I've debated about writing this for a long time, probably about 2-3 years now. This is the first and probably last time I will write something like this, but I feel as if it's neccesary. I don't want you guys to view my story as a tragedy or an attempt to gain your sympathy, but rather as an inspiration to others living with my condition. For those who are unaware, Scoliosis is a lateral curvature in the normally straight vertical line of the spine. When viewed from the side, the spine should show a mild roundness in the upper back and shows a degree of swayback (inward curvature) in the lower back. Here are my x-rays, the one on the left is from about two years ago and the one on the right is from last year. https://ipfs.pics/QmdrxMoRSsH6femcLxotoJw58inH1Sb15DVEA8vs9BGnjS
Unfortunately, I don't have any previous x-rays but this will give you a good idea.
I was diagnosed my freshman year of high school quite accidentally. I was undergoing physical evaluations by the athletic trainer which were required to play any high school sport. The athletic trainer noticed an irregularity in my posture, and referred me to my family doctor. Likewise, my family doctor referred me to a specialist who diagnosed me with idiopathic sciolosis. I was diagnosed with a curve in the teens, which is noticeable by x-ray but barely noticeable by eye. It is only when my clothes were off that you could tell something was off. In all honesty, at first I didn't think much of it and nor did my parents. Even though scoliosis is not extremely rare (occurring in 2-4% of children aged 10-16 with 80% of those affected being female), often-times they don't know what causes it. As a result, they don't have a solution to fixing it. Back when I was diagnosed, the efficacy of back bracing was also up-in-the-air so literally there was no good treatments other than surgery. I had a night back brace for a year, but stopped using it due to insomnia. The curvature of my spine progressed an average of around 5 degrees per year, sometimes not gaining any year-to-year and sometimes gaining ten in one year. Around my junior year of high school was when it really started affecting the quality of my life. Because my spine was getting more and more crooked, my body had to compensate through its posture. I was often-times uncomfortable standing more than an hour, and my back would get so sore at night that I would take an hour long shower to release tension in my muscles. I quit wrestling (surprised I was even able to join the team with sciolosis tbh) because I could no longer keep up with my schoolmates. But the pain wasn't the worst part though. As a teenager, your body image is already pretty low. But as a teenager with a deformed back which caused one side of your ribs to pop out noticeably, that's the cruel part. I don't even remember a time when I went to the pool between my diagnosis and my surgery. I remember quite vividly that during one vacation we all went to the beach and I was the only person with a shirt on. Anywho, my parents were the kind of people to reject issues until they actually require immediate attention so I didn't get any sympathy from them.
I went in for what was supposedly going to be my last checkup my freshman year of college (curve stops progressing after you stop growing), and was shockingly told that my degree had jumped up another five and that I should start looking at possible surgeons. After about fifty degrees your curve will grow 1-2 degrees per year no matter what your age. Anyway, I remember walking out of the doctors appointment and my mom just completely denying what he had said and saying that he didn't know what he was doing. I had to drag my dad and mom both together to a different doctor for them to finally understand I needed surgery. We planned it for the summer and I remember being very nervous. They tell you not to get nervous about it but god if they had messed up I would be paralyzed. Luckily, the failure rate is low but still... I got the procedure done, spent 3 days in the hospital, one month on oxycotin and vicodin, and the pain from the surgery subsided the following couple of months. Here's a pic of 2 weeks after the surgery.
https://ipfs.pics/QmT1CHK6aA68daXPayJANR3m9MSGTnrrNhH2CHXQW1Wd32
https://ipfs.pics/QmeCcTrRDhYvWmLUjVTrFK3KnTDc4eeyvK52Fx8WBeutyv
As of now (1 year 2 months after), I still have some stiffness in my back but for the most part all of the pain went away. I would recommend getting the surgery if you are over 50 degrees curvature.
For those of you out there with scoliosis, it gets better. You are your own enemy when it comes to appearance, most people wouldn't notice it until you point it out. I had to tailor my high school experience a tad, but I still hit all the milestones along the way. In terms of worrying about another person being attracted to you, don't. Everyone I was with, even the shallow ones, were very understanding and quite frankly didn't care. It took a while to not be self conscious about my long ass scar running down my back, but in all honesty, it's fucking cool. I convinced a hella drunk man at the pool that I got into a knife fight when I was thirteen. I've convinced people that I've been in a shark attack whatever. And if they ask what it really was from, I just say I had surgery. The scar fades but you come out a better person. I'd love to answer any questions y'all have about it.