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...

WOW! I can't believe it I have been doing this gym thing now for 4 weeks and my trainer Daisy Hudson is really starting to crack the whip with me and boy oh boy can I feel it! Now, as I mentioned before with my previous gym efforts, it had all gone very sour by now, simply because I had over strained something and the trainer didn't understand the mechanics of a twisted spine, however, this time round is very, very different. Daisy has listened to my tales of woe regarding my back, tried her best to understand what I can and cannot do due to the Harrington Rod and generally been a great support for my work-outs - I am starting to love it! As per usual I started off with the Power Plate session which lasts just 20 minutes, Daisy works a lot on my legs during this time and I carry out a lot of squat movements 1of which is a deep squat for 45 seconds - she has me laying on both sides for cellulite which is also a bit of a time out and relaxation. We then do some of the yoga mov...

ScoliosisJournal.com recently reviewed the following scenario: Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis, environment, exposome and epigenetics: a molecular perspective of postnatal normal spine growth and the etiopathogenesis of AIS with consideration of a network approach and possible implicatins for medical therapy. Authors: R Geoffrey Burwell, Peter H Dangerfield, Alan Moulton and Theodoros B Grivas Author Affiliations: Centre for Spinal Studies and Surgery, Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, Queen's Medical Centre Campus, Derby Road, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, UK University of Liverpool, Ashton Street, L69 3GE, UK Staffordshire University, Leek Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 2DF, UK Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital, Eaton Road, Liverpool, L12 2AP, UK Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, King's Mill Hospital, Sutton Road, Mansfield NG17 4JL, UK Department of Trauma and Orthopedics, "Tzanio" General Hospital, Tzani and Afendouli 1 st, Piraeus 18536, Greece Abstrac...

I have been meaning to blog about the meeting we had in February for the UK Scoliotics since returning but life has been so hectic I have just not had the time! So please don't shoot the messenger here for being late on her blogging ;) We met at La Tasca in Victoria, London at lunch time on the 19th February, we had a great turnout with people coming from all over the UK and of course Spain! I have listed the people who attended below. Maria from Uttoexeter, Staffordshire Megan from Cambridgeshire Judith from Mill Hill, London Linda from Croxley Green, Watford Krysie from Coventry Karen from Hurst Green Simone & Chris Icough from Spain  Evi from London Lisa from Kent Janice from Sunderland Gail from Hull Janet from London Alana from Spain The venue itself were very helpful, they threw in some free jugs of Sangria, (which seemed to go to Maria's head - hahahaha, although I think she enjoyed it ;) and 5 pounds off the menu price per head, we had a great ...

A friend of mine on Facebook has just started a new petition and as we like to get involved in anything to do with Scoliosis here we decided to give them some help online so we can spread the word and get as many signatures as we can. So, we now need YOU - the twisted community to get on board and sign the petition for "Scoliosis checks in UK secondary schools" - we also like to see this petition is using the same slogan that we also promote on the wristbands " Speak up for Scoliosis " - so do your bit today and sign that petition! Thanks my lovelies!

My mom and I were recalling some of our later experiences in the blood thirsty adventure that is the Alberta Health Care system, and a particular memory got me thinking more about my second surgeon. I figured I did an Ode to Dr. Elf (lord help me if any doctor ever stumbles upon this page), and now it's time to address the issue of Dr. Stoic. When I hit the tragic age of 18 I was informed that I was no longer allowed to go to the Alberta Children's Hospital as I had exceeded their maximum height allowance. Also, last time they opened me up they counted my rings and discovered I was far older than appropriate for hanging around small children (apparently clowns can do it and no one makes a sound. Go figure.) So as I stated previously Dr. Elf and I laid out three potential surgeons. He patiently went through them one by one, giving a thorough explanation for each although suspiciously leaving out their criminal records which I request from anyone I spend more than five minutes ...

TranS1 has pioneered a revolutionary approach to access. The AxiaLIF (Axial Lumbar Interbody Fusion) System includes surgical instruments for creating a safe and reproducible pre-sacral access route to the L5 - S1 vertebral bodies. The AxiaLIF technique features novel instrumentation to enable standard of care fusion principles, distraction and stabilization of the anterior lumbar column, while mitigating the soft tissue trauma associated with traditional lumbar fusion through open surgical incisions. Riley News, in the USA, recently ran a story about a 71 year old mean who had been treated using the less invasive X-Lif procedure. This procedure is done through small stab incisions on the sides to gain access.  Patinets lie on their side for this procedure, allowing the surgeon to remove the affected disc/s and replace with spacers, the surgeon will then lie the patient face down, to allow him to create small stab incisions where he can place screws and fuse the bones with rods. ...

Grady County Health officials have announced (23 January 2010) that they will be visiting middle schools during this semester to perform Scoliosis screenings. All I can say to that is yippeeee! I hope some of the awareness we are battling to create everyday is starting to make a difference, Scoliosis screening is a must and should be brought to schools across the World! A simple test can make a big diiference to children and could prevent the need for surgery. Prevention is always better than the cure, and as there is no cure for Scoliosis, screening is a must! The statistics for the United States claim that around 10% of children are affected by Scoliosis. Information about the screenings will be sent to parents about two weeks before the screenings take place.

Author: Katherin Kahn The use of braces to correct excessive curvature of the spine, or scoliosis, in adolescents is still an area of controversy — and is likely to remain that way until there is better evidence, concludes a new review of published research. Although some evidence points toward a benefit from using braces, research has failed to prove definitively that they work. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis — curvature of the spine in which the cause is unknown —affects about 1 percent to 12 percent of the general population. Scoliosis is much more common in girls and is more likely to be severe in girls. About 10 percent of children and teenagers who have scoliosis will require treatment, based on the severity of the spinal curvature. Others can have monitoring without treatment to see if the spinal curve worsens. In severe scoliosis that remains untreated, lung, heart and spine damage might occur in adulthood. “Bracing is regarded as effective by some and as useless b...

Spine Health released a new study to examine the Curvature of the Spine , Neuromuscular Disorders and Lung Function By: Chris Maynard Online Content Manager, Spine-health Nov 24, 2009 (Spine-Health) -- Patients with neuromuscular disorders had diminished respiratory muscle strength and pulmonary function compared with a healthy control group, according to a new study also examining how scoliosis affects lung function. As detailed in a recent edition of The Spine Journal , neuromuscular disorders are known to lead to lung volume loss and respiratory muscle weakness, but the effects of scoliosis on lung function are unknown, a point that served as a basis of this study. For some context, neuromuscular disorders occur when the neurons, or nerve cells that send messages that control voluntary muscles like the arms and legs, become unhealthy and die. As a result of this breakdown in communication between the nervous system and muscles, the muscles weaken, possibly leading to a w...

I am now 3 days into taking my new treatment and while I have not noticed any significant changes in my body I think it is too early to tell, I was told I may need a double dose to get me started so we will wait and see. It would appear I am going to have a run of bad luck with the old Twisted Spine! My go faster stripes are not working and I am slowing down. I am having considerable amounts of pain in my lumbar, right where my donor site scar is, I cannot relax without feeling HUGE pressure on the scar, which is very painful and makes me catch my breath. I even had problems on the toilet this morning and that just gets me frustrated, the simplest of actions that any normal person takes for granted is such an effort for me this week and I end up getting really pissed off!!!!!!! I had to drive my Mother to the airport earlier because Chris is up to his eyes with work so he needed to stay home and finish his "to do list", I have to say it was the most painful drive of my life, ...

Axial Biotech have entered into a partnership with the University of Utah to Utilise the Utah Population Database to Develop Personalised Diagnostic Tests for Spine Disorders. This could be great news for those with Scoliosis. Released on PRNEWSWIRE Date: 22nd July, 2009 Axial Biotech, Inc., a company personalizing spine care through the development of molecular diagnostics, and the University of Utah today announced that they have entered into a collaboration that allows Axial access to the University's rich genetic resources including the Utah Population Database (UPDB). UPDB is a genealogical and family history database composed of more than 6 million records that provides a rich source of information for genetic, epidemiological, demographic and public health studies which can be used to identify familial clusters of disease including spinal disorders. The UPDB combined with Axial's proprietary GenDB Genealogical Database will help Axial researchers expand the indications ...

There have been recent reports that Madonna's daughter Lourdes Ciccone Ritchie has Scoliosis, there are photos flying around the internet that she has been spotted wearing a SpineCor brace, which is being widely used as bracing treatment for patients with Scoliosis. If this is true and Madonna's daughter does have Scoliosis then I wish the family all the best and hope that they can help treat Lourdes to avoid surgery....... I suppose the good thing for Lourdes is she will get the best of treatment for her Scoliosis and not have to put up with the NHS service, like I did! (where they use old material for Scoliosis surgery, they did it to me with the Harrington rod) But it does go to show that celebrities are like us in some ways and suffer from the same conditions that we do, which I suppose takes them off the pedestal for a little while - not that I am please Lourdes has Scoliosis - I wouldn't wish it on anyone! For those not familiar with SpineCor, we have a page over on ...

We have all heard of Gok Wan and I am sure many of our readers follow his show for fashion advice and tips, I know that I certainly do. Just recently we have been discussing clothes shopping when you have Scoliosis, how we try to hide our curves, what bikinis we should be wearing, how to hide our rib humps, those with Scoliosis will be following the drift. All of us girls on the support group were wondering if Gok Wan wanted to take on the Scoliosis challenge and give us girls advice on how we should dress our rib humps, uneven chests and curved spines and put smiles back on the faces of women around the World who struggle daily with pain from their spines. A little about Gok Wan Gok Wan presents the inspirational fashion series that shows women "How to look good naked". This fantastic TV programme shows women how to look good with their clothes on or off no matter what their body shape - and all without a surgeon's scalpel in sight... Gok Wan also has another ...

OK, so I am seeing a lot of blog posts coming out saying things like "have Scoliosis, come visit our Chiropractor", since when did the Chiros become professionals in twisted spines? For starters they are not medical doctors so I advise that you see a proper Scoliosis specialist before you see a Chiropractor! When I had my surgery in 1989 with a Harrington rod from T4 to L1 I was told in under no circumstances should I see a Chiro, Dr Jackson told me this from Southampton General Hospital, over the last 5 years that I have been running groups and chatting on various other groups, the general consensus across the board is do not see a Chiropractor, some groups do not even allow you to talk about them! I do have a slightly different view to most I have to say, I do allow people to talk about their treatments because I am all for sharing and if a patient had good results then share them, we are all individuals at the end of the day and we react to different treatments, however, t...

Hmmmm... could there possibly be a link between scoliosis and dancing? One of my friends, who also has scoliosis, thinks so. She did gymnastics before her scoli was discovered and she was forced to quit. Now I LOVE dancing (have i mentioned that here before?) and dance 5 classes a week. I do 6 hours in total: 3 classes of ballet n 1 class each of Tap and jazz. im not on pointe yet by the way. When I first found out I had scoliosis, I thought I'd have to quit dance and cried. Then I found out ballet was supposedly better for my back! So how can dancing be bad for your back? I have realised that on spinekids, loads of girls have something along the lines of "Dancer" on their profiles. And 25% of dancers have scoliosis, according to statistics. Could there be a connection? After being diagnosed, scoliosis didn't affect my dancing much, apart from keeping me from cartwheeling and holding my posture up straighter (thanks to my brace). My doctor also told me that exercises ...

Scoliosis journal reported a case report about undiagnosed osteoid osteoma of the spine presenting as painful scoliosis from adolescence to adulthood Authors: George Sapkas, Nicolas Efstathopoulos and Michael Papadakis Abstract (provisional) Presented here is a case of a young woman, with an undiagnosed osteoid osteoma of the spine, which presented with painful scoliosis in adolescence and was treated by bracing until her accession to adulthood. A more thorough investigation, years after the initial one, revealed the tumor. Surgical excision and stabilization offered the long- awaited cure. Misdiagnosis resulted in intractable pain for years, deformity, the discomfort of brace therapy, and the frustration of a prolonged yet ineffective treatment. Background The most common cause of painful Scoliosis in adolescents is osteoid osteoma of the spine. Up to 25% of all Osteoid Osteomas are found in the spine, of which 60% are located in the lumbar spine, 27% of the cervical, 12% in the thor...

I had to cancel my appointment for Bowen technique last week due to work commitments, a client called me the day before and said he would be landing at Malaga airport at 9:30 in the morning, so I re-scheduled my day to fit him in which meant cancelling the appointment. At 9:15am we got a call telling us he had missed his flight! My whole day was turned upside down for an event that was not about to happen, pissed off is a good description of my feelings that day. My client finally arrived 2 days later and the meeting went well, the outcome was just as I had hoped for :) I have still not settled down with my sleeping pattern and the last few mornings I have been up and about pre 7am after going to bed at 1am (that I could deal with). However, this morning I woke up in pain as usual, messed around with some pillows under my knees and shoulders, raised the head of my bed, turned on my side in the foetal position, tried laying on my back again and then the other side - couldn't settle...