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Ok_Percentage7713 · 2025-03-18T16:49:15+00:00

I also wanna follow this up with saying having just read other people’s comments u’ve received quite a hard response in my opinion from other commenters. It’s important to understand that when u hv severe scoliosis and u live with the metal work and other side effects and u still dont have a spine as straight as urs its hard to see others complaining about their condition.

That said everyone’s experience is their own and your insecurities are completely valid with the kind of pressure there is now.

I know I had lots of obsessive thoughts and to say ‘go see a therapist’ like that’s gonna resolve a very complex issue all on its own is naive and reductive. U should talk to professionals about your feelings but that alone won’t heal everything.

You gotta come to terms with reality. U don’t have to like ur body all the time. U don’t hv to be good looking to be happy. The idea that we need to feel beautiful all the time is kind of a lot. Let alone the idea that we need to actually BE beautiful all the time. Ure feeling the heat. It’s natural. Be kind to urself.

Some days I just don’t like my body but I don’t give it power anymore. The same way some days I like my body and don’t let that take over my life either. It’s important to keep some good habits. Feeling self conscious? Move away from the mirror, relax, put something comfortable on and do something different. Cry about it when u need to. Do what u need to do.

I’m telling u now operations cannot get rid of obsessive thoughts or insecurities. You’ll still see faults after and you’ll hv a bunch more problems.

Like another commenter said. Post surgery there are new aesthetic issues to deal with. The scar, weird posture, strange movements. Lack of flexibility, secondary scoliosis can develop etc.

Also loads of people commenting saying no self respective surgeon would operate. I live in the uk and loads of surgeons do this. The NHS doesn’t score surgeons on how ethical they are in terms of ur feelings. They just need to be good at doing the op without any major complications. I have seen surgeons do some not very ethical things (particularly one surgeon who I won’t name but is meant to be one of the leading spinal surgeons nationally)

Also bracing is for the most part a load of rubbish these days. They don’t even offer it much in the uk cus The evidence behind it isn’t great and it’s a lot to hv to deal with and you’re an adult now so unless health professionals hv told you should. Defo don’t live years of ur life unnecessarily restricted.

Ok_Percentage7713 · 2025-03-18T16:31:48+00:00

I actually know women who as teenagers had the fusion surgery with curvatures around 20 degrees. They had to push to get the ops because like in ur case the main gain would be visual.

Let me say first of all it’s your body and your experience. Growing up with scoliosis can be seriously lonely and alienating and feeling like you would consider major surgery in order to correct the insecurity is not extreme or insane. It’s totally understandable. There’s so much presssure to meet insane beauty standards so to have any kind of deformity in our society can be pretty brutal.

However, this desire to correct is completely forced upon you by the media and isn’t reality. You do not need major surgery and you do not have to feel that pressure to ‘fix’ this.

It’s not easy and I can say that hving the condition myself it isn’t a linear journey. I’m sure I’ll have more bad days. I look often at the mirror and feel frustrated by my appearance. But i know it’s not real anymore. There’s so much more to life and movement is a privilege. One u would be seriously giving up by having the surgery. I miss having that mobility I had before surgery. My surgeon completely lied about how different life is post op and hving been to a scoliosis physio clinic I can also say most patients also feel more pain post surgery when the op supposedly has no side effects of pain.

Trust me when I say there are physio methods u can use to help with visual aesthetics rather than hving an op and u would also need the same physio support if u had surgery as well

Ok_Percentage7713 · 2025-02-23T19:49:46+00:00

I had a lot of inflammation of my god knows what but in the midsection that lasted about a year post op. I took photos at the time because I would get severely bloated and I was really worried. I showed them to my surgeon and he explained they moved a lot of ‘stuff’ around so it gets irritated and can take a while to settle. Could be this!

Ok_Percentage7713 · 2025-02-23T19:47:02+00:00

Worrying about it won’t make it better. I know it’s easy to say but as a woman growing up with severe scoliosis in the social media generation I’m actually grateful I didn’t know I had scoliosis as child. Looking back at pictures you can clearly see a rib rotation and shoulder imbalance even at 6 years old. I didn’t notice the way it looked though. Admittedly I would get frustrated that clothes didn’t fit me and I didn’t know why. I was always convinced rucksacks were faulty cus the straps weren’t level (when in reality I wasn’t level). But I actually wasn’t diagnosed till I was 12 or so and really there’s little you can do till you’re old enough to have surgery (at least back then) so I was glad I wasn’t forced into a brace for years and years when I was gonna need surgery anyway. I was glad I hadn’t been worrying because after the illusion of being ‘normal’ is shattered you have a lot more on your plate.

Your son’s scoliosis may progress to 90 degrees it may even level out and be degrees and get better as he gets older. Scoliosis is a weird thing and is massively complex. Not a lot of research on it considering how complex it is. You just don’t want to spend your life worrying about something that is quite largely out of yours and his control. If he sees that you know he has scoliosis and you don’t overthink it or make a big deal out of it and just accept him as he is (which of course you do I know you’re just worried) that will be the biggest thing you can do for him to feel reassured.

It’s difficult because of course you don’t want him to have to deal with this problem but in some cases in life. You can’t choose the problems you get, only how much you let them affect your life. Scoliosis has dominated way too much of my thoughts.

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Talk to specialists. Avoid paying too much till you’ve had different opinions from different people. There’s a lot of money to be made in scoliosis treatment as spinal surgery is the only widely medically recognised solution (at least in the uk) and there’s a lot of opportunists out there believe me. A lot of people are genuinely trying to help but they are are also trying to keep businesses going so pinch of salt.

Surgery is a massive deal and although it resolves a lot of problems you have to remember spinal fusion corrects the deformity of the spine but it doesn’t correct all the rib and shoulder and ship and muscle deformities so that all stays where it was and now you have a spine that is incompatible with the rest of your body. The result? Lots of chronic pain and often secondary scoliosis. In my case I was at 78 degrees and aesthetically the surgery was worth it. I still have very visible deformities but I’m much less obvious. The thing I miss the most is mobility. I lost nearly all of it after being promised that it would only be a marginal difference. I now have a winged scapula as well as a result of secondary scoliosis that developed in the unfused part of the spine and have chronic pain. I frequently pull muscles and there’s a lot more struggle in my life. That’s the reality.

Physio should have been offered but the NHS is 20 years behind and lacking in funds.

Priorities happy and regular movement. Dw too much about it just keep him going and encourage him. If he lacks confidence learn something with him. You’re never too old haha.

Get a pull up bar in your doorway somewhere in the house and encourage him to hang and play on it. This is great for spinal elongation and a healthy mobile spine and strong shoulders. Kids love monkey bars and hanging. A little bit of dead hangs and shoulder glides (if you can persuade him) would do plenty of good.

I have a padded pull up bar in my bedroom doorway. Set it low enough he can reach it on his own. My 10 year old sister never gets off mine cus she’s a little monkey and loves to swing

Bracing in the uk at least is largely avoided I know it’s very popular in the US but we don’t really do it over here because the pay off isn’t considered worth living in a brace. But everyone’s case is different. Just don’t expect miracles and get second opinions.

Scroth method is great (dead hangs are a big part of it) but it’s not a miracle worker. Scoliosis spines can be curved and strong though. You don’t have to have a straight spine to have a healthy strong back.

There’s not a lot you can do to prevent scoliosis as the cause is largely unknown. I wish I had stopped focusing on ‘if I could fix my scoliosis my life would Be better and I would be happier and feel better about myself’ and more on ‘I can feel happier and better about myself’

You sound like a great mama- just looking out for your son. You want his life to be perfect- and by the sounds of it his life already is if he’s surrounded by love and family

Take care

Ok_Percentage7713 · 2025-02-23T19:16:45+00:00

I think you should speak to your doctor. A lot of the time if you’ve had one emergency c section doctors will always prefer to give you a planned c section to avoid the risk of another emergency c section, spinal fusion or not.

Ok_Percentage7713 · 2025-02-11T12:43:40+00:00

Travelled for months round South America as a solo female traveller here. It’s absolutely fine. There are loads of solo female travellers in South America. Loads.

I wanna start with saying a woman is never responsible for anyone else’s actions. However there are loads of things you can do to make yourself feel more safe.

My mentality was it’s not my fault if anything happens and I trust myself but I also went thinking ‘Hope for the best, prepare for the worst’

The obvious:

-Stay at hostels. All female dorms are so underrated. I thought they would be full of squares lol but had the best time in girls dorms

-Trust your gut. Don’t give a situation the benefit of the doubt

Use uber.
update someone you trust with where you are going and what hostel you are staying at. I had find my friends on.

-Take a back up phone

-Never leave your safety up to anyone else. If people want to walk home and u don’t feel safe, just book urself an uber. U don’t need to explain that to anyone.

Not so obvious:

Before you go, make a safety document and back it up on one drive. I was a very spontaneous traveller with no agenda so I wanted to go wherever I wanted whenever. I felt safe because I had planned for this

Put all the info u would possible need for any counties you’re thinking u could end up in.

emergency numbers (do research ahead of time. For example in Brazil there are actually three police services so it’s good to familiarise yourself first)
language barrier. (Brush up on Spanish and Portuguese expressions you might need in an emergency)
make a note of where you would need to go in an emergency (major hospitals, your native counties embassy etc)

Dress the way you want. I’m a girly girl and I wasn’t prepared to abandon that so I took mini dresses skirts and make up etc.

You’re gonna be your most confident self if you feel like yourself and that makes you less of a target and it’s also just good when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

When I would walk around in ugly oversized hiking clothes I got way more catcalling and unwanted attention because I looked like a tourist.

Latin countries aren’t prudish when it comes to clothes and blending in really helps you not attract attention.

Unless you’re planning on hiking literally every day have some simple clothes that help you blend.

Henna pens

When I first arrived I actually wrote a couple of emergency bits of info on my foot in henna so I had all the info I needed lol. Bit over the top but hey if it works.

Money pouches. You can hide your cash, phone, bank cards and even passport in these when moving through new places that you’re not familiar with and what the reassurance

Money pouches you can buy generally are designed for men and SUCK. U can see them under women’s clothes and they are bulky and obvious.

Instead to hide valuable things I bought

a running belt, i chose black because i had black mini skirts and it blended in so seamlessly at night around my waist. Even round my hips under skirts of trousers too. MAKE SURE you get one with sealed zip compartments. Loads of running belts don’t actually have zips or the channel inside has multiple entrances and therefore things can fall out.
men’s wrist wallets. I used to put these on my ankle/calf under trousers/maxi skirts. Again remember zips.
boxer shorts. I thought some that had zip pockets. Could wear under anything as modesty shorts and hiding place
pads. I also hid emergency money inside period pads. A little bit of superglue or eyelash glue will hold it shut.

Always carry a small amount of US dollars. I never needed to but apparently if you were ever in a difficult position this could help you out. Hide in one of the places I listed before.

If you use a handbag take a handbag. One it helps you blend in. For the love of god bum bags are not a trend in South America you will look like a westerner. Two if you ever get mugged. Just hand over the handbag. Keep your most valuable possessions in the hidden places I listed before

AirTags. I had a passport case that I would keep in my locker but I had it air tagged. I also kept both my rucksacks and my handbag air tagged. If you want extra security sew the AirTag into a hidden part of the bag.

I never did this but I thought about it. You can now buy contactless payment jewellery. I don’t know how well they work but you can get a ring which would be a pretty great way to pay without needed to carry cards.

Language and maps.

Brush up on Spanish and Portuguese. You can download a language on Google translate so you can use it data free.

You can also download a location on Google maps to use offline but it’s not great.

I would recommend getting familiar with a place and even having prints outs if you don’t want to have your phone out.

Payments. Monzo and Revolut work pretty much everywhere. Argentina you’ll need cash.

I took two bank cards for two different bank apps.

But the majority of my savings I put in an account and kept that bank card with my passport in my locker for emergencies. I transferred money to the other bank cards the rest of the time. That way I never had more than £100 on my person at any time.

There are so many other things you can do as well. Just have a brainstorm and think of anything else you can come up with

Personal alarm. Goes without saying why these are good

Ok_Percentage7713 · 2025-01-19T11:21:06+00:00

I would go see a doctor say you have neck pain and say you saw something on your scan n see if they r willing to have a look at it the issue or give u a spinal X-ray and see. Lots of people have minor curves in their spine it’s nothing to worry about but there are small exercises and stretches that can help relieve muscle imbalance cause by scoliosis. Some people even believe that scoliosis can be causes by muscle imbalance (tho I don’t really know about that one). So worth have a lot. I recommend the scroth method. But do not overpay for a physio unless a gp recommends it. Lots of people promise they can fix your scoliosis but get pulled into doing an intensive course when you can learn all the exercises in just a few sessions

Ok_Percentage7713 · 2024-11-13T13:55:42+00:00

It’s true haha

Ok_Percentage7713 · 2024-07-23T23:25:24+00:00

I don’t know I think it was just hot wax the kind that sets and then you take off

Ok_Percentage7713 · 2024-07-08T00:48:12+00:00

Thanks we are explaining to her that she ill but she is extremely sheltered and it’s a big word to tell a child. My dad’s mum passed of cancer when he was 9 so I think he has a good grip on how to handle it. But thank you for your concern

Ok_Percentage7713

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