolfing (ideally before pregnancy, and not in your first trimester) can help relieve the strain from scoliosis and a good rolfer can undo torsions in the connective tissue that reinforce the spinal curvature. Physical therapy for strengthening, with consideration for the asymmetries, is helpful. Chiropractors will generally only adjust the bones of the spine, without any concern for the rest of the body. The connective tissues tend to pull things back out of alignment if you don’t do something to address the myofascial strain. If money/insurance is an issue, sometimes a very skilled pilates instructor will be able to design strengthening and stretching exercises that are scoliosis-specific, but I don’t know what the yoga/pilates/bodywork culture is like where you live. Check out Rolfing. The closest rolfer to Humboldt [name]CA[/name] that I know of is in [name]Redding[/name]. [name]Diana[/name] Burkholder… she’s also an RN.
re: the placement and effects of an epidural, there are a great number of misconceptions. We had a long detailed thread about it a few months ago where I tried to outlay the mechanics of placement, dispel common myths like there is a “needle in your back” and you’re paralyzed, etc. You might want to take a look:
You’re right-- if something like mild orthopedic correction such as shoe inserts dramatically improved your pain, you definitely don’t have disc disease.
Unfortunately primary scoliosis is not correctable by any other than orthopedic means, which includes bracing, casting and surgery. It is a bony deformity. [As an aside, adults with secondary scoliosis due to a neuromuscular condition like cerebral palsy do achieve some success with aggressive physical therapy]. Lordosis, however, is partially bony and partially ligamentous/muscular, so you might have better luck with physical therapy. Chiropractors can offer relief that’s largely identical to massage and relaxation, but their theory of ‘adjustments’ is factually incorrect [it’s rather New Age-y, based on chakra-type energy which flows through your body and is ‘blocked’ by microanomalies in your spine. If you believe that, then by all means go to a chiropractor].
The vast majority of adults with some degree of scoliosis do not require surgical correction. Most of the time severe scoliosis is corrected by bracing in childhood while there is some skeletal growth remaining. Surgery is aggressive and involves, essentially, breaking all the vertebrae and straightening them with rods. It’s reserved for people with curvatures of something like 45-50 degrees or more.
Children are screened both by their pediatricians as well as in school programs. Of course the diagnosis is dependent on the skill of the observor. Children deemed to have abnormal curvatures are sent for an Xray series to confirm. In school, and often at your pediatrician’s, children are asked to remove their shirts and bend forward- any abnormal protuberance is noted and the child is officially screened. Of course as a parent you can always request evaluation of your child if you’re concerned.
I despise the feeling of being numb–or rather, the lack of feeling. I’ve been numbed for a dental filling and it drove me absolutely nutty. And my face itched the entire time I was numb. I know it’s not supposed to happen, but it did.
I just know that going to the chiropractor helped me a lot. I feel more balanced and relaxed after I’ve gone. I’ve seen two chiropractors, and neither ever said anything about the chakra/energy flow stuff. I guess they were more the massage-type. The one I saw more recently was very good and did a thorough physical examination. I guess I could go to a massage therapist, but I prefer to see someone who, in this case, has an extensive science background and multiple postgraduate degrees.
[name]Emma[/name]-[name]Redding[/name] is quite a drive for me, but thanks for the info about rolfing! I’ll have to look at it more. I did pilates and yoga in HS as part of PE but I found both were uncomfortable at best. And I managed to really hurt my knee doing it!
I feel a lot better now. This was worrying me, but not so much any more.