I have a 46 degree curve on top and my lower in one is in the thirties. I was diagnosed at 14 years old on may 28 2013. I was sick with a stomach bug and at home with my mom. I was doubled over in pain and she was rubbing my back to make me feel better when she noticed a hump on my right rib. I was going to the doctor that day anyway for my stomach and my mom asked the doctor about it and he said it was a scoliosis. When i heard this i was really confused and never heard of it before. We organized an appointment with a back specialist a week later and she made me take off ALL my clothes and poked me in different places and didn't do much else.. it was really awkward! At the end of the appointment she told me I needed to go to the childrens Hospital as I was still growing and that yes I definitely had a scoliosis. After this i was scared of 'scoliosis' so i looked it up and read about surgery and bracing but i thought mine wouldn't be that bad and so wasn't very worried. I went to the Hospital a few weeks later and the doctor diagnosed me with a 46 degree curve. He told me if it got worse i may Need surgery and since i still had some time left to grow i could try a brace. I got my brace on August 21 and absolutely hated it however i was so scared of the thought of surgery that i had to wear it and also i was told it only had to be for six months. My next appointment was Januay 2014 and I was told my curve was stable but that i needed to wear my brace for another six months and this really upset me. In June 2014 I went back hoping to get my brace off but i was told my curve looked as if it had gotten worse but the doctor said it could be because i was Standing weirdly. Since I had only grown one cm in the year the doctor siad i could reduce wearing my brace to only at night time. My next appointment is october 2014 and I'm very nervous because my doctor said that the last x-ray showed my curve progressed. I feel that scoliosis hasn't changed me that much however it has shown me who my true friends were! I found my brace really hard to wear especially finding Outfits that would still make me look good. If you're having Trouble with your brace and what to wear look at the how to deal with scoliosis section and I'll include some helpful tips. My brace caused me a lot of pain and when I first wore it to School I was really nervous however i think the most important Thing to do is to tell everyone in your class and act as if it is not a big deal. People will ask questions, take it in your stride and just tell them the truth. I think it is so important to inform others about scoliosis. Hiding your brace or scar may seem like the reasonable Thing to do but if People know all they want to do is help and be there for you. I feel like my brace made me stronger and more confident as a Person as I learnt to deal with so much and also learnt to appreciate the Little things like sitting down in class. My tips to anyone else with scoliosis is to not let it get to you too much and also explain to everyone what you have. It may seem like a pain at first to repeat yourself over and over but then it means that others will understand and help you. Before i had been diagnosed I had never heard of scoliosis, i feel like that the majority of stories I've been sent have this same Response and that is why i feel it is so important to inform and raise awareness. My School does not test for scoliosis and the majority of my teachers didn't even know what it was. I live in Switzerland and I think most Schools here do not test for scoliosis. One of my friends also has scoliosis but it is minor and she wears a brace at night. I found it useful to talk to someone who was similar to me but since she didn't wear her brace to School not much People knew about it. At the Moment the ALS ice bucket challenge is circulating around the world, I'm not saying something like this needs to be done for scoliosis but the amount of People clueless and misinformed is shocking. If you could take the time to send in your Story, or to write a Status about scoliosis it might just help others in your school who may have scoliosis and were scared to talk about it, or maybe even help someone to get an early diagnosis. Message me on instagram if you want to send in your Story or Show me something you've done to raise awareness. @fortheloveofnailz
Below is the x ray of my back, this shows a picture taken from behind of spines curvature. I have an s shaped scoliosis as it can be seen that I have an upper and lower curve. Other pictures show my back not in x-ray but how it looks from the outside. The picture above shows how my spine looks when I'm bent over.
These pictures below show my spine when bent over, as well as how it looks when I am plainly standing, I decided to put these pictures on here so if you're unsure if you have scoliosis you can see the physical symptoms of how it looks from the outside. Typical physical scoliosis features include-
- uneven breasts
- uneven shoulders
- uneven hips
- one rib sticking out
- bad posture
- uneven shoulders
- uneven hips
- one rib sticking out
- bad posture