Scheuermann's Disease

Eva McDonald · Newbie Joined: 03 Jul 2006 Posts: 1

My son is 25 years old and for the last 4 years he has had pains in his shoulders, knees and back. We have gone to orthopedics, he did several MRI's, XR's and in February he had surgery for a thorn ligament in his hip. After the surgery,we hoped that he was over his agony, but the pains continued and now the rheumatologist say that he has Sheuermann's disease. Can someone help me please? Isn't this disease an adolescent disease? has anyone had this kind of experience, and what treatment did you have. I would appreciate your reply.

Thank ou very much
Eva McDonald

smiddy · Newbie Joined: 20 Oct 2006 Posts: 1

We are from Australia too, our nearest specialist is 3500kms from us and we only see him every 6mths at a clinic! My son who's now 16 has been dealing with this for the past couple of years, he has worn the brace 23hrs a day for 18 mths, and has since stopped wearing it as they (the docs) think his growing has slowed right down now, and it will have minimal effect from now on. I think they wanted to see how he'd hold up without it too. His kyphosis corrected somewhat whilst wearing the brace, but now the brace is off, it has reverted and even worsened. They started talking surgery at our last 6mth checkup. He also has a scoliotic curve to match. He cannot bend his back to lean forward at all, as all the ligaments are so tight. His knees are maltracking and quite often painful, docs say he needs to stretch etc, but this causes chronic back pain, dont know if its doing good or doing more damage!

He has developed nasty strechmarks up near the centre of his back, either side of his spine, much worse on the left. He (my son) wants to put surgery off till 'new technology' comes out... but i've read they heal and have much better prognosis if they operate when they're younger?!
He is chronically tired all the time and has had dodgy calcium serum levels on a couple of recent tests, (hope that doesnt mean his bones are leaching calcium too now... argh!!! - awaiting more tests over a period of time to summerize wots going on there...)

Has anyone had the ligaments loosened off somehow, does this help? As it wouldnt carry the same risks as full-on back surgery (would it?), and if there's such a thing, we could do that while we play the wait n see game. This would lessen the amount of pressure bearing down on his spine, while those last couple of cms are grown out?! Wonder if that'd work in the meantime...

Any ideas?

Guest · Guest

omg that is so scary!! Right now i have 3 bulged discs and my doctor say i might have shuermanns disease, so now i have to get a cat-scan. I have already had a mri and im taking darvocet and skelaxin for the pain. I was a work related injury Crying or Very sad

DeeD · Newbie Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 2

I have a 12 almost 13 year old daughter with Scheuermann's kyphosis and a mild degree scholosis. She wears a brace for 23 hours per day for the next two years. I wish you alot of luck in your sons treatments. Dee

lizamarie563 · Newbie Joined: 09 Jan 2007 Posts: 1

Hello there:
I am a 25 year old female who was just diagnosed with this condition. Surgery seems to be the only option, since I have stopped growing. Can anyone share their experiences with me? I feel the only true way to make this decision is to talk to people who have gone through it. I have a desk job that I will need to return to post-surgery. I do not have any children, but hope to in future years! Any advise/experience you can share would be greatly appreciated!

Guest · Guest

Hi, my name is Kayleigh im 17 years old and I live in England. Last thursday I got diagnosed with Scheuermann's Kyphosis and my consultant told me that I have to have surgery. Apparently according to my X Rays I have stopped growing, so there is no point in wearing a back brace. My spine 3 months ago in the initial consultation was 38 degrees. When I had comparison X Rays done on thursday they found that the curve had increased to 73 degrees. Can someone please tell me what the surgery is like, and what happens after the op? I got told what they're gonna do, and that id be in hospital for 8 days, but they didnt tell me about once i got home. I have had to tell my university that I cant go for another year because of whats going to happen. I'm quite nervous, ive never been good with operations, and I know this is a big one. I gotta have an MRI scan, and ive never had one of those either!

07prwinkle · Newbie Joined: 18 Feb 2007 Posts: 1

Hi, my name is Jessica, i'm 17 years old and i was diagnosed with this disease when i was 13. I don't remember how many degrees my curve was(i know pretty dumb thing to forget) but it was enough to have surgery. Considering i was only 13, it actually wasn't that bad. The worst thing was probably all of the MRIs i had to get... but that's only because i'm claustrophobic. One thing that shocked me was that they needed a rib graft to fuse together my vertebrae. My surgery lasted 10 hrs. and i stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks. Don't worry about the pain, they give you plenty of medication. Post surgery was kinda hectic, only because you need all the rest you can get. Nausea was also in the mix of things. Dare I say... bright side?... I was 5'4 when i went in and 5'9 when i came out. Anyway, GOOD LUCK, and if you have any more questions just post. Very Happy

angypangy04 · Newbie Joined: 06 May 2007 Posts: 1

hi i"m 38 years old and i was born with schermans disease. i live in melbourne and have a 13 year old daughter who actually inherited this disease of me unfortunatly. My daughter know has been wearing a boston back brace now for nearly one year and it has been a long haul for as both. she hates wearing the brace but puts up with it as she can see what the future will hold for her if she doesnt get this awful disease fixed up now early in her life. she can see the pain i am going through with tremoundous back pain.this makes her keep going everyday with the support also of her doctor at the royal childrens hospital who is wonderful and understanding. for all those kids who have to wear this back brace be strong and keep holding on as the time will pass quickly and it will make you stonger people as adults and if you can get through this you will be able to get through anything. i am thinking of getting surgery for myself and i am very scared i just need to make the first step and my daughter is supporting me all the way so i know i will be able to do it. i needed a back brace when i was 12 years old but when the specialist showed my mother the back brace she was horrified and decided to not go through with it. everyday i wish my mother was strong enough to go through with it as maybe know i wouldnt be in so much pain. having three children has also worsened my condition and doing simple chores is sometimes very difficult for me. so lets all be strong for our kids so they can have a happy pain free life walking up nice and straight with there head held up high with full confidence to get on with there lives happily and gracefully. good luck to all you kids out there as this is only a small part of your lives that you need to endure to make the most of your lives.

Guest · Guest

Hi,
after reading your replies over here I felt I should share my story. Today I'm 22 and my Sheuerman was discovered when I was 18, quite by accident. Even though it was too late, I took up 2 years of excercise classess to correct my spine connected with the swimming pool (2ce a week 45 min of excercise and 45 min of pool)
It's a fact that I felt some pains in my back when being 14-16, but whenever I felt it I just straightened my back up. Sometimes it helped, sometimes not. I really don't know what's my curve, as I'm not from U.S. and I'm not sure if I can really spend that kind of money which it would take me to diagnose it fully (the diagnose came from a quality massage therapist my father used to go to and then by making a spinal xray).
One thing I can tell you - the pain is not really so big if you just make your child sit straight - the fact is that the spine is resting, when sitting straight! If you lean or bend you make it work hard and that's why it hurts (not just because you for example lift something). You don't have to make your son feel ockward with all those braces and stuff. Send him to the pool, make him sit straight and find some good quality excercise classess (I'm sure there are some of those here in U.S.). If this doesn't work - than it's not worth a buzz to take the braces - decide for a surgery, but give it a shot!
Oh, and one more thing - if you pat your son and cry with him whenever the pain hits him, you're surely not helping this guy. He's supposed to be a man one day, for God's sakes! Don't make a cry baby out of him! I know what I'm saying,because I've been down this road (and you've not) and I'm telling you - it's painful but it's even more painful if you feel sorry for him - it's in his head - if someone who he trusts starts crying over his fate, he feels that it's really bad (even if it isn't!). I also study psychology and I could tell you more about this mechanism, but I feel some of you might not read half of my writing. Anyway - don't hurt your kid even more than his hurt right now! He's perfectly normal! He'll be able to play soccer, baseball and have regular sex relations. Don't make a cripple out of him!

lisareik · Newbie Joined: 06 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

Hello,
My son is 18 and has played competitive basketball for 12 years.

He has recently been diagnosed with Scheuermann's Disease and I would like to hear what kinds of useful therapies have helped you readers.
I am new to this issue and very anxious to help him before the condition worsens.

Thank you.

Scheuermann's Disease

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