Has anyone had scoliosis surgery?

Thank you for all your information . It’s so helpful to hear someone else’s experience that has been through scoliosis surgery . Right now I’m so afraid I might move the wrong way and cause harm to my hardware so I’m very stiff feeling and tinse and that makes my muscles feel tired and hurt , doctor doesn’t want me to ware a neck collar very much cause I will depend on it to much but I’m learning to keep my head inline with my body. I have a lot of shoulder pain , hopefully that will go away and my walking is a little jerky on one side . Thank you so much for listening to me , it’s feels so good to talk to someone that has been through this .

Happy to help! I hope your shoulder pain gets better quickly. I really recommend doing shoulder shrugs: first you shrug your shoulders back (you might barely be able to move them in that direction right now but that’s ok), then relax them, then shrug them up, then relax, and repeat a few times. I stopped and did this often every time I went for a walk and it made a difference. Were your shoulders hunched before surgery? Another thing I really liked besides gaining height was that my shoulders got less hunched. Hope you feel better soon!

My shoulders were hunched over and I leaned to the right side and hump in my back it’s all straightened now . I’m having to practice on chin tucks to learn to hold my head up with my body and I am doing the shoulder exercises and walking a lot , it seems strange to be taller again , I use to want to be shorter but not anymore 😂 . Did you have a full scoliosis surgery ?

Praise God! That must feel so good to have the hump gone and your shoulders straight and not be leaning sideways anymore! Wow, I can't even imagine. I'll bet it feels a lot different now when you sit back in your chair! Do you have more lung capacity now, too?
I'm glad to hear you're moving a lot and practicing keeping your neck straight. Does it get stiff sometimes? Mine did for a little while, which I wasn't expecting since it didn't get fused (my fusion went from T3-L1), but then again it did get un-scrunched quite a bit during the surgery and it was probably adjusting to that.

Please let us know how it goes for you. Updates along would be great. I battle pain from this every day/minute. Sure will follow any comments or suggestions anyone has. I am 74 and was afraid I was too late for help. I have already has C4-C5 fused - 40 years ago and C7-C8 blew out 20 years ago then spine really began its movement. Wish you well on your surgery!

Hi @me75 , welcome to Connect. How are you doing? I know prepping for this procedure can be overwhelming, but the feeling of standing tall afterward was so worth it for me, and I hope you'll be as excited as I was! My scoliosis surgery was from T3-L1, and the hospital stay was basically a cycle of napping and walking (can't emphasize enough how much walking helped). Some patients use a walker at first. I tried it, but it felt kind of awkward. If you do use one, just remember not to bend over like you might be used to seeing people do when using one.
Pain was moderate for the first couple days and usually mild after that. I recommend setting a pain goal, the threshold level where you want to be taking something for it, so you've got a plan for keeping it nice and stable and won't have a cycle of highs and lows; my nurse had me do that on day 1. Meds made me sleepy, but they were effective. The physical therapy sessions were short and basically involved a little walking, learning to stand up and sit down, and after a few days, stair climbing. (Your upper leg muscles get a workout with everything after this surgery.)
Best wishes for a successful procedure. Let me know if you have any questions. I'll be praying for you.
Hugs,
geekygirl9

Hi there!
Thank you for your post. I have scoliosis and osteoporosis. It was suggested to me to consider surgery which was a shock. I'm 75 yrs old, pretty high functioning and I don't have a lot of pain. I'm wondering what was it about your condition that warranted the surgery, if you don't mind sharing. Thank you!

I've had the scoliosis surgery 9\28 now on the road to recovery it has been rough but worth it to me.I was so humped over from broken vertebra in thoracic spine and L345 and s1 surgery .and so then had the scoliosis surgery because of so much pain and balance beening off . I have had a full scoliosis surgery from bottom of neck to tailbone it took 14 hours to do and 4 pints of blood and 5 days in hospital two of them in ICU then went to Tirr Rehabilitation for 10 days and now Home Health Care 3days a week for 3 months ,Medicare has paid for it all .It is had to get use to my body being different and had to learn new ways to doing things but I have a wonderful husband that helps me so much. I go back to doctor next week I'll post you to let you know what he says I hope I have helped you in some way to know what to do , I prayed a lot about it and I know God got me through it all and still is getting me through it all I know Jesus is the #1 Physician and was in surgery with me and sill helping now . Many blessings to you. Let me know what you decide.

Hi @mariahcb! So sorry for not responding sooner. The reason I had my fusion was because my curve was progressing very quickly and had just reached 50 degrees, the threshold where surgery is often considered because the spine is unstable and likely to keep getting worse. I was pain-free, but my doctor figured that since I was just 17 and my curve was continuing to progress at 5 degrees a year even though my teenage growth spurt had long since ended, I would eventually have to have surgery anyway and the procedure might not be quite as successful (i.e., they might not have been able to straighten it as much or I might have chronic pain because I waited too long). What I didn't realize was that it seems like scoliosis was also impacting my digestion, by squeezing my organs into a smaller space. That happens with some patients. I was completely backed up and miserable all the time, and then after surgery the situation improved dramatically. So it was definitely the right choice for me. What I'm trying to point out is that in some cases, scoliosis can cause symptoms other than pain. With that said, if I were you, I think I would weigh this really carefully and not take a step like this without a very good reason because the recovery is long and very difficult at any age, and I've read that osteoporosis can cause serious problems like a failed bone graft fusion or loose hardware if it's not managed well enough. Do you know why your doctor is recommending that you think about surgery, if you don't mind my asking? Also feel free to private message me if you want. Hope this helps!