Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

Many teenagers will probably recognize Shailene Woodley. She plays Hazel Grace in "The Fault in our Stars" and Tris Prior in "Divergent". But did you know that she also suffers from Scoliosis? Shailene Woodley was diagnosed with Scoliosis when she was 15 years old. She had to also wear a back brace,18 hours a day for two years. When doing an interview for Marie Claire, Woodley said "Some people have crooked teeth, some people have broken fingers; and I've got a back that has my initial on it". Such an inspiration to us twisties, eh?  There are many more celebrities that have scoliosis; whether they've had bracing, or whether they've had the surgery. But I will be posting more celebrities, possibly once a week! I find that many of their stories are such an inspiration, and it shows that you can still go out there and do what you want even with Scoliosis!  If you want to read more about Shailene Woodley's Scoliosis then here's a lin...

I thought for my first blog I'd introduce myself and tell you a bit about my Scoliosis journey. So, my name's Kat and I'm currently 16 years old. I was diagnosed with Scoliosis in 2009 after a holiday to Florida where my Dad noticed my ribs were sticking out. My first appointment with my surgeon was 2 months later, where I was told I'd have to have surgery as my curve was already at 44 degrees and was too late for bracing. When I had surgery in January 2010, my curve had increased to 53 degrees. My surgery took 6 hours and I came out with an almost fully straight spine (3 degrees). My recovery was quite a speedy one, so when I finally went back to school I only missed an hour of it as I went home early. From having the surgery, I can tell you that having the surgery is really worth it! The pain decreases a lot after surgery. You may get a few bad days, but nowhere near as many bad days as you had before surgery. There are so many reasons why having the surgery is wo...

ScoliosisJournal posted a new article which talks about the correlation study between in-brace correction, compliance to spinal orthosis and health-related quality of life of patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Authors:  Siu Ling Chan , Kenneth MC Cheung , Keith DK Luk , Kenneth WH Wong and Man Sang Wong Background It has been proposed that in-brace correction is the best guideline for prediction of the results of brace treatment for patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS). However, bracing may be a stressful experience for patients and bracing non-compliance could be psychologically related. The purpose of this study was to assess the correlation between brace compliance, in-brace correction and QoL of patients with AIS. Methods Fifty-five patients with a diagnosis of AIS were recruited. All were female and aged 10?years or above when a brace was prescribed, none had undergone prior treatment, and all had a Risser sign of 0?2 and a...

Simone Icough August 2011 Well, I haven't posted here for some time, not from my own words anyway! I wanted to try and touch base with everyone again as it seems my Scoliosis support has lacked some enthusiasm since the death of my husband (Chris Icough) and I have been trying to find the strength to get involved again and be who I used to be - this journey has been hard so far and I know I will struggle with it for the rest of my life, however, Chris helped me start my great support group (which ended up being called "howtolookgoodtwisted") and he would be sad if I chose to give it up, we helped create so many great friendships for people with Scoliosis and when all is said and done, I hope that can continue. I suppose this post is mainly an apology to the members of the group for slipping away into the darkness and hiding, but to be honest I didn't know what else to do, this was an inevitable reaction from my mind, body and soul and I guess it has taken me thi...

iScoliosis recently published an article in relation to: Pulmonary function after less invasive anterior instrumentation and fusion for idiopathic thoracic scoliosis Published: 21 August 2013 Purpose: Standard thoracotomy for anterior instrumentation and fusion of the thoracic spine in idiopathic scoliosis may have detrimental effects on pulmonary function. In this study we describe a less invasive anterior surgical technique and show the pre- and postoperative pulmonary function with a minimum follow-up of 2 years. Methods Twenty patients with Lenke type 1 adolescent thoracic idiopathic scoliosis were treated with anterior spinal fusion and instrumentation. The mean preoperative Cobb angle of the thoracic curve was 53[degree sign] +/- 5.8. Pulmonary function tests (PFT) and radiographic evaluation was performed. Results The mean postoperative correction in Cobb angle of the thoracic curve was 27[degree sign] +/- 8.2 (49%). The mean preoperative FEV1...

Jess contact How To Look Good twisted to talk to us about her Scoliosis Charity Ball which is taking place on the same day as our own event in York.   Jess is 15 years old and is raising money for Scoliosis, her event will be held at Jocasta's Lincoln.    Jess says "Scolio is a charity that I set up which sends gifts and grants wishes to children around the UK with serious conditions and illnesses. I set up Scolio after an operation to correct my Scoliosis where unfortunately I suffered rare complications (I have now made an almost full recovery)"   Tickets for the ball are £40 which includes a welcome drink, 3 course meal, coffee, raffle, disco, auction, photographer and live entertainment by Off Limits!    This will be a brilliant night which shouldn't be missed, says Jess.   "I really hope you are able to join us as it would be great to see as many people as possible there."   For tickets to the Scolio Ball, please contact Jess vi...