Ways To Maximize Your Health After Scoliosis Surgery

This week we are talking about post surgical options and really specifically, how can we take care of ourselves after we have scoliosis surgery. So this can be related to any age really, whether you are younger just coming out of a surgery or whether you've had surgery 30 or 40 years ago.

We see a lot of different types of patients come through our office that have lots of different experiences. And one of the things that is a common theme is. That we've had a surgery and there's follow-up at least probably, you know, for the first one, two, maybe three years, depending on the surgeon or when the surgery was done.

I'm finding that right now kids that are having surgery are having a little bit longer of follow-up than they used to 40 years ago. And then what happens after that? Because at some point in time the surgeon will assess you and, you know, either deem the surgery successful or, uh, give recommendations for additional care and then discharge you from their care.

So what do you do after that? I have seen lots of different experiences with surgery overall, for the most part. The kids that have had surgery that we've worked with, whether preparing them for surgery, and then seeing them after surgery have had relatively successful results from their surgery when we couldn't avoid that surgery.

And a lot of them are still active, they're still doing sports. And that's probably the biggest question. And now I will say I am not a surgeon, so the things that I'm sharing with you are experiences clinically and just from conversations I've had with. Parents and families and patients that we've worked with.

Just for some information to first let you know that sometimes surgery really is the better option, and I say that from a place of, you know, obviously really trying to diagnose early, give the appropriate care and recommendations as early as we can so that we can get ahead of it and prevent surgery at all costs.

Because surgery is obviously a big decision, it's a big procedure. There are risks with that and you know, can have different health, implications with that. And so of course that's not. Necessarily something that is just chosen flippantly. It's something that we have to come to a decision at some point if a scoliosis has progressed to the point where it's not safe to not have surgery.

And I don't think that that's talked about really enough, at least. From my experience of the population that I've been working with, and maybe that's just here in the state of North Dakota because we're more rural and maybe the awareness, isn't quite there. But I find when I talk to other providers, that's also somewhat of a common theme.

So we're not on one side or the other necessarily. You know, not all surgeries. Are preventable , sometimes we end up with curves that are really highly progressive and the danger of not having surgery when you need a surgery is that as you get older, your scoliosis continues to progress. And then a lot of those adults that I'm now seeing that didn't have the surgery, that maybe they weren't recommended to have surgery, but it's progressed now into their adult life.

They're really struggling with some things because it continues to progress and can become unstable. Now I know everybody has probably had some type of a story where they know somebody who's had a surgery and then maybe have had some complications afterwards or some undesirable results afterwards, things like that.

And so there's both sides of this, and it's really not black and white. There's a lot of gray area. There's medically very, uh, specific guidelines for when surgery is necessary and what the research says. Um, but it's really about what's best for you and your family. And so I wanted to talk about that too because I think that there's a lot of, fear surrounding those decisions.

And we wanna know that , you know, we're making the right decisions. So, once we've come to that conclusion that a surgery is necessary and you've had the surgery, now what? Now what can we do to help keep ourselves healthy? And of course, normal health habits are super important. I love that some of the surgeons that have worked with our families and patients are talking about that with them now about, you know, how do you make healthy choices and your foods, um, getting good sleep, staying active, getting exercise that's appropriate for you.

Making sure that you are taking care of your body in ways that are really helpful for anyone. Not just if you have a surgery, but even more important if you have had a surgery or some type of procedure that, um, has put your body in a position where it needs some healing and it needs some strengthening.

So all of those general habits are really, really important. So focus on those for sure. If you haven't been doing those, definitely start with that. From a physical perspective, some of the things that I can see...

when I'm working with patients is post-surgery. Obviously there's some loss of flexibility. If your spine is now fused or if you've even had a tether in through there, it changes how your body works to some extent. And so the examples that I have for you today, most of those patients have had rods and they've had them in the last few years so it's either like a younger population that are coming back from that, or patients that are now in their forties or fifties that had surgery when they were young, uh, adolescents. And so, flexibility, stiffness, pain, some of the normal daily activities, you know, up going up and down stairs, picking up things, carrying things, stuff like that.

And so one of the things that we've been able to implement in our office that I think is really important to talk about is our Scully balance Rehab programs that we use. For patients across the board, we've been able to implement those for patients that have had surgery. And what we've noticed is, you know, first and foremost, they've gained strength.

They've been able to increase their flexibility, their normal day-to-day things that they were struggling with have gotten better over time. And so that's really been helpful. Now the question is once you have surgery, what types of things are safe for you to do and your surgeon will guide you with that.

So some of those questions where it's like, can I still play volleyball? Can I still play basketball? Can I still dance? That's going to be specific to you, your diagnosis, the surgery that was done, the outcome of your surgery, and really, uh, focus in on the recommendations of the care team that you saw and what they've recommended for you as you move forward.

As far as the rehab programs that we have to offer, those are tailored very specifically to your needs. So you are not going to have the same rehabilitation program that the next patient would, or that a patient who hadn't had surgery would have. And those are assessed off of x-rays and evaluations and an exam that gives us very specific details about how your body's functioning, how your body's working, what are you having trouble with, if you're having trouble with anything. And I say that because you don't have to be having trouble with something to want to try to get stronger and to be able to build your health and help your body heal and, um, get strong after a big procedure like that.

So, that being said, we make it specific to what your goals are. So if, for example, you are having pain and if that's your goal, we work on that based off of our findings and we help implement that for you both in the office with us and then also at home to go through your day-to-day. Say if you are coming back from a surgery as a high school student and you're an athlete, if your goal is to.

Get back to a sport that you love, then that would be coordinated in your plan. How do we make this as specific for you as possible so that we can get you healthy and strong and back to doing the things that you love to do, and hopefully not having any pain or any, uh, restrictions as far as you know, what your body's able to do just from a movement perspective of how you feel during the day. So that's the goal with the rehabilitation programs that we have to offer. They've been really powerful for patients across the board.

Young patients post-surgery, older patients post-surgery and then also even, you know, in that like 25 to 45 range when we are still, whether we're young parents or we're, you know, active adults.

We've been working with patients in that sense as well, where you don't have to be necessarily working specifically to. Like a sport or necessarily working specifically to, um, address pain or a symptom, but you just wanna be healthy and strong. And so those goals are different for everybody. And, tailored specific to you. So this is, uh, an option and a program that I really am hoping reaches the right people because I am finding more and more through even parents bringing their kids in for scoliosis, checks or scoliosis treatment. Finding that now as an adult, they haven't had any care for their scoliosis for 20, 30 years perhaps and may have some challenges that they want to work through, but they're just not aware that there's anything there for them. Or maybe they've tried other things and it's helped here and there, but hasn't been really specific. So, from that perspective, that's a huge option post-surgical, where once you are cleared by your team and your, uh, surgeon, that we can start working, on those, those programs with you.

As far as other health options, the care team that you are most comfortable with that, you know, can work alongside either us and also the surgical team that you saw, is key. And the communication between that team is really important.

But those are providers that, uh, we see lots of different providers. Some people work with, physical therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists. Sometimes they're doing different types of modalities, like soft wave or dry needling, things like that and all of those things can be really helpful.

I know people talk about yoga and swimming different things, uh, at gym, like having gym memberships and trainers and, and all of those things. So I think that across the board you can have a care team that is really dedicated to helping you achieve your goals wherever you might be. Whether you are in young and in high school coming off of a surgery or if you are older and have had a surgery years ago.

And that's where we can kind of help tailor that of, you know, filtering out what your goals are, what we're working with, and then who best fits your team right now at this point. And then how do you expand that team as we start making progress on those goals.

So there's some information we are going to link at the bottom of this episode here that talks about ScoliBalance , what it is. You can go on the website, read about that, find providers in your area. Obviously if you are in the state of North Dakota, our office is providing those services right here to you.

But if you're listening from another state or another country there's also an option on the website where you can find a provider and it will tell you their qualifications, how many certifications they have and whether or not they're doing ScoilBalance  or ScoliBrace in their office.

And there's just a wealth of information. So please reach out if you have any questions. We love to do discovery calls with our patients so that we can give some information. Really get to know you and answer any questions that you have. So look for that below and check that out and hopefully have a great week.

We will be back next week talking about some additional resources for you. And until then, have a great week.

Thanks for spending time with me today. If you could leave a review before you go, that would help us reach more people that need this message. To learn more about the services and resources that we have available, visit us at behindthebrace.com. This show is produced by RAYMA Team Media. To learn more about how they can help you with your podcast, visit raymateam.com.

*****Resource Links You Need:

• Contact Dr. Mandy's office to learn how to work with her by calling (701) 223-8413 or email her at [email protected]. 
• Free Online Screening Tool: https://app.scoliscreen.com/
• Find out more about ScoliBalance® at https://scolicare.com/patients-scolibalance.
• Find out more about ScoliBrace® at https://scolibrace.com.