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Showing posts from December, 2009

Ironing & Scoliosis!

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Well I am sure many of you ladies and men out there with Scoliosis know all too well how ironing can effect our backs especially when lifting heavy ironing boards in and out of their storage so I wanted to share with you what I found one day when shopping and decided to try instead of my usual heavy lumpy board. As you can see from the image above I iron on my kitchen work top, the portable ironing board that I bought from IKEA is, in my opinion, the best thing since sliced bread where ironing is concerned. It is light weight to carry from A to B, I get no neck ache from using it as the work surface is the right height for me and I get no lumbar problems from having to carry it around - I LOVE IT! The image above shows you how easy this board is to manouvere and use, it is very small, but not too small that I cannot iron shirts or jeans, yes I have a lot less space than I did with my previous ironing board but for me it was about the pain issues and not the work space available. I kept

Childhood AIS in an Adult.....

ScoliosisJournal have reported on an unusual case where the reversal of childhood idiopathic scoliosis is now present in the patient as an adult, without surgery: a case report and literature review Authors: William J Brooks, Elizabeth A Krupinski and Martha C Hawes Background Some patients with mild or moderate thoracic scoliosis (Cobb angle <50-60 degrees) suffer disproportionate impairment of pulmonary function associated with deformities in the sagittal plane and reduced flexibility of the spine and chest cage. Long-term improvement in the clinical signs and symptoms of childhood onset scoliosis in an adult, without surgical intervention, has not been documented previously. Case Presentation A diagnosis of thoracic scoliosis (Cobb angle 45 degrees) with pectus excavatum and thoracic hypokyphosis in a female patient (DOB 9/17/52) was made in June 1964. Immediate spinal fusion was strongly recommended, but the patient elected a daily home exercise program taught during a 6-week p

AIS: Natural history & long term treatment effects

PubMed released a paper on the natural history and long term treatment effects for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. Author: Asher MA , Burton DC. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA. Abstract: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is a lifetime, probably systemic condition of unknown cause, resulting in a spinal curve or curves of ten degrees or more in about 2.5% of most populations. However, in only about 0.25% does the curve progress to the point that treatment is warranted. Untreated, adolescent idiopathic scoliosis does not increase mortality rate, even though on rare occasions it can progress to the >100 degrees range and cause premature death. The rate of shortness of breath is not increased, although patients with 50 degrees curves at maturity or 80 degrees curves during adulthood are at increased risk of developing shortness of breath. Compared to non-scoliotic controls, most patients with untreated adolescent idiopathic s

Posterior Asymmetry & Idiopathic Scoliosis

I have removed some of the medical jargon that comes with these studies to enable us to try and understand more, I have offered the option of downloading the PDF at the bottom of the page for those who wish to read all the study. Study Key Points: Posterior Basicranium (PBA), divided in 2 parts joined to the foramen magnum, presents a torque in Idiopathic scoliosis (IS) PBA torque reflects cerebellar asymmetry in IS. PBA torque induces spatial asymmetry of the vestibular system and specially, of the otolithic system, with potential consequences on vestibular function and posture in IS. Study Abstract PBA asymmetry and idiopathic scoliosis Study design Are there neuro-anatomical abnormalities associated with idiopathic scoliosis (IS) Posterior Basicranium (PBA) reflects cerebellum growth and contains vestibular organs, two structures suspected to be involved in scoliosis. Objective The aim of this study was to compare posterior basicranium asymmetry (PBA) in Idiopathic scoliosis (IS) an

Scoliosis & Pregnancy

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There are many women out there who have concerns about getting pregnant when they have Scoliosis so I wanted to share my thoughts on this along with the thoughts of Dr Anita K Simmonds to help those who are worrying about pregnancy and scoliosis. Idiopathic scoliosis is fairly common in young females What are the risks of Pregnancy? In most cases there are very few risks You should ask yourself the following questions, however. What are the health risks of pregnancy to a mother with scoliosis? Will the baby inherit scoliosis? (25% chance of passing the baby Scoliosis) What are the risks to the baby? Are there likely to be any obstetric problems during the pregnancy or birth related to scoliosis? Is the pregnancy likely to produce a progression in the spinal curve of the mother? Am I fused, can the fusion cope with the strain? Idiopathic Scoliosis By this stage the developement of the lungs and heart is complete, and, apart from a mild degree of restricted lung capacity, individuals wit

Facebook & Being Annoyed!

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Well I don´t really know where to start with this, so I guess I will just go from the beginning! 3 weeks ago my account was compromised and I contracted the "Koobface" virus, a friend informed me that I was sending viruses out through my Facebook account, so, I updated my status from Twitter informing everyone that the message that was coming was NOT from me and to ignore, majority of my friends knew it was not me as the spelling was so bad - and I can spell! So, the saga now continues, I have been locked out of my Facebook account, I cannot reset my password as Facebook informs me that my Facebook friends have reported me for abuse (NICE!), now, as I am not in the habit of abusing people online (I abuse people to their face, come on!) and neither do I swear on my Facebook page I was confused as to why I could have been reported for abuse. I have been writing to Facebook EVERY single day about this problem, I am very concerned as all my credit card details are in my account a

AIS & Spinal Deformities - Spine & Trunk

Spine Journal report about the methodology of evaluation of morphology of the spine and the trunk in idiopathic scoliosis and other spinal deformities - 6th SOSORT consensus paper Authors: Tomasz Kotwicki, Stefano Negrini, Theodoros B Grivas, Manuel Rigo, Toru Maruyama, Jacek Durmala, Fabio Zaina and the Members of the international Society on Scoliosis Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT) Published: 26 November 2009 Background Comprehensive evaluation of the morphology of the spine and of the whole body is essential in order to correctly manage patients suffering from progressive idiopathic scoliosis. Although methodology of clinical and radiological examination is well described in manuals of ortho-paedics, there is deficit of data which clinical and radiological parameters are considered in every-day practise. Recently, an increasing tendency to extend scoliosis examination beyond the measure of the Cobb angle can be observed, reflecting a more patient-oriented approach