scoliosis and osteoarthritis please help if you can tia

[fransmom]

have copied and pasted whole thread. wasn't sure how else to copy it
(so it's kind of back to front or upside down iyswim)

By fransmom on Tue 04-Sep-07 21:05:40
does anyone else have any info on osteoarthritis?
By fransmom on Tue 04-Sep-07 20:51:04
thnak you firefly x i have slightly rounded shoulders as well. i was forever being told to sit up straighter and pull my shoulders back when i was younger. do you know of any links?
By Fireflyfairy2 on Tue 04-Sep-07 20:49:00
I, from time to time, have really bad aches in my spine & if I turn too fast I can hear the vertabrae clicking. I attended a chiropractor for a while but he wasn't really helping me that much. He told me my vertabrae all piled on top of each other & needed spacing out... I came out aching & was just as bad the next day again!!
By Fireflyfairy2 on Tue 04-Sep-07 20:47:26
No, you shouldn't end up in a wheelchair!

I also have mild scoliosis & apart from slightly rounded shoulders, nothing is apparent.

It aches like blazes though!

When I was younger I had to go to hospital to be assessed for an operation to put a metal rod in my spine, I was deemed not bad enough. And you know, when I went to the hospital I wasn't half grateful when I saw how badly off some of the other wee ones were.

I don't know anything about the osteoarthritis though.
By fransmom on Tue 04-Sep-07 20:44:34
...went for a back xray a while ago and just picked up the results mainly becasue i expected tto be told it was only muscular strain etc etc.

only now i have been told i have a mild form of scoliosis and also have osteoarthy thingy. what does this mean for my future? i am 30 f in 2have been told it may get worse, it may not. will i end up in wheelchaior or with a dowager's hump(sp?) please helpme and any links to decent info would be much appreciated. mtia. fm x

I hope things get better for you soon.

Take care

thank you for your help. i shall let you know tomorrow how i get on .

am at work km (well, not now, obv am on lunch break!!!>>>

....hope you soon get the answers you need

thank you.

i forgot to ask him to book appt

hi FM, how are you doing?

Fransmom- sorry you have been scared by what the doctor said, but you are normal - or at one end of the normal spectrum.

A scoliosis is when your spine instead of the vertebrae lining up straight when viewed from the front make a lazy 's' shape. It doesn't take things to be much out of dead straight for the muscles and joints to have additional stresses due to the mechanics of them pulling not being quite right, hence the 'wear and tear' osteoarthritis and the pain that you've been having.

The best thing you can do is ask for a physiotherapy referral to ensure that you do the correct exercises to strengthen your back muscles which will keep things moving in as best a away as possible. You will not end up in a wheelchair from this, but may get more episodes of back pain as you get older than the average person. The dowagers hump is caused by a separate process from being osteoporotic so keep up with the calcium-rich diet, vitamin D / sunshine and mild exercise to keep your bone mass good.

The radiologist who reported your images will have mentioned the scoliosis because the vast majority of people with back pain have absolutely nothing to see on an x-ray, and even if you do have a scoliosis it doesn't necessarily mean you will have problems. Just that in your case it was worth mentioning as a potential cause of the pain you've been experiencing. I have 2 fused vertebrae in my neck - I've never had problems yet and may never get them, but it's my own personal design fault and if I hadn't had a whiplash injury, would never have known about it.

Every person who leads a full and active life will eventually get osteoarthritis, it's how you deal with it that counts as keeping moderately active will keep your muscles strong and help keep your joints moving and you active.

thanks everyone! have not been on mn for 3-4 days (shame on me!) as have been in bed at half 9 every ight. dd has been waking up a fwetimes in the night and found it hard to get to sleep last night - she was in bed for normal time but didn't get to sleep til nearly 9pm

hows everyoe else?