scoliosis

mary,tx · #1 08/13/12, 08:11 PM

I just learned that my twenty year old son has about a 30* scoliosis in his upper back. Also his heart "sounds funny," maybe because of the spine pushing it up against the chest wall.

He is to have a chest x-ray on Thursday, and the nurse is making him an appointment for an echocardiagram.

What should I know? I don't know how worried sick I should be, or what any of this might mean.

Molly Mckee · #2 08/14/12, 09:41 AM

It may mean a brace for several years, or surgery. If the curve is bad enough it can compress both the heart and/or lungs. It can also get worse as he gets older, and painful. It is very treatable, by conventional medicine. Unfortunately I don't think there is anything alternative that will help it.

LisaInN.Idaho · #3 08/14/12, 03:36 PM

My 3 year old great-nephew has a particularly bad case of infantile idiopathic scoliosis and he is in and out of casts and they are hoping to be able to do surgery at some point. I've seen his x-rays and they are really awful. Poor little boy.
I can't imagine that alternative medicine could offer much help with scoliosis.