Patient Stories

Scoliosis is becoming a familiar term since many teenagers and adults have it. There are several degrees of Scoliosis and different sorts of approaches so as to try to fix it or learn how to live with it, therefore the decision of how to face it is quite personal. In my case, I was diagnosed with severe double Scoliosis on the widely known in Spain The 14 years old GP revision. To be honest with you, I received this news like an unexpected bomb blowing up in my face. I felt petrified, as if all my world had gone into shambles, however, after some ups and downs, I managed to turn it around. After all, it was nothing like cancer nor any serious illness as such. I have two grave curvatures along my spine, being the sharpest one on the upper part of it, just after my neck, but both of them have around 50 degrees, thus I was still lucky since 60 is considered the red flag. In fact, should you have that extreme curvature, you will have no choice but to have surgery so that surgeons place a stick attached to your column. Taking this into account, my doctor and my parents let me decide whether I wanted to get into the operating room or not. The procedure was not going to be easy at all due to the proximity of my first curvature to my bone marrow. On top of that, the recovery time was predicted to be so long that I would have to miss a whole year of studies. In light of this view, I opted for avoiding surgery as much as possible and adapt myself to my condition. In the very beginning, I started to go swimming, which I hate, but shortly after, one of my aunties suggested undertaking physiotherapy and I gave it a try. The aim of this alternative solution was to stretch out the stiff muscles of my back to alleviate the Scoliosis or, at least, to impede the continuation of the curvature. Consequently, I had to stop swimming and gym class at school, nevertheless, this watershed was kind of a relief since I am absolutely terrible at sports. To be frank, it was harsh. Having weekly seasons to stretch my surprisingly contracted back was painful, but the worst part was to go on a regular basis to the doctor for a check-up. I was a teenager and every time I had an appointment I had to awkwardly get naked so that I could have X-Rays and my doctor could analyze how my Scoliosis was developing. Nonetheless, even more, difficult and stressful was the waiting, waiting to know if my curvature was getting worse, which would have meant having the surgery. Then, years later, when I was about to reach my twenties, I used to face the inconvenience of being incapable of clubbing with my friends for long, on account of how contracted my lumbar spine got by standing up for hours. Moreover, I was ashamed of the fact that my ribs were quite marked and noticeable. The bright side was that physiotherapy helped to a great extent to ease all these problems and when I turned 21 I was finally discharged from my horrible doctor appointments. Indeed the specialist confirmed that my curvature was not going to move further, therefore, I was finally free. All told, I got rid of X-Rays and uncomfortable check-ups, and instead of tackling weekly seasons of physiotherapy, I commenced to only have them monthly. Now, eleven years later, I only call my physiotherapist when I feel my lumbar spine or neck contracted, which normally is once every two or three months. In conclusion, having severe Scoliosis when you are a mere teenager is shocking and arduous. Notwithstanding, in this day and age, in spite of being aware of the fact that my back is far from beautiful and perfect, and the matter that I still have to sit down on chairs with a backrest in order to avoid pain, I have learned to live with my special column with the certainty that I am not the only person who has this abnormality, hence I do not see my self as an alien, nor should you. Actually, 3% of youngsters have it, thus, you are not alone.