ask: Does Lumbar Scoliosis affect pregnancy and sex?

Hi, Damilola. So glad you found us at EmpowHer. Thanks for your question!

Can I ask how old you are? I'm assuming you are perhaps a teenager?

Have you ever had surgery for your scoliosis? (Either spinal fusion or a Harrington rod?)

Do you have pain associated with your scoliosis? And how severe is your spinal curve?

With sex, scoliosis is like so many other things -- it affects everyone differently. If you can be active in other ways -- sports, for instance -- without pain, chances are you can have a fulfilling sex life without pain. If you do have pain or difficulty, a little experimenting with different positions may be all you need to do to relieve the discomfort. Here's a page that talks about sex with back pain or back difficulty:

http://www.spine-inc.com/glossary/s/sex.htm

And here is a page from a scoliosis support group where they are talking about having sex (some had the surgery, some did not):

http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Scoliosis/advice/4540587-sex-having-herin...

And in terms of pregnancy -- good news. The National Scoliosis Foundation cites a study done by doctors in Delaware who studied 355 women who had scoliosis. They studied them to find the answers to two questions: (1) whether pregnancy made scoliosis worse, and (2) whether scoliosis seemed to be of any risk to pregnancy. They found the answer to be primarily no in both cases (and this was for those who had had surgery AND those who had not had surgery). The women who had not had surgery had a greater risk of having their curvature increase than those who had not had the surgery, as you might expect.

Here's that study:

http://www.scoliosis.org/resources/medicalupdates/scoliosisandpregnancy.php

And here's an article about healthy pregnancies in women with scoliosis:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/317629/women_with_scoliosis_can...

So while you may have some increased challenge with either pain or flexibility, as long as that is manageable it looks like everything else is easily handled. Does this put your mind a bit more at ease?

Did you have any more specific questions we can answer that this information didn't cover?

Thank u very much for all ur help. i have done the MRI and thank God my curvature is about 20 degrees.but the MRI reveal a bbenign tumour - Neurofibroma so the doctors are studying the MRI and are yet to get back to me. That may be the cause of the pain. any information about Neurofiboroma. thanx.

Damilola,

I'm so glad you came back with an update, and that your curvature is only about 20 degrees. That's good news. Also, having the MRI find something benign is good news also.

I'll be happy to do some research for you; can you tell me the location and size of the Neurofibroma?

Damilola,

To understand a neurofibroma, it's good to understand how a nerve works, first.

Here is a diagram of a nerve. (Don't fret that it's from a multiple sclerosis website. That doesn't apply to you. It's just the best diagram I found that showed what I wanted on the nerve.)

http://scamparoo.wordpress.com/2008/09/30/diagram-myelin-sheath-and-nerve/

There are a lot of components in the nerves, but what we're interested in is the myelin sheath, or the covering of the nerve. It appears sort of sea-green in that diagram. Its purpose is to help speed along messages through the nerve system in your body.

There are millions and millions (some say more than a billion) nerves and nerve endings in your body. A Neurofibroma is a benign growth in the myelin sheath of a nerve. The reason it can cause pain is (a) depending on its location, it can press against the nerve and trap it in a small area (within the spine, for instance, or within the carpal tunnel of the wrist) or (b) if it grows large enough, it can press against something else in the body and cause pain that way.

If you have just one, it's called a neurofibroma. If you have more than one (some people have several or many), it's called neurofibromatosis. It's a genetic condition; do you know if either of your parents (or even grandparents) have had neurofibromas?

Did your doctor say whether your neurofibroma was dermal or plexiform? Those are fancy words, here's what they mean. Dermal neurofibromas commonly look like small lumps and bumps just under the skin -- like very bad acne, for instance. They increase in size and number as a person ages. Wikipedia cites The American Journal of Pathology as saying that "While dermal neurofibromas can lead to stinging, itching, pain and disfiguration, there is no evidence of malignant transformation." That means they rarely if ever change into a malignant growth.

Plexiform neurofibromas can be larger, and they can grow either just under the skin or in nerve bundles deeper inside the body. They are usually congenital, which means you've probably had it since birth and haven't known it. They can be difficult to remove because they travel through different layers of tissue, which could be damaged surgically. About 90% of plexiform neurofibromas stay benign; however, about 10% can change and become malignant. If this is the kind of neurofibroma you have, you will want to ask the doctor about the following:
1. Is this a plexiform neufibroma?
2. If so, will you want to do surgery or leave it alone?
3. If you do surgery, what are the dangers?
4. If we leave it alone, what are the risks?
5. If we decide to watch it for a while, how long until we check it again?

Usually, plexiform neurofibromas are removed surgically. Even though there's just a 10% chance that it would turn malignant, it's easier to take out while it's benign. And just because it's benign doesn't mean it can't grow further, causing you more pain or difficulty.

One of the best explanations of the condition that I found comes from Children's Hospital Boston:

http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site1085/mainpageS1085P0.html

Here is another hospital's overview of the condition:

http://brainsurgery.upmc.com/conditions-and-treatments/neurofibroma.aspx

Is this information helpful? Do you have more specific questions? And can you tell me what your doctors say the next step is for you?

thanx alot. God bless

i have just discovered that i have thoracic scoliosis or whatever is, and i wanted to know whether it can be cured. i am only 19 years old. please help