Scoliosis awareness month is here! I love nothing more than to talk and help give others information on Scoliosis and what it is and ways to help prevent your children from developing it, if possible. Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine that usually happens at an early age, just before puberty. Most schools do a Scoliosis check to try and catch it before it worsens because it is something that can be corrected if it’s minor in the early stages.
Mild cases are closely monitored and checked regularly. Other cases need corrective surgery while the mild cases can use a corrective brace, and even sometimes no treatment is needed. Every Scoliosis case is different.
Signs to look for:
-Uneven shoulders
-One shoulder blade sticks out more than the other
-Uneven hips
-Problem with your ribs
If your Scoliosis worsens, your spine will twist and so will your ribs, causing them to stick out on one side. Let me tell you, this part……SUCKS!! The pain is ridiculous. Sometimes my ribs hurt so much, I can’t stand up, sit or lay down. I have trouble breathing. It’s like they are permanently bruised. My Scoliosis was too severe when I was younger and I had to get spinal fusion surgery immediately. My curve was far too progressed to get in a Scoliosis brace.
I know there isn’t a cause of why or reason it happens yet, but that is why I constantly write and try to bring awareness to this painful struggle. Besides it being hideously painful, no one really knows the causes of Scoliosis. There wasn’t really a straight answer as to why I developed it. But I do know it is hereditary. Although both boys and girls develop mild scoliosis at about the same rate, girls have a much higher risk of the curve worsening and requiring treatment.
In severe scoliosis, the rib cage may press against the lungs and heart, making it more difficult to breathe and harder for the heart to pump. So clearly most doctors recommend doing a spinal fusion where rods, pins, and screws are inserted into your spine to help straighten it as much as possible. When I had it done, recovery was slow and painful. But now-a-days, theres been lots of medical advances to speed it up and make it more comfortable.
Being active can help ease Scoliosis pain. Especially swimming, cycling and walking. But obviously if your pain is super intense or you have pain every day like me, it gets hard to be active. But getting yourself motivated is important and finding the strength and moving past the pain is not impossible, because I do it every day. It’s the main reason I started this blog. To show and help anyone with chronic pain see that no dreams or goals are impossible. Yes, you have to work hard and go through difficult moments, but it will be worth it. Just make sure you aren’t doing damage to yourself and make sure your plan is OK with your Doctor.
I get by with A LOT of help from my BFF, AKA KT TAPE. It has been the most amazing thing I have ever came across. I found it about 11 years ago and have been using it since for my Scoliosis pain and obviously for anything else, including Fibromyalgia. When KT Tape is applied correctly, it lifts the skin, decompressing the layers of fascia(tissue below the skin around the muscles), helping better flow of lymphatic fluid(the build up may cause inflammation and pain) which moves white blood cells throughout the body and removes waste products, cellular debris, and bacteria relieving the pain and swelling. I have used it for MANY different pain areas because my back pain isn’t always in the same spot. So I have many different applications for it:
I know many of you have emailed me, in fact, most of my DMs on social and emails are KT Tape application questions! You know how much I LOVE that?!? It makes me smile to help you all with KT Tape questions. PLEASE feel free to email me with questions, anytime. =) Especially since all Scoliosis applications are different and it all depends on your pain and what area and such.
I hope I have given you some information that can help lead you in the right direction and you can stop Scoliosis from progressing or help control the pain or get your children checked out. I have been living with this pain for over 24+ years and it is NOT fun. I get checked regularly and it is progressing because I got the rods taken out because I had complications with them due to a car accident I was in and a piece of it came out of my spine. But I do have what they call a double curve because my spine is in an “S” shape. And some of my discs protrude. But what we do around here is move forward and don’t look back…unless it is to smile back over our shoulder 😉
-gelcys
Empire Unleashed 
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