[clemesam]

Hi,

I found this website through googling about a specific problem that I am having so I thought I would sign up and post a thread that is catered for my problem as people were having similar but quite dissimilar experiences as I.

I'm a 17 year old male and recently I was 'diagnosed' or at least told I had 'thoracic scoliosis' and I haven't really asked what degree it is at or anything. I'm pretty sure I developed it over time through walking around with a really heavy sports bag (25KG) each day for around 4-5KM per day.

I've been going to a physiotherapist and I've gone about 3-4 times; each time I go in there, I will lie down on a massage-like table, I will leave all my school uniform on (weird - he told me I had scoliosis but he hasn't actually seen my back in the flesh) and he will massage my back through my shirt to somewhat deal with the pain and he usually hits it. He'll go over my back for 4-5 minutes, finding all these painful spots that I know I had as well as not having and will also push my spine.

The greatest pain of all with the scoliosis is that I get this really painful feeling in my back and the closest I could find with a quick google image search was a sharp, tingly, extremely painful feeling around the left scapula. I'm not really sure if that is the bone but I'll give basic instructions to where about the pain is sourced. If I get my fingers and rub them from the top of neck down my spine, I will travel over 5-6 of those spheric ball things along the spine (have no idea what they're called) and move 2-3 cm to the left of my spine and it feels as though it is somewhat attached to the edge of the shoulder blade.

This really sharp, demanding pain that I experience really only occurs when I sit upright at a desk - when I am handwriting doing homework or doing an exam, especially the latter under time pressure, it is possibly the worst physical feeling I've experienced and I've gone through a lot in my short time. It absolutely throbs within pain after handwriting for 2-3 minutes or on a computer it just occasionally comes and sometimes it doesn't but it's bearable whilst on a computer. If the task is exceptionally important and I'm under time pressure such as a school exam, I'll continue writing through the pain in which I regret for 2-3 days afterwards unless I take one of my dads steroidal anti-inflammatories to get rid of the pain. Whilst writing in the pain though and trying to keep a fast pace, my handwriting is absolutely atrocious and even I can't decipher half the words after just writing about something 30 seconds beforehand.


This is where I need your guys help in this. As I live in Australia, we have this thing called VCE and we sit a series of exams (at the end of the year / 1 for each subject) and school assessed coursework (around 8 per subject a year / 6 subjects) which will ultimately determine the courses for University we can gain entry to and I am aiming for an exceptionally high mark to get myself into the comparative leading Ivy League school of Australia. However, all my subjects that I have interests in and have selected as year 12 subjects are really demanding in the handwriting field (History, English, Global Politics etc.) and I for one don't think I will be able to cope next year through this excruciating pain and even if I had to, my school marks would decline dramatically against my expectations.

Around 2 months ago my physiotherapist made an e-mail to the department of education for my state within Australia in which had to be applied through my school on the day of one of my major tests - he stated that I had extreme back issues and he highly regarded that I obtained access to a laptop or computer for all exams or school assessed tests so I can actually thrive like I feel as though I should as well as continue treatment without all the repercussions of discrepancies to my back treatment that enforcing such situations would bring, so it was an act to rectify the entire problem.

On that same day, a teacher called the provision department education people whom I just mentioned, and they declined the appeal for provision. I didn't hear any of this take place, but the teacher sat me down and told me something along the lines of this - 'I just spoke to the VCAA and unfortunately they have declined your appeal for provision as 'scoliosis' does not effect your ability to handwrite.' I was extremely confused and surprised and breath-taken that they could decline a request from a physiotherapist and I was just asking all these questions like 'how can this happen' and 'how am I going to deal with this pain' etc. etc. She animatedly depicted a person vividly similar to a character like Golum off of Lord of the Rings and said people have to deal with issues much worse than you have it - they take medication and they have been suffering with this kind of pain from birth.

Confused, I went back and asked my doctor about this who was fuming at the whole system and agreed with me in saying that someone could appear to have a much worse case of scoliosis than another person who only has a small degree to it, but the latter person could feel ALOT more internal pain than the person previously mentioned, in which he was creating a scenario around me in comparison to Golum.

My physiotherapist is going to reappeal it, detailing all of this. But what I am essentially asking I guess is how can I explain to them that I really do have this internal pain within my back, how a laptop would be beneficial to me in dealing with that pain and how to tell them it effects my handwriting? When I said that to my teacher like that, she scoffed at me and walked off.

Last but not last, aforementioned much earlier in the piece, I described the pain I felt within my back and the only occurrence of the pain is when I am handwriting to sitting upright in a chair at a desk. What could this be?

[Anne4tos]

You need a rolling book bag . I know they're not "cool" for kids your age, but it kills me to see all these young, developing spines hunched over with a giant turtle shell full of books on their back.

I'm A LOT older than you and have had many people look at my back over the years. They check for scoliosis in school here as well as doctors growing up. I've had lower back injuries as well, so my spine has been well traveled. No one has ever uttered the word "scoliosis" to me.

After working my way through the system and getting to PT's, chiros, osteos, etc, I have scoliosis now at T3-T5. That sounds quite similar to the area you are describing. I've challenged all of them with using the term scoliosis versus muscles pulling the T segments out of whack and they've all retracted their scoliosis claim.

Some things I would look at are basic muscle imbalance from carry a heavy load. You can't underestimate the havoc it can play on your body as one area tries to compensate for another. Without treatment (4-5 minutes is not treatment), it will become worse. Long Thoracic Nerve injury/irritation from carrying your load could be another option. There is also something called T4 syndrome. It's another waste basket syndrome, but there are similarities. Thoracic Outlet is another option, but you could just have postural issues from the weight and then head forward, bent over position when you write and sit at school all day.

For me, I love my laptop. I can control my head position and do a better job at posture control. Writing is horrid. I can't write with my head up, so my posture goes to &^%$ and in turn, I start writing like I was back in kindergarten.

I'm sorry they didn't grant you the use of a laptop. I bet you look normal and healthy too, so the "Lord of the Rings" animator can't "see" your pain . Easier said than done, but you have to eliminate the offending element and for starters, it's probably that backpack. Can you get an ereader for school with your textbooks? IPad? Kindle? Ebooks on your laptop? Good luck with your tests. I know they're timed, but a few postural breaks may help you get through them.

[curby]

I am not a doctor. But I think you need a better set of exams and or tests to diagnose the cause of your pain. I also think massage sounds like it is not really helping. Can you see a sports medicine orthopedist, a neurologist or another primary care doctor than the one you get massage from?

If you take your shirt off and stand straight with arms relaxed down at your sides, can someone look at your scapula from the back and see any winging of one, or difference between left and right side at all? How about with your arms straight up? (Scapula are the sort of flat bony wings on your upper back). Are your hips or shoulders uneven when standing straight, arms down to side?

I wonder if having more conclusive tests, imaging studies, or xrays, something that "proves" the cause of your pain, would be more diagnostic and convincing for the exam disability people.

I sympathize with your frustration and anxiety. I admire your tenacity with school in spite of the pain. Try to apply that same tenacity to getting a more concrete diagnosis of your pain, which then can lead to effective treatment and resolution.

[Jomar]

I suggest looking thru our useful sticky threads, I think your dr & PT are not doing the best at helping you.
here's one of them- a sort of crash course on TOS and related issues
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread84.html

Perhaps an expert bodyworker or chiropractor might be more helpful at this point to get you 'straightened out" and quicker too.
But be sure to find the best experts in your location.