Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

Hey guys. I was looking up some exercises that are ideal for Scoliosis and came across some very useful ones.  Stretch Up and Reach Down The stretch up and reach down exercise is recommended for those with scoliosis by SportsInjuryClinic.net. Stand with your back against a wall, both arms dangling freely at your side. Standing with your back against the wall to perform this exercise helps you avoid bending forward or backward. If the left side of your back is your tight side, lift up your left arm so that it's pointing straight toward the ceiling. Reach up toward the ceiling with your left hand. At the same time, reach toward the floor with your right hand. You should feel a subtle shift in your spinal alignment with this stretch. Hold your stretch for five seconds, then relax. Repeat your stretch up and reach down exercise a total of 10 times, and perform your stretch two to three times per day. If you're not sure which side of your back is tighter or which arm you should ...

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...

ScoliosisJournal recently reported about physical therapy intervention studies on idiopathic scoliosis-review with the focus on inclusion criteria. Authors: Hans-Rudolf Weiss, MD, Elisabete Santos Leal, OMT, Ulrike Hammelbeck BSc Background Studies investigating the outcome of conservative scoliosis treatment differ widely with respect to the inclusion criteria used. This study has been performed to investigate the possibility to find useful inclusion criteria for future prospective studies on physiotherapy (PT). Materials and methods A PubMed search for outcome papers on PT was performed in order to detect study designs and inclusion criteria used. Results Real outcome papers (start of treatment in immature samples/end results after the end of growth; controlled studies in adults with scoliosis with a follow-up of more than 5 years) have not been found. Some papers investigated mid-term effects of exerci...

If there's one thing I've gotten very good at, it's complaining. Not about pain, mind you. Pain is inevitable and there is no point in complaining about it beyond the average "Ow, I hurt" and "Darling could you pretty please get me a heat pack?" followed by the batting of eyelashes. No, there is no point in complaining about pain. Unless you are really, super mad. I'm talking rage-infused-throttling-mind-blowing-full-of-hate mad. And over the holidays, literally a day before I had to pack up my world and move to a new city (incidentally, big cities are pretty sweet), I got mad . You see, I've been battling with the Alberta Government for some time to get AISH support. AISH either stands for Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped or As If, Shit, Hahahaha! I'm beginning to lean slightly towards the latter simply from this experience. I can't work full time. That's a given because of the pain. I also can't really afford my m...

As we seem to be blogging about people raising money of late, Laura pone of our very own moderators on the How To Look Good Twisted fan page, sent me some details of other people who are raising money for the SCF. Teamscoliosis will be running 13.1 miles which starts and finishes at the O2 Arena, London, 28th October, 2012. The people who are running this 13 miles were inspired to do this by one of our very own Moderators, Laura Campbell. They said "Our friend Laura has suffered with scoliosis since she was 13. At 18 her curve had progressed to 72 degrees and she underwent 10 hours of major life threatening surgery at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, when surgeons drilled titanium rods and screws into her spine to straighten it. After three days in intensive care and a week in hospital, Laura made a great recovery. However, she has since broken her back twice and two years ago her spine showed further signs of curving. She has recently had to have three m...

Dan Bell contact me via email to ask if we can share the news about the fund raising he and his girlfriend Nichola Stott will be doing for Scoliosis Research. They will be putting on their running shoes to raise money for the Scoliosis Campaign Fund. Dan had corrective surgery at the age of 13 to correct Scoliosis which is curvature of the spine. The operation involved the removal of 6 discs and the spine being fused, along with 2 titanium rods inserted in his back. "This event is all about giving a little back to a charity that does great work and also to raise some awareness of the condition. We really hope you can donate even a small amount in an effort to hit our target." On Saturday 10th November Dan will be taking part in the Brooks Hell Runner Down South, The Brooks HellRunner Hell Down South takes place at Longmoor Military Training Camp, near Bordon in Hampshire. Brooks HellRunner offers trail running at its toughest and most enjoyable. 10 -12 miles...

Well, it's been a while. I was fortunate to finally obtain full time employment outside of the retail sector (gasp) which has made earning money a bit easier on my spine. It has been a sad couple weeks for reasons I won't go into right now. Instead, I want to present you lovely folks with a bit of information. See, I lost my insurance coverage in April. Problematic, as I am a 'pre-existing condition' felon, and as such, the plans available to me through my regional insurance companies are limited. And do any of them cover my most important, most expensive medication? No, because that would make sense. So, since April I have been on a crusade to find coverage for my BuTrans patches. You think it wouldn't be hard, given that patches are more difficult to abuse and they provide long term (a week!) coverage that is delivered in even strides. None of the up and down of oral medications. BuTrans really improved my life when I began taking it, which says a lot given ho...

Sarah who is a member of our How To Look Good twisted Fan Page on Facebook, wanted to share some news with us about a new project they are undertaking with another not for profit organisation Simple Stuff Works CIC - they are looking to support four young people to use therapeutic night positioning. There is no cost to the individuals involved (they are setting aside just under £10k for the project to include all equipment) About PosturalCare We are looking for FOUR young people with idiopathic scoliosis to work with us on a fully funded project. BACK TO BASICS is just that, we want to see what happens when we address a really basic element of a person’s day - the position they sleep in. Young people spend on average three times longer in bed than they do in school, if it makes sense to you to think about this time then please read on! Back to Basics is a small, exciting project being funded by 2 Social Enterprises, Postural Care CIC and Simple Stuff Works CIC. Both ...

ScoliosisJournal recently reported about soft braces in the treatment of AIS - Review the literature and description of a new approach Authors: Hans-Rudlof Weiss and Mario Werkmann Background The use of soft braces to treat scoliosis has been described by Fischer as early as 1876. With the help of elastic straps, as the authors suggested, a corrective movement for individual curve patterns should be maintained in order to inhibit curve progression. Today this concept has been revived besides soft 3 point pressure systems. Some shortcomings have been revealed in literature in comparison with hard braces, however the concept of improving quality of life of a patient while under brace treatment should furtherly be considered as valuable. Purpose of this review is to gather the body of evidence existent for the use of soft braces and to present recent developments. Method A review of literature as available on Pub Med was performed using the key words ,scoliosis ...

ScoliosisJournal reported recently about Adolescents, bracing and the results from an everyday clinic using Thermobrace. Authors: Sabrina Donzelli, Fabio Zaina and Stefano Negrini Background The effectiveness of bracing relies on the quality of the brace, compliance of the patient, and some disease factors. Patients and parents tend to overestimate adherence, so an objective assessment of compliance has been developed through the use of heat sensors. In 2010 we started the everyday clinical use of a temperature sensor, and the aim of this study is to present our initial results. Methods Population: A prospective cohort of 68 scoliosis patients that finished at least 4 months of brace treatment on March 31, 2011: 48 at their first evaluation (79% females, age 14.2+/-2.4) and 20 already in treatment. Treatment: Bracing (SPoRT concept); physiotherapic specific exercises (SEAS School); team approach according to the SOSORT Bracing Management Guidelines. M...

ScoliosisJournal recently reported about Cotrel-dubousset instrumentation for the correction of AIS. Long term results with an unexpected high revision rate. Authors: Franz Mueller and Herbert Gluch Background For many years, the CD instrumentation has been regarded as the standard device for the surgical correction of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Nevertheless, scientific long-term results on this procedure are rare. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective follow-up study of patients treated for AIS with CD instrumentation and spondylodesis. Methods A total of 40 patients with AIS underwent CD instrumentation in our department within 3 years and between 1990 and 1992. For the retrospective analysis, first all the patient documents were reviewed, and pre-/postoperative X-ray images as well as those at the latest follow-up were analysed. Furthermore, it was attempted to conduct a clinical survey using the SRS-24 questionnaire, which was sent to the pat...

ScoliosisJournal have just recently reportyed about the evaluation of the iPhone with an acrylic sleeve versus the Scoliometer for rib hump measurement in Scoliosis Authors: Maree T Izatt, Gary R Bateman, Clayton J Adam Background Vertebral rotation found in structural scoliosis contributes to trunkal asymmetry which is commonly measured with a simple Scoliometer device on a patient's thorax in the forward flexed position. The new generation of mobile 'smartphones' have an integrated accelerometer, making accurate angle measurement possible, which provides a potentially useful clinical tool for assessing rib hump deformity. This study aimed to compare rib hump angle measurements performed using a Smartphone and traditional Scoliometer on a set of plaster torsos representing the range of torsional deformities seen in clinical practice. Methods Nine observers measured the rib hump found on eight plaster torsos moulded from scoliosis patients with ...

So, here we are again, back at the gym after a 2 week break (a much needed one!). I must admit I was a little "ugh I don't want to start beating up my body again" but as per usual I surprise myself at what this twisty body of mine can actually achieve! We talked about how I was doing Power Plate twice weekly now, however, I have noticed that I am a little knackered after doing these exercises every Tuesday and Thursday so this week I decided to go back to once a week and see how that makes me feel. I will use the time I would have spent at the gym on Thursdays to concentrate on my yoga, plus I will be utilising my exercise ball to keep up with my sit ups. I am also swimming daily which is helping a great deal - now all I have to do is stop eating so many carbs! ;=)     I always start my routine with squats and I am doing this so much better now, the strength in my legs is so much greater which of course has positive benefits to my lower spine. Below I have added so...

ScoliosisJournal reported an article about the physical therapy intervention studies on idiopathic scoliosis - review with the focus on inclusion criteria Background Studies investigating the outcome of conservative scoliosis treatment differ widely with respect to the inclusion criteria used. This study has been performed to investigate the possibility to find useful inclusion criteria for future prospective studies on physiotherapy (PT). Materials and methods A PubMed search for outcome papers on PT was performed in order to detect study designs and inclusion criteria used. Results Real outcome papers (start of treatment in immature samples/end results after the end of growth; controlled studies in adults with scoliosis with a follow-up of more than 5 years) have not been found. Some papers investigated mid-term effects of exercises, most were retrospective, few prospective and many included patient samples with questionable treatment indications. Conclusi...

ScoliosisJournal posted an article regarding; 2011 SOSORT guidelines: Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Treatment of Idiopathic Scoliosis during growth. Authors: Stefano Negrini, Angelo G Aulisa, Lorenzo Aulisa, Alin B Circo, Jean C de Mauroy, Jacek Durmala, Theodoros B Grivas, Patrick Knott, Tomasz Kotwicki, Toru Maruyama, Silvia Minozzi, Joseph P O'Brien, Dimitris Papadopoulos, Manuel Rigo, Charles H Rivard, Michele Romano, James H Wynne, Monica Villagrasa, Hans-Rudolf Weiss and Fabio Zaina The International Scientific Society on Scoliosis Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT), that produced its first Guidelines in 2005, felt the need to revise them and increase their scientific quality. The aim is to offer to all professionals and their patients an evidence-based updated review of the actual evidence on conservative treatment of idiopathic scoliosis (CTIS). Methods All types of professionals (specialty physicians, and allied health professionals) ...