Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

It all started off so well! Monday morning, get up, start the week with a great breakfast, cup of coffee, let the chickens out into their coop, grab the diary and work out the whens, wheres and whys of what needs to be done. So off I went into town as I had to post some Mobi orders out to Slovakia, so I parked outside the post office in my trusty diasbled spot, walked to the shop to buy my brown wrapping paper and bubble wrap, went to the bank and paid some bills - everything going OK so far, I have not done anything particularly strenuous, the bags I was carrying were not heavy and I was wearing flat shoes (as always!). I spent a good 20 minutes wrapping the items I needed to post and then a further 30 minutes in the queue waiting to send them! I then went from there and did some supermarket shopping, again nothing strenuous or stressful, I didn´t rush around the supermarket or lift anything over heavy, however, I was in and out of the car yesterday so I don´t think this helped, ...

Which came first, the muscle spasm or the pain? Every muscle in your body is attached to a bone, but just like the chicken and the egg, a muscle spasm can cause pain and pain can cause a muscle spasm! Often, when we experience pain a muscle spasm pulls nearby joints out of place, causing a condition known as joint sublaxation . Similarly, if a joint is sublaxated, nearby muscles may spasm in response. Does it matter which happened first? Usually, by the time pain has caused you to look for help from the doctor or therapist the cycle of pain and spasm has already begun. Pain causes spasm which pulls joints out of alignment, which more spasm and more pain! Ultimately, the body accommodates to this cycle and the muscles stay tightened in the contracted state. After two days of spasm, the muscles will adapt to their new unnatural painful state and resist relaxation. The pain may even subside a bit during this adaptation, but now the body is adjusting to the muscles and the joints that are ...

I had my Bowen yesterday and she worked on my respiratory system, as many of you know Scoliosis patients can suffer with breathing problems and I had started to wheeze after a night's sleep. My husband drove me down because I was having some troubles getting around and I knew that driving for 35 minutes would make the whole thing worse. She found a few issues with my neck and shoulders also and I had noticed this the day before because I was struggling to move my head left or right. I slept well last night and woke after 8 hours kip which was great but today walking is a very painful, I cannot lift my head at all and I am walking very bent over forward, looking at the floor! My pelvis and legs have held their position though and I am still straight at 5"7 and a half inches tall - groovy! We are taking a break tomorrow though and going on holiday to Cadiz to stay in a really nice 4 star hotel with all the amenities and I can't wait. The hotel has a spa and that is what I am...

Happy Easter everyone and I hope you are enjoying your day off (those in the UK) - I have finally just recovered from the party that I organised for my husband to celebrate his 40th birthday - we had a band, DJs and some catering - the sun was shining and everyone had a wonderful weekend with us. It has taken its toll on my back though, I was busy leading upto the party, organising, weeding, painting and the list went on - by the time the party came around I was knackered! I wore my heat pads all weekend to keep me going, I couldn't keep up with everyone else and had to keep laying down on the bed and resting my back, I have noticed over the years that my back gives up much earlier than it ever used to - is that just age? It is my shoulders that are giving me grief this week! I keep getting spasms but it is every few seconds, yesterday was particularly bad and it stopped me from doing the gardening that I planned (Chris dug the hole instead ;), Chris did give my shoulders a few squ...

I started to write this pain diary because my surgeon is away and I have had many times when I have had this similar pain, I decided i should start taking notes of how I feel so I can log when I have bad days of pain and see how long I do actually go without any bouts of pain, this may also help me determine if surgery would be a benefit. I have had a chest infection for a week or so and had been coughing for some time, this particular morning I coughed really hard and felt a movement in my lower back, I thought nothing of it as I was walking OK and breathing OK. I walked into Fuengirola which I think is about 3KMS from my house, my back felt OK, my walk was slow and I also kept resting for brief periods of time to gather my strength again, once I had finished in the bank I proceeded to walk home. The pain started then, I was walking bent over double by the time I got to Los Boliches so I got inot a taxi and came home. I managed to get down the stairs on my bottom and collapsed at the ...