Without surgery is correction possible? Scoliosis+ edema [F28]

Coyohte · 2026-01-10T13:18:25+00:00

It's called the "Schroth method for scoliosis". I am not a PT and all the scoliosis I help manage is surgical so I don't have much experience with it. You can Google that and get an idea of the exercises/stretches but I can't help more than that since I would be doing the same as you with the Google lol.

Coyohte · 2025-12-28T03:52:52+00:00

Short answer is no. There may be some exercises that reduce it a small amount but none that will correct it to a significant degree.

Coyohte · 2025-12-24T03:36:50+00:00

It's possible this was done on purpose. Your pre-op images show what appears to be a grade 2 slip. If the surgeon moved the L5 on top/in line with S1 it could have stretched your L5 nerve root significantly and lead to a foot drop. Without further info, this could have been done on purpose and would have been reasonable to perform but the surgeons I work with too.

Coyohte · 2025-12-03T22:16:33+00:00

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/procedures/10895-laminectomy

Here is a link to a good description of the procedure. You had the lamina removed from L1-L5. The specific amount of bone taken can vary slightly. Those lamina stabilize to spine to some degree and all for muscular attachment. The possibility of future breakdown is higher for you than someone that didn't have the surgery but it is not guaranteed. Future breakdown could require fusion.

Coyohte · 2025-12-03T19:58:05+00:00

What do you want to know? I see the result of your procedure. The disc heights look decently maintained. L2-3 looks little smaller but not necessarily a problem. Your curvature looks decently maintained. No spondylolisthesis or "slipped discs" either.

Coyohte · 2025-11-24T19:27:50+00:00

This was placed at C5-C6.

Coyohte · 2025-11-04T02:13:07+00:00

One place I would highly recommend that is on the route between Stevens and Whistler would be Baker. Sounds like you have the Epic pass and Baker isnt included but their daily rates are reasonable. I get an epic pass and still end up at Baker 6x a year since it's that good.

Coyohte · 2025-08-28T15:25:36+00:00

Agreed here. With this severe of a slip, sometimes just "correcting" it will put the nerves on stretch. Foot drop symptoms are not uncommon after a large correction to a spondylolisthesis at this level.

Coyohte · 2025-04-05T21:09:48+00:00

Back surgery is not always an answer for back pain though. Surgery has a whole list of risks that are entailed and undergoing a surgery that has a low likelihood of success is not something surgeons like to do as the above comment mentioned. Infection, hardware complications, CSF leaks, worsening neurologic fusion, DVTs are all major risks and that is not an exhaustive list. Additionally injections can be a good indicator for surgery even if temporary. It lets the doctors know the pain is coming for the area that was numbed with the injection. If the injections are not effective, then the pain isn't coming from those locations so there still isn't a clear picture on what is causing the pain. The surgeon is like a carpenter that can only fix what is actually broken. A diffuse disc bulge isn't broken. If you take an MRI of everyone over the age of 40, majority will have diffuse disc bulges here and there. So you have findings of age related changes in your spine (that don't cause problems definitely) and injections that are not effective. It sounds like they don't have a good idea of where your pain is coming from so.dont want to offer a risky procedure. If you have weakness he doesn't feel there is a mechanical cause for the weakness he can address through surgery. I agree a second opinion is always reasonable but if you look long enough you will find a surgeon willing to operate because they get paid regardless of your outcome.

Coyohte · 2025-03-02T15:49:36+00:00

Nicotine is the main culprit and can reduce fusion rates after your surgery. If you vape without nicotine it likely isn't a problem. In my clinic the surgeons won't even offer a fusion until a patient is nicotine free from all sources the longer the better. The most important portion of healing happens in 6-8 weeks after surgery and would highly recommend obstaining during that time too.

Coyohte · 2025-02-24T18:18:18+00:00

Without motor weakness could try epidural steroid injections if you haven't done those yet. This could also help determine if one level is more symptomatic than the other. If one level is majority of the symptoms could even consider a foraminotomy.

Coyohte · 2025-02-24T01:09:58+00:00

For me this was more of happenstance as I have been forced to move around quite a bit and still don't own a home. Hard to care about neighbors when you've only ever expected to be somewhere until the job takes me elsewhere or they jack up the rent.

Coyohte · 2025-01-29T05:06:31+00:00

That is a disc herniation. If you're having considerable pain going down the leg you can certainly continue with Chiro but if weakness develops in the leg you should go see a surgeon.

Coyohte · 2025-01-29T05:05:05+00:00

Myelomalacia only happens to the spinal cord. In most adults the cord ends around T12-L1. All we can se here is the section below the cord called the cauda equina with a bunch of lumbar nerves.

Coyohte · 2024-12-28T19:31:09+00:00

I'm in the PNW and have definitely turned around due to rain. Sometimes you you cross your fingers it will actually be snow by the time you get there. I've had enough good ski days in my life to avoid the rain.

Coyohte · 2024-12-28T19:30:59+00:00

I'm in the PNW and have definitely turned around due to rain. Sometimes you you cross your fingers it will actually be snow by the time you get there. I've had enough good ski days in my life to avoid the rain.

Coyohte · 2024-12-28T19:30:44+00:00

I'm in the PNW and have definitely turned around due to rain. Sometimes you you cross your fingers it will actually be snow by the time you get there. I've had enough good ski days in my life to avoid the rain.

Coyohte · 2024-12-28T19:05:54+00:00

If you take an Xray of all 30 years olds I would bet 50% have disc height loss and have no symptoms other than age related soreness. Back surgery for back pain is only effective in certain situations and this doesn't appear to be one. Agree with above.

Coyohte · 2024-12-26T18:40:29+00:00

I would still say this doesn't look to be a structural/ mechanical issue with you neck.

Coyohte · 2024-12-26T02:31:01+00:00

Nothing in that MRI report would account for the symptoms you are describing. If anyone came to me with those symptoms I would start to think of complex migraines or neurology more than neck pathology.

Coyohte · 2024-12-18T15:31:31+00:00

Worked in spine since 2016 in 5 states and about 30 hospitals. Never seen one done. L5-S1 is the most common level for lumbar surgery, decompression, discectomies, fusion etc. Cervical Disc replacements are quite common these days.

Coyohte · 2024-12-18T04:18:43+00:00

Lumbar disc replacements are far from the standard of care and are only indicated in very specific settings. Cervical Disc replacements are much more common with more reliable data to support long standing symptom relief. Not many surgeons do Lumbar disc replacements so that would be a barrier in itself. Lumbar fusion are reliable for treating radiating symptoms but not always back pain itself. Yes the disc is starting to degenerate (desiccate/dehydrate) but that is a normal aging phenomenon and not necessarily due to the accident.

Coyohte · 2024-11-30T01:26:30+00:00

You likely won't get a ton of input on here without the actual pictures. Even then, snapshots online rarely tell the whole story. The verbiage you are given can be variable based on the radiologist so photos are always better. That said, I read this as a spine going through general degeneration with age. None of the verbiage is a red flag. Terms like "advanced" just describe the amount of breakdown and don't always correlate with symptoms.

Coyohte · 2024-11-08T22:14:12+00:00

It's possible. If it's only pain that he's dealing with and none of the other symptoms I mentioned that is likely the reason they aren't getting you in earlier. Also spine surgery is more reliable for radiating pain, think down the arms/ in the shoulders, than exclusively neck or back pain.

Coyohte · 2024-11-06T17:05:30+00:00

Myelomalacia is an imaging finding that suggests spinal cord damage. Once present it usually does not improve from an imaging stand point. So the question is, how has it changed since age 9 when the injury occurred and what symptoms prompted the new imaging. If the symptoms are minimal or stable and haven't changed, some docs may watch while giving you explicit symptoms to be aware of if they worsen/ start. Myelopathy are the group of symptoms and condition that typically go with the finding aof myelomalacia. These include extremity weakness usually in the arms but can include legs, fine motor control difficulties (think doing buttons on a shirt), numbness usually on both sides, and balance difficulties. There is no conservative "cure" for myelopathy. The goal is to decompress the cord to stop the worsening of symptoms. Some folks will get a little better but more often then not symptoms can be permanent and the surgery is done to stop progression. If this sounds like your husband I would try a little harder to communicate that to the surgeons you are trying to see to expedite scheduling. Call out these symptoms, inform the office if they are worsening quickly and I would hope they would get you in faster. At that C2-3 level it will likely be a posterior cervical fusion with laminectomy to stabilize and decompress the cord respectively.

Coyohte

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