📣 General Welcome Space

Hi! My name is Anna, and I am 21 years old. I was first diagnosed with scoliosis when I was 8, and let me tell it has not been easy. I was born with low muscle tone, and we think that was the cause of my scoliosis. I went through 2 years of bracing from age 8 to 10 and then another round from 11 to 13. Talk about a rough and expensive childhood, hahaha.

Lately, I have been feeling very alone because I feel like I cannot talk to anyone about this. My roommates are amazing, and my good friend is super patient, but how do I tell them that I feel alone? I also recently felt very sad and alone because my parents never talk about my journey. I have not seen my back doctor since I was 14, but it is like they just forgot my journey…

I'm Ainslie and I'm 25.

I was diagnosed with scoliosis at 9 after falling off the playground. I've had both a regular brace and a Milwaukee brace and had my spinal fusion at 14. I gained 3 inches of height.

Since then I have had chronic pain and body image issues with how clothes sit on my body. I also do dancing and have switched to leading (traditionally the man's role) as it involves less bending, dipping and leaning.

I'm currently at university studying a Bachelor of Social Work

Hi! I'm thankful to have found a spinal fusion community. I have Scheuermann's disease, which is very similar to scoliosis but with a front to back curve and less known about. I spent my teen years being told I created my curve with bad posture and didn't get a diagnosis until age 20. I had fusion 2 years ago at 39 from T2-L1+T13. During surgery T8 was mostly removed and I am now numb/have constant nerve pain all the way around my rib cage at my bra line. I'm curious if anyone here has had revision surgery to address nerve damage and has a Dr in Boston who they like.

Hi! So glad I found this group. I have been through two surgeries and am fused T2-L4. I currently work as a park ranger but am at 33 looking in to new careers due to extreme pain at times. Love working outdoors but my back says otherwise after being upright all day.

👋 I’m Baily and I am so excited to have found this community!

I had a T1-L3 fusion 18 years ago at 21 after being diagnosed around 10. Bracing was never considered because at the time I was dealing with a severe ED. Post op I was dealing with a lot of pain from the hardware and had very little medical support. My then boyfriend (now husband) suggested that strengthening my core would take a bit of a load off my back and help me move with less pain. As someone who’d never been a fan of physical movement I reluctantly tried it out.

Now I mange to move my body daily in ways I’d never though possible - reformer twice a week and Pilates and strength building 3-4 times.

My biggest hang up is still my scars - on top of the regular surgical scarring I have marks from…

Hi everyone! So cool to see a community for scoliosis. I was diagnosed at around 6 or 7 years old I believe and had a full spinal fusion at 12. I’m currently training to run my first marathon and have been practicing yoga for about a year. When I first started, it really hit me how I can’t do all of the poses like others could, but I don’t let that stop me from enjoying my practice.

I’m so excited to see a community for people like me. I just want to remind you all that you are so strong.

Faith

24, Chicago

Hey everyone, I'm Jaime. I'm 48 and have been on the scoliosis and spine saga journey since age 12 - Boston brace, childhood fusions at 13 and 14, and most recently a lumbar fusion this January with revision in July. I'm in Washington State, and I'm really glad to be here with people who understand what it's like to live with this much hardware.

Hi everyone!

I live in Northern California, and I got diagnosed with Scoliosis 3 years ago. I have mild-ish (I got an X-ray 3 years ago which showed mild scoliosis, but I believe it progressed in the last few years...). I am a current high school student, and not many people actually know that I have Scoliosis mostly due to the stigma around it that "bad posture causes scoliosis", but I started to incorporate life with scoliosis into my instagram account (@hs_kaur.md_dreams), to bring awareness to it and stop hiding a part of myself! 💗