Scoliosis and pregnancy?

Question

I'm 13 weeks and had a minor case of scoliosis when I was a child. Obviously the spine never completely straightens out no matter how long you wear a brace for (I only needed a night brace). Since 8 weeks or so I've been having really bad backpain and I can't relieve it by changing sitting positions (I have found a heating pad helps). I was wondering what are the effects of scoliosis during pregnancy and could it affect labor and epidural as well?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I have scoliosis and have had two pregnancies and carried both to term (one was a multiple birth - twins). I had epidurals with both. I also have an "S" curve (two curves, one at top and one at bottom). I never had surgery to correct them, but I wore a back brace basically 24/7 for almost three years as a teen.

You're probably going to have some back pain no matter what you do. In addition to seeing a chiropractor, you may want to see a physical therapist. He or she can show you some exercises to do that can help alleviate the pain, either by strengthening your core muscles to better support the weight of your unborn baby or by stretching some muscles that may be cramped or put "off" their normal positioning by your expanding tummy.

As for epidurals - I gave birth to my oldest vaginally, and had an interesting complication with the epidural (it was more unusual than dangerous). My OB had told me to make sure I told the anesthesiologist I had scoliosis before he started, which I did. The way an epidural works, as I understand, is that the medication is somewhat gravity-based--it is heavier than the spinal fluid so it "sinks" to bathe the nerve. If your back curves, you may have to adjust how you are laying while the medication takes effect to offset your curvature.

In my case, we didn't estimate the angle at which I needed to lie just right with the first dosage, and I did not get 100% pain relief. Essentially, everything was numb except for a spot on my lower left stomach , about the size of a a 50-cent piece, which the epidural did not affect at all! So they had to wait until they could give me another dose (having contractions while dilated to a 9, but just in one spot - weird and painful!), then finally they were able to re-apply the epidural medicine and have me turn to lie down a different way, and that one worked. They didn't have to re-do the epidural catheter, just put more medicine in it.

The second pregnancy, with twins, went off without a hitch. I delivered them via C-section. As before, I explained to the anesthesiologist that I had scoliosis, and he was careful to look at the curvature of my back before doing anything. I also explained about the odd experience I had the first time. Then, I just followed his instructions, and I had no problems whatsoever - 100% pain relief with no "dead spots."

Incidentally, I also recently had knee surgery and was given an epidural for that, too. I did the same thing - explained my scoliosis and followed instructions - and that went off just fine, too.

I think the important thing is to discuss your scoliosis with the anesthesiologist and make sure you are comfortable with him/her and the amount of time they are taking to review your case, look at your curvature, etc. If at any time you think they are not giving your situation the time/attention it deserves, by all means, let them know!

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Mild scoliosis is hardly a complicating factor for pregnency. Many women with moderate to severe scoliosis have normal delivery. Epidural in general is not good for you whether you have scoliosis or not. Those people who are "allergic" to pain would disagree with me lol. What do i know about pain? I'm a guy. In clinical aspect, epidural introduces tissue damage which is not quite easy to repair. A lot of women who have epidural develop chronic low back pain later on.

As far as epidural is concerned, there may be some complication as technicians do so by feel. If technician can compensate for the abnormal anatomy with their creative imagination, perhaps it would be a problem. If not, they may be puncturing holes in wrong places. It's hard enough in normal population to perform correctly let alone with deviation you see with scoliosis.

Good luck with pregnency. Like one of the other poster said, chiropractic is THE best modality for low back pain bar-none proven by many many studies. Most government guide recommends chiropractic manipulation as the #1 initial treatment option. And may ob/gyn's refer their pregnant patients with low back pain to chiropractors nowadays. Especially with pregnancy being contraindication for most drug therapy, I'd think seeing a chiropractor makes sense. Also for scoliosis pain many scoliosis patients agree that chiropractic helps with symptoms for their scoliosis as well.

Answer 3

I can't help you with the labor/epidural question, but you should talk to your doctor and see if a chiropractor can help you. Almost every woman experiences back pain at some point during pregnancy. My best friend swore by her chiropractic visits. Your doctor will be able to better inform you about any potential problems with labor and epidurals.

Answer 4

i have extreme scoliosis. i have 2 curves (one on top and one on the bottom) and they are both 54 degrees, so they're pretty bad. and i even had surgery for it 5 years ago, but due to complications in the surgery they couldn't straighten it. and i had the same questions you do, so i asked my doctor and according to her just because you have scoliosis doesn't mean that you can't have an epideral. she told me that pregnancy should and will be normal and labor as well, unless there's complications during labor that will most probably not have anything to do with your scoliosis. especially you since you have MINOR scoliosis. if the doctor told ME that, and i have it pretty bad, you should be fine!! but i'm not gonna lie to you...pregnancy causes back pain even to people who DON'T have scoliosis, so you will have alot of pain, but that should be as bad as it gets. good luck!!! and congratulations on your baby!!!

Answer 5

idk but i have scoliosis and i agree that a heating pad helps good luck!