My sister just told me that my niece, who just turned 16, has been dx with scoliosis (not sure if spelling correctly). Does anyone know how common this is, or have any experience with this?

Any experience on what the prognosis would be?

It depends on the degree of curvature. My 14 yo dd has it. They diagnosed it when she was about 10. Her pediatrition had us have an x-ray taken every 6 months to monitor the changes while she was growing. She told us that they refer to a specialist at 15-20 degrees and start talking surgery at about 35 degrees. My daughters highest was about 17 degrees, I believe. They did not refer her, just monitored it because a year or 2 after they start their period, they stop growing, hence the curvature cannot get any worse. They won't be monitoring her anymore. That's about all I know.

Lisa

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Next door neighbor girl was diagnosed in 5th grade and had surgery in about a year. Her curve was high when diagnosed and progressed rapidly. I don't believe I've heard of a 16 yr old being diagnosed unless regular screenings aren't done. In our school district screenings are done yearly. It is my understanding that girls quit growing 2 yrs after they start their period.

She said the dr told her that she was still growing, so they weren't going to do surgery. She told me the number that she is, but I can't remember. I think she said 40? I just am not sure, though.

She said that they found it becasue the dr saw that she had a funny gait when she walked, and then they did X Rays.

It can't kill her, can it? Is it just that it can possibly curve her spine to the point that she has a "hunch back" like an older woman would have that has calcium issues?

Ugh, I need to do more research..

The curve to the spine can be severe enough to compromise lung capacity. This might be a good opportunity to ask your school board to start scoliocis screenings. If the curve is 40%, that is severe. Next door neighbor girl was only in late 5th or early 6th grade when she had surgery so she was far from not growing anymore. The curve was severe enough to warrant surgery.

Thank you, Genichols.. that helps a lot.

I will be talking to my sis some more about this. I am just so worried

This looks good...
SCOLIOSISRX: SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT

In searching a bit I also noticed that only half of the states require schools to test. It's such a simple test although it does take time for an already very busy school nurse team to do.
I saw several good informational sites. Make sure your niece is seeing a good ortho that has experience in scoliosis. In AR patients are sent to Children's Hospital in Little Rock.

My younger dd was diagnosed in 7th grade. Her curvature was in the 25+ range and she wore a TLSO brace for about 2 years.



She had to wear it all the time during the day, but not at night. It corrected her curve to almost normal range. She only has slight scoli now and most people didn't even know she was wearing it, unless she wore something tight.

If your niece has a 40 curvature, it's a good chance they'll put her in a brace of some kind. Make sure she is seeing an orthopedist that deals with children/adolescents.

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We also have screenings for it at school in the 7th grade. I hope that hers is not too bad.

Screenings in school here for girls are 5-9th or 10th grade and I think 1 or 2 yrs for boys. DD is in 10th and during last school years screening there were 4 girls with curvature.

Wow. We have vision & hearing screenings, but not scoliosis. I've never heard of such a thing. I wish we had that. Her pediatrician found it in a well child exam. That's a really great idea.

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

My mom was a school nurse (in Arkansas)--I believe they started scoliosis screening at least 10 years ago. It is a time-consuming process but, if it prevents future medical probles and/or disfigurement it's worth every bit of time.

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when I was in school many many years ago. That was in Ohio in the 70's. I think it started in 5th grade. Not sure if they do it here in AZ since my daughter is only in 2nd grade.

Thanks for the information link! Do they screen in California? Genichols.. do you know where can I see the states that screen?

I was screened at school over 50 years ago. They stood you against a wall and if their arm fit between your back and the wall referrals were made. Such a easy testOne of the only ones I ever passed! lol

I have looked and can't find a list of the states that screen. I did find this document that is a year old re: CA

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/hn/docum...sscreening.pdf

I work in a middle school in California.....we screen all in 6th through 8th grades. I am unaware of elementary schools doing screening---or, I should say neither of my own children were tested until middle school. Ohhgodd, it is very kind and compassionate of you to be so helpful in assuring your sister and niece; I do not believe that this is a fatal disease except maybe in rare cases where diagnosis was not done and breathing and other organ capacity is affected. This is a relatively easy disease to correct and deal with.

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Jeanie,

Thank you so much.. that is so comforting...


I just wonder why they didn't catch it until now, if they screen in middle school? She is in 10th grade now, nnd has only gone to Calfornia schools.

Oh well, I am just glad they caught it now and are going to help her get "better".

Please have your sister follow up on it. My friend who is 55 was told she had it when she was in grade school. Not much was done for it then. About 2 years ago, she had all kinds of back, leg and foot problems. They have corrected some of the problems but she still has to deal with some problems.

My children's pediatricians check for curvature at each well visit. Schools are pretty rigorous in ensuring that kids have up-to-date physicals and immunizations. I think that's the way to go....rather than pushing these checks into the school (already burdened with so many academic and social issues), it makes more sense to me to have every child seeing a doctor on a regular basis.

OP - glad that this was caught and hopefully the treatment will be simple and effective.

cj/

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I haven't signed in this site in years, but have read it regularly. I had to chime in on this subject though.

My daughter was not diagnosed with scoliosis until just after she turned 18. They stopped monitoring/screening for that long before that. She also didn't have a huge (and last, thankfully) growth spurt until she was 17. Last August, 2008, her scoliosis was caught. By then, she had 60 degree plus curves (S-Curve). By November, it had rapidly progressed. My mid-December her curvatures had increased and she was having the largest scoliosis surgery in our state, lasting a little over 12 hours.

I won't go into the graphic details, but now she has a zipper down her entire back, two steel rods and 26 screws holding her straight. In a nutshell, it was a nightmare.

Please take any diagnosis of scoliosis seriously. If caught early enough, some doctors believe bracing will help. Anything over 40 is potentially surgical. Keep in mind, my daughter's experience is rare, but it was severe.

If you want more information, feel free to PM me (there still is PM here, isn't there?) or I can provide an email address.