Stand Up Straight!

I haven't quite figured this out yet, nor how to deal with it when presented.

Yep, my posture has become dreadful.  Sure, we can add the diagnosis of scoliosis, and kyphosis, and a list of other fancy terms.  Point is, I slouch.  My head juts out, my shoulders are hiked up, I walk forward, as if I'm always preparing myself for a possible fall.  And let's face it, with all my recent surgeries, neurological deficits, and hardware, I can't afford a random splat.

Why is it those with the best intentions feel compelled to tell me the "source" of all my back troubles is postural, (especially my extended family members,...my Mother stands firm, as does my Sister in Law, the one who works in a PMC),...that if only I would stand up straight I wouldn't be in pain.  Yuh-huh, how enlightening.  Well, you see, I'm hunched over because I'm in pain and much of my posture isn't causing the pain, as much as it's the result of me trying to not be in pain.

I'm forever flinching if something/someone brushes against me, forever on guard, high alert.  Being told if only I'd "relax my shoulders & arms comfortably by my side"... is like telling me to stick my hand in a fire.  I am not comfortable nor relaxed with my shoulders down, and in fact, this "relaxing" often hurts my back and neck.

I am still in the process of rehab, strengthening, stabilizing, learning and adapting.  This is complicated by the weight gain from my inactivity.  I'm not blind, nor ignorant.  Think I don't see or feel my expansion, or understand the impact this has?  Again, if only I'd lose weight, my back wouldn't hurt.  Yuh-huh, well that's on my list.  I'm trying to get physical,...so I can lose weight,...so my body will be stronger, so my back and hips won't hurt.  I see it as a balance, in tandem, a process.  Not so cut and dry.  What's with the insistence that I'm oblivious to the connection or presumptions that I'm not actively working to reclaim my body, or that I need education on the obvious?  I know they all mean well, but when even the doctors see this posture as a cause not an effect, it becomes harder to be understood.

Anyone have any guidance on how to deal with this?  Anyone else feel their posture is sort of like this?  Anyone relate?

Frustrated,

Sookie

People say the same to me.

My neighbor, who is like a godmother to me, always speaks about how me sitting on the floor hunched over playing video games as a kid is why my back is curved (even though it is congenital.) She says that I should 'stand up straight', etc, even though my hips and shoulders have the tell-tale signs of scoliosis tilt. Not to mention my left leg is shorter than my right!

And I also need to exercise and lose weight, but it is all just a big circle of pain basically. I feel like I can't do much exercise due to pain, but I might feel better if I lost some weight. It isn't like I don't know this, but knowing it and being able to do it are two different things. I've made some changes and am less sedentary now, but I am still super sedentary compared to other people around me, who think if only I'd walk as far as them I'd get better or feel better. It's well intentioned, but no one can ever really understand the issue unless they have felt it. Even then, we all take pain differently and react in sometimes unexpected ways.

Anyhow, I wish you luck and healing, and hopefully less pestering by family and friends about your posture.

Sookie Snows said...
Hello Patrick,

I have the same thing, scoliosis, plus I have the early stages of kyphosis, plus my spine has a "twist" and yes, it's congenital, and it got exacerbated by a nasty car wreck I had many years ago. My car was totaled and the firewall was in my lap.

My left leg is longer than my right one (my PCP says: But MOST people have one leg longer,...and THEY often go their whole life with no problems,...) Yuh-huh. Looking back, I had symptoms as a kid. Looking back, my postural quirks actually were for a reason.

At 49 I got my left hip totally replaced. 12/12/12 I had spinal reconstruction L1 through L5 (fusions, decompressions, titanium cages to stabilize those areas), and then on 6/10 I had my right hip totally replaced.

I'm sure they're all related/connected. We walk differently and structurally we just cannot do what "normal" people can. I get tired of family members who "should know better" insisting they know better and wanting to point it out and tell me how I've done this to myself....and talk to me as if I cannot see my own body or that I'm unaware.

It's tiring. It's irritating.

It's frustrating.


Sookie

I agree 100%. My scoliosis is also compounded with a 'twist' as well. It twists more down lower through L4-5, so my hips are also a bit crooked in addition to tilted. It makes complete sense as to why people like us would have to walk a bit abnormally, even without regards to actual pain. Our mechanical abilities of our skeletal system are essentially malfunctioning. If we're by the books abnormal, why is it so hard for people to understand that our activities and physical abilities are abnormal when in comparison to a healthy person of comparable age?

You need a proper treatment and please take an appointment with the bone and neurosurgeon again What exactly your reports states ?

hi Hibee, just been reading about your Scheuermann's Disease, I know what your going through, im 43 yr old had it since I was 16, yes it does look like bad posture but if it doesn't get sorted you will also have bad lower back pain, some times you cant move, ive had appointments after appointments, therpy, heat treatment on my spine, x-rays, doctors say unfit to work, government says I am fit for work, you will have a long road ahead if you cant have an operation to sort it all out............

Hi Billy1970

Sorry to hear you are having the same issue and I agree with what you said re not working. I think the problem with SD is that it is such a rare condition that a lot of doctors have never heard of it my doctor being one of them.

It has taken me well over a year to get this referral to a surgeon and my doctors and pain clinic kept telling me I should not be experiencing this much pain with this condition and that basically the pain is in my head. It also causes pain throughout my body as I am compensating for the curvature in my spine do you find the same? And have you had surgery?

Hibee

My daughter says to me, (Mom, why do you always sit with your back hutched down, relax your shoulders) excuse me, I have been siting like tis my whole life, and maybe this is how comfortable I fee siting this way. People sometimes do not now what to say, I always say that if you don't know what to say, don't say nothing at all.

Also I don't know if anyone has really spoke of this, but even if you never had depression before, chronic illness and in our case, pain, can make you very depressed...and guess what depression causes?

Yup. Pain. People with even moderate depression can have significant issues with pain levels increasing. Say you have bad RA inyour hands and it makes you depressed over time, to the point where you'd seriously probably get help for it in some way. Well in most cases, that depression is going to worsen your actual physical pain or at least your tolerance for it. I hate to quote a pharma drug commercial, but yeah, 'depression hurts'.

So a bit off topic, but yeah. Depression is a serious illness/issue and not one that is 'just in your head'. It can affect your pain and chronic issues significantly if left untreated. I personally (me, NOT a medical professional) think that anyone who has symptoms of depression along with chronic pain should be seen by a psychiatric professional/mental health professional. Sometimes medication is an option, sometimes honestly some changes in lifestyle and therapy can really help. It could honestly help some of us to do this, I think, if we're able to do so. Obviously it isnt for everyone, and not everyone feels the same. I was just wanting to put this out there because I know my scoliosis pain is way worse when I feel very depressed. And if possible, one should always have their doctors work as a team so to speak. Always keep your pain doc informed about any psychiatric concerns, and always keep your mental health professional informed of your pain management and any medications. It's something we always hear, I know, but it is worth repeating in my opinion.

Post Edited (misterkatamari) : 8/28/2013 2:40:32 AM (GMT-6)