Re: To (flatback/disk disease differential).

[Guest guest]

,

One of the first " signs " of my scoliosis (back in 1970!!) was noticed by my Mom.

While most mothers were telling their daughters to " stand up straight; quit

slouching " , my Mom was constantly saying, " Can't you stand-still without bending

your knees? " I'd never even noticed I did that until she began to hound me.

After the spine x-rays confirmed that I did indeed have Idiopathic Scoliosis,

she felt awful for bugging me for so many years!

I am NEVER comfortable standing in one place, be it a grocery or department

store line or even doing the dishes at the kitchen sink. I pretty much always

have my knees bent; most of the time, I'm a " rocker " ...I rock side-to-side,

shifting my weight from one leg to the other.

Shortly before my current Ortho doc diagnosed the Flatback in 1996, I began to

notice that if I leaned foward onto the kitchen sink and placed most of my body

weight on my lower arms and elbows, the excruciating pain in my tailbone would

disappear and I would begin to get sensation in my left leg! Little did I know

at the time, that the reason this position felt so great was because I had

herniated (or as my surgeon so graphically put it " blew the disc to microscopic

shreds! " ) my L5 disc, the only disc left below my H-rod fusion. My kitchen sink

posture was basically like putting myself in traction! To this day, if I'm

having a " 10 pain day " , I'll go hang on the sink!!

All the best,

Beth

[Guest guest]

That's very interesting, Beth. Were you told you had any abnormal kyphosis

before the surgery? Could you already have been developing hip flexion

contractures?

I wouldn't be surprised if I was. I have some kyphosis at the thoraco-lumbar

junction, my congenitally anomalous area.

I've done that self-traction stuff as well. Sometimes I ask my husband to hug

me around the shoulder blades, and I release some of the weight from my feet and

kind of hang there for the half-second or so he can bear my weight.

Re: To (flatback/disk disease

differential).

,

One of the first " signs " of my scoliosis (back in 1970!!) was noticed by my

Mom. While most mothers were telling their daughters to " stand up straight; quit

slouching " , my Mom was constantly saying, " Can't you stand-still without bending

your knees? " I'd never even noticed I did that until she began to hound me.

After the spine x-rays confirmed that I did indeed have Idiopathic Scoliosis,

she felt awful for bugging me for so many years!

I am NEVER comfortable standing in one place, be it a grocery or department

store line or even doing the dishes at the kitchen sink. I pretty much always

have my knees bent; most of the time, I'm a " rocker " ...I rock side-to-side,

shifting my weight from one leg to the other.

Shortly before my current Ortho doc diagnosed the Flatback in 1996, I began to

notice that if I leaned foward onto the kitchen sink and placed most of my body

weight on my lower arms and elbows, the excruciating pain in my tailbone would

disappear and I would begin to get sensation in my left leg! Little did I know

at the time, that the reason this position felt so great was because I had

herniated (or as my surgeon so graphically put it " blew the disc to microscopic

shreds! " ) my L5 disc, the only disc left below my H-rod fusion. My kitchen sink

posture was basically like putting myself in traction! To this day, if I'm

having a " 10 pain day " , I'll go hang on the sink!!

[Guest guest]

I've been there! Hanging in the sink . . . . oh, yes.

Thanks for the perfect description.

Best,

Re: To (flatback/disk disease

differential).

,

One of the first " signs " of my scoliosis (back in 1970!!) was noticed by my

Mom. While most mothers were telling their daughters to " stand up straight; quit

slouching " , my Mom was constantly saying, " Can't you stand-still without bending

your knees? " I'd never even noticed I did that until she began to hound me.

After the spine x-rays confirmed that I did indeed have Idiopathic Scoliosis,

she felt awful for bugging me for so many years!

I am NEVER comfortable standing in one place, be it a grocery or department

store line or even doing the dishes at the kitchen sink. I pretty much always

have my knees bent; most of the time, I'm a " rocker " ...I rock side-to-side,

shifting my weight from one leg to the other.

Shortly before my current Ortho doc diagnosed the Flatback in 1996, I began to

notice that if I leaned foward onto the kitchen sink and placed most of my body

weight on my lower arms and elbows, the excruciating pain in my tailbone would

disappear and I would begin to get sensation in my left leg! Little did I know

at the time, that the reason this position felt so great was because I had

herniated (or as my surgeon so graphically put it " blew the disc to microscopic

shreds! " ) my L5 disc, the only disc left below my H-rod fusion. My kitchen sink

posture was basically like putting myself in traction! To this day, if I'm

having a " 10 pain day " , I'll go hang on the sink!!

All the best,

Beth

Support for scoliosis-surgery veterans with Harrington Rod Malalignment

Syndrome. Not medical advice. Group does not control ads or endorse any

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