My spine is bent – but I am not

On By VisualVoxIn ASC, Asperger's Syndrome, Asperger's women, Autism, Autism Spectrum Condition, Autistic, Autistic women, Personal Accounts, personal experiences on the spectrum, women and autism

x-ray of ribs and bent spineSo, ever since I found out the details about this scoliosis business, I’ve been stretching my neck and back in different ways. I can really tell a difference between my left and my right. The bend in my back is to the right (the x-ray above is the view from the front), and my left is tighter, much less mobile, than my right.

I’ve been focusing more on getting my left side to loosen up, and it’s been working. Suddenly, the colors are brighter. And I get this amazing rush of energy… where I typically have a nagging, dull, dragging sense. I’m also not so down on myself about not being able to stretch out the left side of my back. No kidding — my spine is bent around to the right, pulling stuff out of alignment. All 250 mm of it.

I need to look up those vertebrae. Which ones are they? A bunch of them… T3-8? T4-9? Who knows? I don’t have the full back to count from. So, I’ll guesstimate. Anyway, there are 9 of them involved, that I can see on the x-ray. I love imaging. Especially my own. I can spend hours examining one x-ray or an MRI. And with a 3D viewer, MRIs get even better. Pretty amazing, actually.

Anyway, I was talking to a guy I work with who also has some scoliosis. He was identified when he was a kid, but they never did anything about it. He’s had a bunch of health issues, but who knows how much it has to do with his spine? He does have back issues… but he’s pretty philosophical about it.  He doesn’t make a big deal out of it.

I really don’t want to, either. I mean, I’ve been living this way for years and years — decades, really. Now I’m going to get even more “bent out of shape” about it?

I’d rather not.  So, I won’t.

I’ll do my daily exercises, do more stretches, take care of myself, and keep chugging along. It’s what I do best.

9 thoughts on “My spine is bent – but I am not”

  1. I love your outlook, girl 👍🏼👍🏼. That’s a pretty good size curve! In Neuro class we learned that there are 2 major functional types of scoliosis–structural and functional. They look the same–a bend in the structure. But they’re very different in nature–one is due to abnormalities in the actual structure of the vertebrae, and the other is due to a subtle imbalance between the right and left sides, usually due to left/right brain hemisphere dominance 😊. You may already know that, but in case it’s new info, I figured that would be right up your alley 😉😁👍🏼👍🏼

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    1. VisualVox

      Hey – thanks! And thanks so much for the info! I did not know that. I’m new to the whole scoliosis thing (since it never was called out as a “real” problem by any clinicians in my past). Any additional reading or references you can offer would be most appreciated! I’m already seeing noticeable improvement in my energy and balance, just from paying attention and doing stretches on a regular basis. I mean, the difference is palpable and immediate — and not because I’m expecting it. In fact, I don’t expect it, but when it happens… hey, I’ll take it!

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    2. VisualVox

      Next question – how does the right/left brain hemisphere dominance translate to the curve? I’m curved to the right, so does that mean my right hemisphere is dominant? Or the other way ’round? Thanks a mil for the tips!

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