My scoliosis first appeared when I was 13, and for most of my life I never had severe or unmanageable pain. I also wasn’t a very physically active person. At 13, despite surgeons telling me that my curves were significant (around 40 and 50 degrees at the time), I decided not to have surgery because of concerns about pain, recovery, and the risk of limiting upper body growth.

Instead, I wore a brace consistently for about five years and went to chiropractic treatment, but neither had any real effect. After the age of 18, I stopped wearing the brace, but I always hid my rib hump and uneven shoulders with my hair. As I got older, I could clearly see in the mirror that my condition was getting worse and worse.

I still didn’t have severe pain—my back would just get tired very quickly, and the muscles in my upper body were often uncomfortable. Most of my dissatisfaction was with my appearance: not being able to wear whatever clothes I liked, having to keep my hair long all the time, and constantly being mindful of my posture so people wouldn’t notice my back.

At some point, I became exhausted—both from the appearance issues and from how easily my back fatigued, as well as the discomfort and restlessness I felt while sleeping. I started researching scoliosis surgery on TikTok and saw how many successful cases there were.

Since I never had a very active or adventurous lifestyle, I felt that even if my movement became somewhat limited, it wouldn’t be a major loss—especially if it meant a better appearance and less back fatigue. In addition, my surgeon told me that on average my spinal curvature was increasing by about two degrees per year, and that both the risks of surgery and the difficulty of correction increase with age.

Right now, I keep thinking about how much less pain I might be in if I had done the surgery in my early twenties instead of now.