When the Spine Curves: Treatments for Scoliosis

The Treatment of Scoliosis

The Experience of an Adolescent with Scoliosis

When I was 13 years old, I was examined for scoliosis by a school nurse, and told I might have the condition. I didn't know what scoliosis was, and by the time I got home from school, I didn't even remember what it was called. Thus, I never mentioned it to my parents. Further, due to a miscommunication, my parents were not informed.

About a year later, another school exam indicated that I had scoliosis. This time I remembered the name carefully. I knew I needed to tell my mom and go to a doctor because I knew my spine was curved even before I went home from school that day. I had noticed things about my body that didn't seem right. One of my shoulder blades stuck out more than the other, my hips looked uneven and one of my legs seemed longer. I looked "different" in a swimming suit. My torso seemed to slant to one side instead of going straight from my shoulders to my hips.

At the age of 14, barely knowing what it was, I decided that I had scoliosis and that I was going to do anything I could to help it. Seeing my x-rays was sobering. I had a double major curve with a large curve of 38 degrees. My doctor told me I was two degrees away from immediate surgery, but that it was possible a brace might help me. At the time I wanted to avoid surgery, so I agreed to wear the brace. It wasn't a hard decision really. I realized that I couldn't solve the problem myself and straighten the curve. Bracing was the next best thing. At least the curve wouldn't get worse.

I was fitted for a brace a few days later. At the brace factory, as I called it, two large men (I was a small adolescent) placed piece after piece of a white cloth around my body. The cloth was cut into strips and had some kind of plaster on it. I think they used the same plaster for casts. Once I was covered from right under my arms to just over my hip bone, the two men applied pressure to both sides of the plaster cast and held it until it dried. This would serve as a mold for the brace and would indicate where to place the pressure pads.

I started wearing a Rosenberger brace about two weeks later. It didn't seem too uncomfortable when I first put it on, but I cried all the way home in the car because it started to hurt so much. I had to sleep in a recliner for a few weeks until I finally found a way to sleep in my bed. Going to school in my brace wasn't too difficult, except for the pain. No one could see the brace. I wore it under my clothes, which were baggy enough that no one could tell. As time went on, I got used to the way the brace felt and Mom helped me put additional padding on the places that irritated my skin. I took my brace off for gym class and the other girls asked me about it, but no one really seemed to care. No one made fun of me and they all seemed to understand the situation. Thinking back on it, I'm amazed that my classmates were that understanding. Adolescents aren't usually accepting of someone who is noticeably different.

I wore my brace for two and a half years, from the tail end of 13 to 16 years old. I was so happy in high school when I could finally wear the brace for part of the day instead of the entire school day. While I wore the brace, my curve improved from 38 degrees to 23 degrees. It went back to 38 degrees, however, when I stopped wearing my brace. This was somewhat discouraging, but the curve wasn't going to get worse and since that was all I could hope for, I was happy. I was very conscious of the asymmetries in my body for a long time. I saw them every time I tried on a dress or a pair of jeans. I thought my hips looked terrible and that my one shoulder blade stuck out so much more than the other, but in the last year I have come to realize that nothing is noticeable. Mom always told me that no one could see what I could see, but I wore baggy clothing for years in an attempt to hide myself. Now I wear clothes that actually fit me and I love it. I can finally say that my curve isn't really that bad, and it took a long time for me to say that.

I live a full and active life without much back pain. I'm so glad that I was determined enough to wear my brace for 23 hours a day. I can walk and run. I can do everything I could when I was a kid. Without my brace, I may have eventually lost these abilities as well as so many others. I am very thankful for my family, my mom especially, and for two of my closest high school friends. They always supported me and helped me live with my brace during the most difficult times.

-The experience of an adolescent with scoliosis