Scoliosis. H. Stanbro

[The Doctors]

13 Scoliosis
i am a 32 year old and i have scoliosis which a curviture of
the spine, i
am wonerding that is back pain also from scoliosis and if yes
what can i
do about it.it hurts
every time i bend over and it has been bugging me. now i work parttime
as a janitor for albertson and alot of the duties i have to do
require me to
bend over and i
am in pain every day i come from work. i also recieve SSDI from the
state ad iam wonder if it is possible for me to go back and
claim total
disability for back since
it is really bugging me. what can i do to help me from being in
pan.

Answer
Certainly scoliosis can cause back pain, especially in
occupations that
strain the back such as yours. At your age, I doubt if bracing
would really
do much to correct the scoliosis, but if it is really severe,
you might
consider surgery. My daughter had severe scoliosis which didn't
get better
with years of bracing as a child, so when she reached her full
height, they
put rods in her back to hold the spine in place. It sounds awful
and the
surgery was not pleasant, but since then, her back has been much better
and she is able to lift her child, etc. which she could not have done
before. The rod system she has is the Cotrell-Dubosset system,
which has
little crossbars between the rods to keep them from slipping, so the
patient can get up and walk right away without having to be in a body
cast for months like they used to do with the old Harrington
rods. You
should certainly be evaluated by a good orthopedic surgeon who
can tell
you if there is any possible therapy for you and if your
disability is such
that you can claim benefits.
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