Can Adults with Scoliosis also be treated with a brace?.... and Can my daughter or son be a competitive athlete after scoliosis surgery? Celebrating Karmen's Georgia State Cross-Country Meet Today!

There is a growing excitement at Hey Clinic over the last few months with our Schroth Physiotherapeutic Scoliosis Specific Exercises (PSSE) and in-house fabrication of 3D CADCAM personalized (Rigo-like)  approach!!!   Alma, or Schroth therapist is doing a super job with a big smile, and is well loved by everyone -- keeping it simple, and motivating the troops.  She's  working evenings, Saturdays and some days to meet the need.  I think we are going to need 1 or 2 more Schroth therapists this fall.  Let me know if you are interested in getting trained in our December course if you are a physical therapist -- and maybe you can join our team!!!    KC our orthotist is also quite busy, tweaking the CADCAM software with our 3D EOS data and surface imaging, and special CADCAM software.  We tweak the design each week to get better corrections, and keep working to make it less visible, and also more comfortable.

It is exciting to see results similar to what I got a chance to see in the European countries that are WAY AHEAD of the USA, when I was at SOSORT this spring in Dubrovnik, Croatia.  Yesterday I saw a young teenage girl who improved her curve 17 degrees with her faithful wearing of the brace, and daily performance of the PSSE.  We literally gave this young lady a standing ovation in the clinic room for her dedication to improving her scoliosis through her daily choices that will have a HUGE effect on her quality of life in the LONG RUN.

We did have a couple of teens who had slacked off a bit on their PSSE and brace wear, and saw no improvement, and one where the curve had actually worsened.  Rather than coming down hard on the teen, we had really good dialogues about CHOICES -- daily choices they can make to be more intentional to get those curves down hopefully under 30 degrees, so they can much more likely live a happier, healthier life with better posture -- and be much less likely to need spine surgery in the future.  We're continuing to tweak our in-house 3D brace design to work on better corrections, but also to make it lower profile and more comfortable so that the brace is not very evident under clothes at school -- which helps with compliance.

We saw several others who had improvements in the 3-10 degree range as well, which actually included a 61 yo nurse practitioner who has degenerative combined with adolescent scoliosis, who had a 4 degree correction of her thoracic and  She feels absolutely great in her brace, which she wears for most of the day working in clinic, with excellent relief of her pain.  Patricia shared some tricks for how to wear a special bra that is much more comfortable under the brace.  She literally does not want to be out of that brace and had a really big smile the whole clinic visit, eager to share.  I actually learned about this adult bracing using the 3D CADCAM Personalized brace in Croatia as well, which included seeing an incredible video of an older man with severe kyphosis who was restored to an upright posture with the brace.  Who would have imagined that 3D CADCAM Rigo-like braces would actually not only give good relief, but also help with quality of life!

The other big news from this week is that the book chapter I've been working on for several years on "Scoliosis in The Adult "was published this week online on Uptodate.  UpToDate is a wonderful online medical textbook used by many physicians, PA's, NP's, nurses, residents, students and patients around the world, and is the reference linked to Electronic Health Records (EHR) like Epic.  Since my residency years working at Boston Children's Hospital with Dr. John Hall, John Emans and others, I have always wanted to provide life-long scoliosis care for children, adolescents and adults.  I saw that UpToDate had a great chapter on adolescent scoliosis and kyphosis, but nothing for adults.  While I am excited about this chapter getting published, UpToDate doesn't really have a way of acknowledging ALL of the people who made this chapter happen, so I want to give credit to the "village" who made this real over several years.  Several years ago, when I was serving on the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS.ORG) Adult Deformity Committee under Dr. Sig Berven, the vision of creating helpful texts for primary care doctors and many others to better understand adult spinal deformity was begun.  Dr. Jeff Coe worked with me, along with several other committee members to begin the process, which was really quite challenging.  I then had a phenomenal pre-med student named Tom Turner who spent 2 years working for me at Hey Clinic as a medical/research assistant apprentice.  Tom continued that writing process with me and began to work with UpToDate.... and now Tom doing great in medical school.  THANKS SO MUCH TOM FOR YOUR FAITHFUL WORK.  IT IS FINISHED AND PUBLISHED!  Couldn't have done it without you. 

After Tom went off to medical school, I worked directly with UpToDate editors, including Dr. Dan Sullivan.  Dan and I spent many hours on the phone together really talking through this important topic.  Dan has since chosen to leave UpToDate to return to practice and teaching in Boston, MA but want to thank him so much for his creative input and pushing this project forward.  Dr. Mary Torchia then took over the project, and made the final edits and figures, and was also a pleasure to work with.  Her assistant, Emma Needham was also quite helpful. 

Many thanks also to Kad, one of my young adult scoliosis patients, who had an 88 degree curve who was willing to share photos of his back and his X-Rays to show the UpToDate readers to know what to look for on physical exam.  Thanks Kad!

BUT NOW FOR THE BIG, BIG NEWS!

The last big news just happened today...  We talk frequently at Hey Clinic with our pediatric and adolescent patients that we try to take advantage of this growing "window" of time to do what is best for the LONG RUN.

Well,  many of our patients are actually awesome athletes, and one particular patient named KARMEN from Dublin, Georgia needs a big STANDING OVATION for her incredible accomplishment earlier today.... Karmen won the Georgia State Cross-Country Championship Race!! Karmen had her scoliosis surgery here at Hey Clinic / Duke Raleigh Hospital in March 2017, and got right out there with her training as soon as she got back to Georgia.  This is one DETERMINED YOUNG LADY..... Watch out World!!  Her mom, a nurse,  texted me photos while I was working hard outside this afternoon, and actually texted me photos from today's race, and her regional WIN earlier this week and gave her blessing to share this with all of you.  

Postop Scoliosis athlete Karmen wins regional cross-country meet October 15, 2018 in Georgia

Oct 27 2018 Karmen leads the pack GA XC championship

Oct 27 2018: Karmen with her 1st Place ALL-STATE Cross-Country Championship Award

 I truly enjoy getting to know my patients and families, and being a part of their life, as they are a part of mine.  "What are you going to be when you grow up" -- one of my favorite questions to ask... and it is truly a blessing to see how many of these precious young people move toward healthcare careers as they go through their scoliosis journey.... and I'm confident they will be great caregivers, knowing what it is like to be a patient.  It's quite a privilege to be a part of the journey of these precious caregivers of tomorrow!!!

This weekend, I'm preparing another talk for Triangle Christian Medical and Dental Association (TCMDA) for Friday November 9th on "Burnout Prevention and Treatment - How To Enjoy The Journey in Hope", as well as working on some home chores, rounding, and working on our multi-site eChecklist project with our POSNA grant.  Today I worked outside all day -- absolutely beautiful fall day here in North Carolina.  Now it time for dinner.  Time is UP!!  Have a great evening.

Lloyd A. Hey, MD MS ---- Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Care . -- http://www.heyclinic.com