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Is scoliosis my fault? Did I worsen it?

entermatrixentermatrix Member Posts: 6 Listener
in Dealing with chronic pain

Hello, I think that my scoliosis is my own fault and it makes me very nervous & unhappy.

It's because from 16 to 19 years I had underweight with 55 kg due to anxiety and psychosis as a male. Then I took medicine and at 20 years my weight was normal. I am 21 now. I also remember sitting incorrectly in front of the pc for many hours and in school. And maybe I had a lack of vitamins and poor nutrition although blood tests did not point to that.

At 19 years of age they discovered a 20° S curve scoliosis. Is this all my fault? Did I cause my own scoliosis? Did I worsen my scoliosis? Maybe I only had 5° and I worsened it up to 20° ? Could all of this have been prevented? Thanks for reading.

As a reminder, I was about 1.82 meters tall since 16 years and from 16 to 19 years I had underweight with only 55 kg as a male. Did this and the resulting unidentified nutrition + my poor sitting habits cause or worsen my scoliosis? Did it worsen my scoliosis even if it's just a tiny little bit? Or am I completely guiltless here?


Is scoliosis my fault? Did I worsen it? 4 votes

Yes, scoliosis is your fault and you did worsen it.
0%
No, scoliosis is not your fault and you did NOT worsen it. Not even any little bit.
100%
GeoarkentermatrixGoForIthazard6 4 votes
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Replies

  • GeoarkGeoark Community champion, Scope Volunteer Posts: 1,365 Disability Gamechanger
    No, scoliosis is not your fault and you did NOT worsen it. Not even any little bit.
    Hello @entermatrix and welcome to the community.

    Rather than trying to blame yourself for something which is not  your fault, may I suggest that you actually learn something about Scoliosis. A good place to start would be https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/scoliosis/ it is a quick read and easy to understand. At least then you can move on and stop wasting your time on pointless what ifs.

    If someone is trying to fill your head with this nonsense at least you will be armed with the truth, either to challenge their assertions or to just ignore it as the ignorance it is.

    As an individual I stood alone.
    As a member of a group I did things.
    As part of a community I helped to create change!

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  • GainaGaina Member Posts: 133 Pioneering
    No, you didn't cause it. In fact unless you have a condition like Spina Bifida or Cerebra Palsy which can predispose you to scoliosis, the cause of majority of cases is unknown.  

    I agree with @Geoark, the best thing you can do now is find out as much as you can about managing the condition and especially gentle exercises you can do to improve posture and reduce any pain associated with the condition. 😊
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  • entermatrixentermatrix Member Posts: 6 Listener
    No, scoliosis is not your fault and you did NOT worsen it. Not even any little bit.
    Ok thanks for the support. I didn't cause scoliosis, ok... and did I also not worsen it? I want to know this so I'm sure that I can't blame myself for this. I am a very worrying person and I have  problems with anxiety.
    I just want to do strength workouts but this question keeps me from giving 100%. If I knew that I did not worsen scoliosis and that it could not have been prevented, then I could look forward and forget this.
    So did I worsen scoliosis? In the sense that I only had 5° and for my actions it worsened to 20° ? Could it all have been prevented? Thank you for your answers.
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  • GainaGaina Member Posts: 133 Pioneering
    entermatrix said:
    Ok thanks for the support. I didn't cause scoliosis, ok... and did I also not worsen it? I want to know this so I'm sure that I can't blame myself for this. I am a very worrying person and I have  problems with anxiety.
    I just want to do strength workouts but this question keeps me from giving 100%. If I knew that I did not worsen scoliosis and that it could not have been prevented, then I could look forward and forget this.
    So did I worsen scoliosis? In the sense that I only had 5° and for my actions it worsened to 20° ? Could it all have been prevented? Thank you for your answers.

    ,
    No, you didn't worsen it either. All you can control is how you manage the symptoms. Do you have a specialist who monitors it? I think a chat with them might be a good idea. 😊
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  • entermatrixentermatrix Member Posts: 6 Listener
    No, scoliosis is not your fault and you did NOT worsen it. Not even any little bit.
    I don't even have any symptoms. Very very rarely I experience a tiny little bit of back pain (for seconds) but that only happens when I sit or lie in bed for a long time. It just looks bad in the mirror, sort of, and makes me feel uncomfortable. That's why I wanted to know if it was at least not my fault and that I did not worsen it, not even by a little bit.

    So thank you very much Gaina and Geoark for answering my question. If anyone else wants to reassure me that I did not worsen scoliosis, do it! :)
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  • GeoarkGeoark Community champion, Scope Volunteer Posts: 1,365 Disability Gamechanger
    No, scoliosis is not your fault and you did NOT worsen it. Not even any little bit.
    Hi @entermatrix,

    I noticed that you mentioned wanting to do strength training. Please consult with your doctor or specialist. There will be exercises that could potentially cause you additional problems and pain. As your back is not normal the muscles that support it are probably not working in the way they normally would for example.

    As an individual I stood alone.
    As a member of a group I did things.
    As part of a community I helped to create change!

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  • entermatrixentermatrix Member Posts: 6 Listener
    No, scoliosis is not your fault and you did NOT worsen it. Not even any little bit.

    Thanks for your support but I've already done strength workout many times after the diagnosis at the end of my 19 years. I'm now 21 and have done it like 4 or 5 times for 2 or 3 weeks each time. After that I always lost motivation or I had no time due to work being done. ;)
    My back should be fine as it is only a mild 20° S curve. I even think that an S curve is better than a C curve because it looks "cooler" and it balances itself out. I experience like no pain at all.

    But just to make sure... Geoark, you think I did NOT worsen my scoliosis any little bit by the things I mentioned or somehow else? I really did not worsen it? Not even a tiny little bit? Would relieve me a lot if this was true. :)
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  • GeoarkGeoark Community champion, Scope Volunteer Posts: 1,365 Disability Gamechanger
    No, scoliosis is not your fault and you did NOT worsen it. Not even any little bit.
    Hi @entermatrix from the research I did it is not affected by anything you described, so no I do think you contributed to it even a little.

    If I can be frank with you, it is not a good strategy to constantly look for reassurance from non medical people like myself. The best thing you can do is discuss this with  your doctor or specialist. There are also charities and websites with good solid information. https://www.sauk.org.uk for example.

    I am not trying to put you off from doing exercise, but considering your level of insecurity I would still recommend you discuss exercise with your doctor or specialist so you have some piece of mind that it will not worsen things. They should also be able to give you guidelines on what to look out for that may be of concern and when to stop a particular exercise. As you said it is mild, and you have not experienced pain with it, so many  things will probably be fine, but knowledge is key especially understanding any potential risks.

    As an individual I stood alone.
    As a member of a group I did things.
    As part of a community I helped to create change!

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  • entermatrixentermatrix Member Posts: 6 Listener
    No, scoliosis is not your fault and you did NOT worsen it. Not even any little bit.
    In your first paragraph you wrote "do" instead of "don't".

    Yes I asked an orthopaedic and a chiropractor and they said the causes are unknown and they do not know if i worsened it. But I'm good with assumptions. So I didn't worsen it, right..?
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  • GeoarkGeoark Community champion, Scope Volunteer Posts: 1,365 Disability Gamechanger
    No, scoliosis is not your fault and you did NOT worsen it. Not even any little bit.
    @entermatrix thanks for picking up on the typo and working out it was the wrong word.

    As I have said, both correctly and incorrectly, I do not think anything you mentioned would have caused your scoliosis to be worse than it might have been.

    As an individual I stood alone.
    As a member of a group I did things.
    As part of a community I helped to create change!

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  • entermatrixentermatrix Member Posts: 6 Listener
    No, scoliosis is not your fault and you did NOT worsen it. Not even any little bit.
    Okay, thank you, now I can stop worrying about what was the fault of my scoliosis.
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