Hi Kelly, i thought that after they did scoli surgery then all would be okay for folks. i was just too chicken to let them do me. hope they find a solution to your pain soon.
good luck ya hear

Thanks for your reply PinkElephantTrainer! Are you really an elephant trainer, I have always wanted to be a zoo keeper but since I have so many back problems I know that I would never be able to do it .
A lot of people come out of the surgery better than ever and I was for great for four years but for reason I have been having problems since 2004. I wish the doctors could help me more they kind of act like I don't have a problem, I think because I am so young.

the only pink elephants i get here are after a good drinking binge, specially if PM involved...the training is just to get the darned thing to bring me home.
elephant training is heavy on the lifting at feed times. hope the spine stops playing up for you.

Hi Kelly,

I had surgery in 2002 to correct my scoliosis and I was 47 years old. I have good days & bad days, mostly good. The first fusion failed & I had to go back in 3 months later to have it corrected and my recovery was 9 months. In the last year or so I have discovered yoga and it has helped tremendously. There are different levels & there is even a yoga specifically for scoliosis. If I were to give you any advice it would be to see another orthopedic surgeon who specializes in spinal deformities and surgery. I don't know where you live, but, my doctor was originally affiliated with the **edited** and then moved to **edited** & opened his own clinic there - it is the**edited**. He is a world renowned surgeon & has 19 medical patents for fusion instrumentation. **edited**is in practice with him. They both belong to the Scoliosis Research Society.
Good luck to you!!! the **edited**

Doctors name and contact details removed by forum Moderator (paulgla). We do not permit publishing specific doctor's or institution names and contact details

Thanks so much jdt101 for your help! I think I might try and go see a new orthopedic doctor, I just hope I can find a good one. Thanks so much again for your help.

My name is Cyndi, and I have had three back surgeries due to scoliosis. I had one when I was 15, one when I was 17, and then one when I was 27. I am now 31 years old. I was diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 8 when my mom noticed a large hump on my upper right back. When x rays were done we found I had a large "backwards S" shape for a spine. At 15 I had a Harrington rod put in, and then at age 17 I had to have it removed due to a pinching pain in the upper left side of my back. By the time I was 26 I had given birth to 4 beautiful children (all two years apart). After I had my last child I would be in severe lower back pain on my left side. When I would try to carry my little girl on my hip I would be in tremendous pain. I finally decided to go to a really good spinal surgeon, and they did a bone scan of my whole body. She decided that the best treatment for me was to have another back surgery to fuse my upper spine and to place a small bone stimulator in my back. A bone stimulator consist of a small battery pack and a couple wires leading off of it touching the bone graphs, and it would send little electrical shocks, therefore stimulating the bones to grow. (I could not feel those shocks, in case you were wondering) When the doctor came and saw me a few days after surgery she said she was amazed that I could even walk before surgery because when she cut through my soft tissues in my back, the middle of my spine was very unstable. I am now wondering if the surgery even did any good because I still suffer with alot of pain there. Now, when I was younger I was told my my doctor that there was no problem with me having children, which I didn't really have any complications at all. Recently, though, I did read that when a woman has scoliosis and gets pregnant, the pregnancy hormones can affect her spine. I, of course, new that in pregnancy a woman's body prepares it for child birth by softening the pelvic bones, but at the same time can soften all bones in her body including the spine! I am assuming that maybe that is what happened to me to cause me to have to have surgery again like that. My doctor did tell me that eventually I will have to have another surgery.

I understand where you are coming from with all the other problems in your body. I have major migraines all the time too. Along with constant pain in both my feet, pain and stiffness in my hands (without too much swelling), blurriness in my left eye, and lots of "stomach" problems. This past October and Novemeber all the way through till recently things have gone down hill for me. I will be calling a new orthopedic surgeon this coming week to see what they can do for me. I had alot of blood work done about 4 months ago, and they said everything was normal. I will continue to see my doctor till them find what is going on with me. I just wanted you to know that you are not alone in what you are going through. If you would like to contact me and talk more my email is cyndiratliff@yahoo.com. I hope you can get the help that you need. Best wishes.

Hi Kelly,

I am Kim I had fusion surgery for scoliosis in 2001 and in 2004 started having pain above and below my fusions. I am like you, nothing seems to really help. PT, message, accupuncture, nerve blocks....Nobody has given me a direct answer and I keep getting told I am on a lot of pain meds to be hurting the way I am. If you want to PM that would be great. I am so frustrated right now. I know how you feel.

Hi huys i have scoloisis and im having alot of numbness into the feet and legs well it changes from being all warm like on fire to totally coldness and numbness and the muscles go weak.have any of yous noticed anything with the ribcage muscle going all weak and flabby sometimes........but then again i had bmp put in my lumbar spine[mistake with referrals i had 2 bad discs and they ended up going in there and fusing me from l4 to s1 im only fused at the transverse processes i have no metalwork in and i still have my discs..i too am currently trying to see a scoloisis surgeon privately because of all this mixup.......do you guys get pain in ur knees and do they crunch alot.mine do but i was just wondering that because its probably been with me being out of alignment and all these years of overcompensating............are any of yous fused to s1 like from top to bottom?...........wishing you a painfree day and lot and lots of hugs!!!

Freakily Kelly we have the same name and appear to be roughly the same age, I had to read your first post twice to make sure it wasn't me that wrote it!

I had my operation 10 years ago (I was 64degrees curved before my operation, thankfully I only had one op) and I suffer from the pinching feelings, muscle spasims, I have stomach problems too. I am now getting a lot of lower back pain which is weird because my curve and the rods etc are all upper and middle.

I am currently trying to get pregnant with my husband but I am scared of the kind of pain I may be in and what may happen to my back in the long term.

When I got treatment to correct my spine, though I did not go into surgery. The back doctor cracked my back. I went in one time and the next day I had really bad lower back pain, pain shooting down my leg. I had a bad headache for about 3 days that would not go away. Well let's just say I have had problems with my back ever since and now it's to the point I can hardly move without screaming in pain. I have a 75 degree curvature in my lower back and I also have scoliosis but not as bad. I have bone loss also. I am sorry you have to go through all this. I know how painful it can be. Hope you get well soon, this back pain sucks.

I have had 2 surgeries one when i was 15 on my upper spine and the other when i was 21 on the lower spine the 2 rods were fused to gather and later split but i have not had surgery since. I am now 8 weeks pregnant and because 75% of my spine isn fused i am wondering what are my options or do i haev none and i can only give birth sidated and have a c-section?

Hi. Im new but wanted to join in on this thread. I have severescoliosis , since the age of 5, with braces and harrington rod, and rib reduction op. I was nervous about my pregnacy too but, in hindsight, should have exercise more (as everyone told me to take it easy) which makes things worse. I had a natural birth, it was a bit hairy and was perfectly in my rights for a C section, but it worked alright. The big problem for me was about 1 month after birth, my back went out on me and has never been the same since. If I was to do it again, which i am considering, I would work really hard with a pilates instructor on shoulder stability as well as core stability. Having these keep you strong and protect your neck, upper back and lower back. I am lso seeing a nutritionist , and had a hair sample taken which showed magnesium defiency and high levels of mercury which I am trying to correct.

Hi Kelly,
so sorry to hear you are going through this.

Brain fog is not from the scoliosis surgery. Neither is Fibromyalgia. Have you tried a Yeast free diet?
Test your self for a week,
Do not eat any sugars at all and not yeasty bread or pasta. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
No sweets, candy etc., soda. Limit all sugar and see how you feel.
I guarantee you will start to feel better.
What have you go to loose except the pain.

I had two metal rods screwed into each side of my spine about 2 years ago, and along with what kelli said up there, the doctors act like nothing is wrong with you when you are in immense amounts of pain.

my doctor is also very suscessful and developed the "Songer Coil" that was put into my back.

someone tell me plese how to get through to them, I belive they dont understand the pain because they themselves havent had to learn to walk again.

its very frustrating.

I had surgery in 2005 to correct my scoliosis and I was 47 years old. I have also felt back pain. So I have discovered yoga and it has helped tremendously.
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Hello My name is Nina i am 26 i had surgery when i was 20, i have no idea wot my curve was and for 2 years didnt know they had removed a disk as i hadnt been imformed on anything,
I can barly put my socks on myself can just touch my knees (standing up) i can never get comfitible at night find it hard to stand for to long and get really bad aching and spasms everyday
can anyone help me??

p.s am going for a check up today at the hospital to get answers

Good luck Zippychick. I hope you'll let us know what your surgeon says. Spasms are common after fusion surgery, but I've not personally heard of them continuing for 6 years. Did you take anything for them? Muscle relaxers? What levels did you have fused? Hopefully the surgeon will request some x-rays or a ct scan to see if there's an area of non-fusion there or a broken rod, which might be causing the bad aching.

If this is the case, a revision surgery may be necessary, but I hasten to add, it's not nearly the huge surgery that you've already had.

It's fairly normal to struggle to put socks on. Especially if your fusion is low. It's one of those things us scolis have to live with if we want our curve progression and future pain stopped.

I hope you have some luck today.

good news surgeon said my back is fine i dont need check ups anymore Wooooo tho my main back pain is caused with my old surgeon not sending me to any physio at all after my op and my muscles are stiff so need physio to loosen them and i can go theme parks and have kids fine, Im so happy now i dont care if i have to live with mild pain my whole life

Did your surgeon take x-rays Zippychick?

Glad you've had relieving news, sounds like it will have helped with the pain too (stress makes everything worse.)

I can't say much,though my pain is becoming less.
I can do more then before surgery.

Can't say what the future hold's.

I am staying Positive for now.

Though I am in my 50's..

Hi, Everyone. I have a 60=degree levorotatory S-shaped curvature and a herniated L4-5 disk encroaching on the neural foramen and exiting nerve root (the exact wording of my MRI report.) After a recent consultation with an orthopedic spine surgeon I made one of the best decisions I've ever made: no fusion, ever, and I don't care how much pain I might have down the road. PT has reduced my pain level from about 8 to 3 or 4, so I'll stick with that, to be followed by continued exercises prescribed by the PT. The outcome of surgery is too unpredictable for my liking, plus I want no part of surgical treatment whatsoever - temporary reduction of independence and privacy brought on by having to have rerhab care followed by a home health aide, the prohibitive coinsurance, the postop pain, and above all, the risk. Best wishes to everyone on the Board. The support here is fantastic! Love, Essmoe

Hi Kelly,
This is Kelly? Im 19 yrs old and had spinal fusion when I was twelve. I had a 60 degree curve and surgery was the "only option" for me, or so I was told. My parents took me to Shriners hospital in Portland OR and i got all fused up.
I recovered really well and as of now dont have an amazing amount of pain. My back aches every once in awhile and stings if i bend weird or carry anything too heavy. Besdies that Im pretty fine..
Tonight, I made the mistake of researching... and what I found is sorta depressing. I am hoping to find some information about management type things, things I can do now to give myself a future that isnt horribly painful and lame.
I have also been experiencing migraines, TMJ, and "brain fog" which before I had no clue was related to the surgery.
If you want to talk, I would love to keep in touch and maybe trade some info.
I hope the best for you,
Kelly from Oregon

I had scoliois and had surgery when i was 14, now i am 17 and i have started having lower back pain, as well as TMJ. I have had a job standing and walking for about a year, the pain didnt start till about a week ago, i think i may also be because lately when i am sitting up in my bed on the computer i tend to slunch over, its always been a habit since i had scoliosis growing up, so maybe that could be what has caused it to worsen, but now the pain is growing to the middle of my back, i should remember what that part is called because i took medical classes but anyways, my rods in my back pretty much go from my lower neck/upper back all the way to my lower back. my spine before was like an S. i noticed after surgery whenever i lean forward to bend i have a small hump on one side and i though "i thought surgery would fix that." i am not entirely sure though about whats wrong with me, my doctor that performed the surgery was in augusta where i had it done (no doctor in my home town would perform that kind of surgery on me being underage) at times i feel like i need to have my back cracked or popped but i am too afraid it would damage my spine. i can hear it crack sometimes when i move it though, i feel like i just need someone to give me a bear hug or something. p.s i never went to see any physical therapist after surgery, the doctors never told me to, maybe i should have? it took about one month to fully recover to be able to get out of bed myself, actually i remember one day my friend came to see me and i was so excited i literally JUMPED out of bed, it didnt hurt but i think its because i forgot all about my bad back. this is a personal question, could sex have anything to do with my back hurting?

@kelly, its a good thing that you have recovered well and its a good decision to research on something you don't know even if it will bring positive or negative thoughts to you. Most people are afraid to do so but we have good doctors around where you can ask opinions about what you've learned. Also, don't forget to pray, it helps a lot.

@gcmusiclove, I think you really have to consult a doctor if the pain doesn't go away. Surgery could be done if permitted by parents, isn't it?