Have the physiotherapists recommended a course of exercises?

Which exercises?

Have you bee faithfully exercising for at least 2 months (That's when you should start to notice positive effects)?

It sounds to me like you're looking for a "magic pill"...but have you put in the owrk necessary for your own recovery?

i would be interested to know what it is that's missing that connects your pelvis to your spine, without knowing its hard to give you any advice.

Scoliosis is a controversial topic in the medical community, i don't know how severe your scoliosis is, but you could have either adult onset scoliosis, or adolescent onset scoliosis, adolescent onset is worse. I think you should do a lot of reading on the net about this subject.

If you have given exercices a good go and they have not worked there may be reasons why this is so, they don't work for every one, keep searching for answers, and don't give up.

Try to get copies of all tests and xrays and have them explained to you, being properly informed without trying to out guess your doctors is important so you you avoid being confused, and misled which often happens when you see multiple practitioners from different fields of expertise.


good luck

I went to a physiotherapist for a little over a month, but then stopped, partly because it wasn't making the pain any better, and also because I subsequently found out about the scoliosis (which apparently was obvious to all the doctors I saw), but the physiotherapist didn't notice it (which kind of turned me off the whole physiotherapy experience.)
I forget what the orthopedic surgeon said was missing between my spine and pelvis, I believe it was the 5th lumbar or something like that.
I will be seeing a rheumatologist in the coming months, and I forgot to say that I have also had my blood tested for rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammation disorders (they came out negative). I also should add that I have been taking Celebrex, which dulls the pain but does not totally take it away. If an anti-inflammation drug works, does that mean inflammation is the cause of the pain I have been experiencing?
In terms of the scoliosis, I have done alot of reading on it, but I have had differing views from the doctors I have seen. One said it is probably adult onset, but the other said that it is not structural and will go away once the pain does (he showed me the lack of curves in each vertabrae, which apparently means it is not structural scoliosis.
Thanks for the help

I would suggest that you get another opinion from another spine surgeon.

Why are you seeing a rheumatologist?

It may very well be that your doctor is counting the vertebrae in your spine differently as there is no uniform method of counting the vertebrae and numbering them.

It could be that you are not missing the 5th vertebrae but rather have, what is called, a transitional lumbosacral junction. that is when the last vertebrae area is fused to the sacrum and if not recognized by the doctor or the radiologist, they either give a different number to the vertebrae as they appear or just assume that you are missing a vertebrae.

this is something that happens in utero during fetal development and is not that abnormal to have. It just makes a problem in counting the vertebrae as there is no uniform method of counting.

You should get another opinion from a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon who specializes in spines.
And you should be referred by the sports medicine ortho to a sports medicine physical therapist that does heat and stim to relax the muscles, then ultrasound message to the are of the joint that is a problem for you. And also does myofascial trigger point treatments.
then add a very slow strengthening program for you to strengthen core and and quad muscles.

I am surprised that you have not been offered steroid injections under floroscopy into the S1 joint to relieve some of your pain.

It may be that some, if not all of the pain you are feeling is from inflammation if the celebrex is working to relieve some of the pain, but there may be more going on and that is why I suggest that you seek out another opinion with a different spine surgeon.

It doesn't sound like you have been getting the best advise or medical care from the present doctor you are using. Telling you that it is only mechanical and will go away on it's own, when you are in the pain you are in just doesn't sound right.

Good luck and let us know how you are doing.

Fran

Thanks for the advice. I have booked an appointment with a different orthopedic surgeon.
To answer your question about the rheumatologist, my GP basically said she was referring me to one because she had no idea what was going on. She said that it could maybe have something to do with arthritis or an inflammation disorder if the Celebrex is working and the MRI showed inflammation.
If my blood tests for rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and other inflammation disorders came out negative, is there any point in me seeing a rheumatologist or is it a waste of time?
Thanks again for the help.

IMHO, it is a total waste of time to see a rheumatologist at this time.

And I think it might be a good idea to find another GP as well. Any good GP, PCP, family doctor etc. should know enough that if their patient is having a spine problem and the SI joint is part of spinal issues, they should send their patient to a spine surgeon, not someone who deals with arthritis of the limbs and autoimmune diseases.

Arthritis of the spine is treated by a spine surgeon and maybe a pain management doctor if that is needed.

What you need is a spine surgeon. I would not follow through with the rheumatologist at this time.
If those blood tests are normal, as far as I know, it would rule out an auto immune disease which is what you where tested for.

Be sure that the orthopedic surgeon you are seeing is a specialist in spines only.

Celebrex can be helping you with pain because there is inflammation but that inflammation can be caused by many things besides arthritis.

Also remember that the reading on your MRI is an opinion by the radiologist and/or the orthopedic doctor that you saw and read your MRI. It doesn't mean it is the correct opinion, nor does it mean that it is wrong.

It is also possible that your orthopedic doctor can not read an MRI himself and just went on what the reading was.

I was totally amazed at the fact that many, many orthopedic surgeons can not read an MRI and totally rely on what the radiologist tells them about the MRI. Very scary to me.

Good luck with your new orthopedic surgeon and just be sure that he/she is a specialist in spines.

Let us know what you find out.

Fran