Does scoliosis surgery get rid of pain?
Does scoliosis surgery get rid of pain?
I get asked this a lot and the answer, for me, is yes and no.
People don’t seem to understand why I am still in pain after I’ve had scoliosis surgery. I think they think that as my surgery was nearly two years ago that I should be ‘recovered’ and back to normal now – whatever that is.
The truth is, that before my surgery my pain was much, much worse and I was so much more uncomfortable.
Before surgery, the pressure of my spinal curvature on my muscles gave me terrible muscle spasms/knots. Nothing would get rid of them, I had massages every few weeks, tried acupuncture, physiotherapy, heat therapy, Pilates and swimming.
It just felt like a constant intense pressure – kind of like my spine was about to snap. I also found it hard to sit unsupported e.g like on a bench/stool as I’d get pain/pins and needles in my back. Plus,I was always so uncomfortable on pretty much EVERY chair due to my rib hump.
A different kind of pain…
As soon as I woke up from surgery I knew straight away that the pain I had before surgery was completely gone. I can’t begin to tell you what a relief that was after years and years of it. My muscle knots went overnight!
My back felt supported for the first time, like I had an internal brace and I could sit unsupported comfortably for the first time. It was so amazing.
I was told by my surgeon that this surgery is not guaranteed to get rid of pain and that I could end up with a different type of pain post surgery and he was right.
I didn’t have the surgery to get rid of my pain but to stop further progression of my curves so this didn’t really bother me.
What is my pain like post scoliosis surgery?
The pain I get now post surgery is mostly lower back pain that I get after a long day at work/being on my feet for a while and is relieved instantly by lying down.
I guess this is due to pressure on the unfused discs in my spine as they have to take the pressure that my whole spine used to take now that it’s fused. I’m currently trying to strengthen my core muscles at the gym to try and take the pressure off and I have noticed a difference since starting my exercising.
The main problem I have now is trouble getting comfortable. I’m constantly uncomfortable and I think this is because of the rods in my back my posture is constantly ‘straight’ so I cannot bend my back to mould it to chairs such as sofas as others would do.
If I’m sat straight upright I’m usually comfortable but the problem is that most chairs don’t allow you to sit straight very easily so I’m always hogging all the cushions in the house in a desperate bid to get myself sat in a ‘straight’ position!
UPDATE
I’m now 7 years post op (where does the time go?!) and I would say my pain now is similar to how I described it in this post. The only difference now, 7 years later, is that it’s much easier to get comfortable and my back is much more flexible than it was. I remember what it was like feeling uncomfortable all the time, but I’m happy to say that I think this was mostly down to being in recovery and that, over time, this did improve.
Louise X
If you’ve had scoliosis surgery, how has it affected your pain? Let me know by commenting below 🙂
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I had scoliosis surgery in 2010 and blog about my experiences living with scoliosis. My aim is to raise awareness of scoliosis and help and inspire others with the condition.
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