There is no doubt that we would always like to PREVENT the progression of scoliosis in adulthood before it gets to the point that it causes a significant drop off in quality of life as well as posture and appearance, but there are certainly many times we end up seeing people come into Hey Clinic who have suffered for many years with progressive, painful deformity. While many children and adolescents will have curve that seem to stabilize with bracing or just follow-up without bracing at the end of growth, some curves continue to progress slowly during adulthood. Then, as the curves become larger, and the discs and facet joints in some cases start to give way, the curves can start to progress more rapidly often causing a “spike” in pain and trouble with activities of daily living, and possibly leg symptoms as well.
In the video below, Natalie and her husband share briefly her scoliosis story, and gets a chance to thank the Duke Raleigh Hospital and Hey Clinic staff for her new posture and new and improved life moving forward.