Famous people with scoliosis - Chloe Sevigny

Chloe Sevigny is an American film actress, fashion designer and former model, born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Sevigny gained reputation for her eclectic fashion sense and developed a broad career in the fashion industry in the mid 1990s, both for modeling and for her work at New York’s Sassy magazine, which labeled her the new “it girl” at the time, garnering her attention within New York’s fashion scene.

In 2006, Sevigny gained a leading role in the HBO television series Big Love, for which she received a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in 2010.

When asked about her scoliosis she said:

“They said, you know, that the curvature wasn’t strong enough to have to have the operation, which I know a few girls that have a metal rod in their back. But to me, now, it’s like – I still – every time I see myself on film, I see it. That’s all I see. And I – and even in photographs, I’m just – to me, it’s like – my ex-boyfriend used to say when I’d get really drunk, I’d come home and cry and be, like, I’m so crooked. It’s my one thing that, yeah, that I still have a hard time with”.

“But I’ve been doing a lot of yoga, which has been helping. It makes me feel like it’s straightened me out a little bit, but yeah, on “Big Love,” I see it all the time, especially with those outfits, because they’re so form-fitting. I see myself walking, and I’m like…(“eek”)”

Famous people with scoliosis - Shailene Woodley

“We were getting ready to go swimming and I was in a bikini. … My best friend was like, ‘Shai, your spine is weird,’” Woodley says. Her mom took her to the doctor for a diagnosis. “I laugh under pressure,” says Woodley, whose spine had a 38-degree curvature (if it had been more than 45 degrees, she would have been a candidate for surgery). “So I was OK. It wasn’t until the fourth week of wearing a brace that I said, ‘Whoa, this is a bummer.’”

“I wore it [my brace] for two years, sophomore and junior years. And I hated it. But at school, it was totally cool…What sucked was I could have it off only six hours a day. So I had to sleep in it; I had to do everything in it. There were times when I just wanted to tear it off and times I cried and I’d hate it or it just got so painful. Every two weeks, it would push even harder, and I felt like all my organs were moving, and my entire body was sore. But there are kids hooked up to ventilators their entire lives, and that brace is nothing compared to what they go through. That’s just how I looked at it.”

But in the end, the treatment was successful, and she took the brace off for good.

Famous people with scoliosis - Princess Eugenie

During a trip to the U.K.’s world-class Royal National Orthopedic Hospital on Thursday to visit teens undergoing scoliosis procedures, Princess Eugenie revealed she once had corrective surgery for the condition herself!

Her curved spine was discovered at just 12-years-old while she was getting a massage. After determining she needed immediate medical help, surgeons placed 8-inch pins along her back in a surgery that was supposed to last one hour. Unfortunately, the surgery became a little more complicated than expected and lasted 8 hours! Yikes!

Princess Eugenie had to spend 3 days in INTENSIVE CARE out of the 10 days spent in the hospital and now has a scar on her back to remind her of the nightmarish experience.
Now, she’s busy giving confidence to the children going through the same experience she did and serves as proof that things will get better.

While visiting the hospital, she told reporters:
“I wouldn’t look the way I do, my back would be hunched over. I wouldn’t be able to talk the way I do about it and help other children who come to me with the same problem. It was a huge part of my life when I was 12, so young. Children can see me and know that the operation works.”

Famous people with scoliosis - Usain Bolt

Arguably the most naturally gifted athlete the world has ever seen, Usain St Leo Bolt, confirmed his tremendous talents when he realized his dreams by winning a phenomenal three gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Bolt became the first man in Olympic history to win both the 100m and 200m races in World Record times then formed part of the 4x100m team that also smashed the World Record later in the meet.

When asked about his scoliosis he said “When I was younger it wasn’t really a problem. But you grow and it gets worse. My spine’s really curved bad [makes “S” shape with finger]. But if I keep my core and back strong, the scoliosis doesn’t really bother me. So I don’t have to worry about it as long as I work hard. The early part of my career, when we didn’t really know much about it, it really hampered me because I got injured every year”.

Famous people with scoliosis - Vanessa Williams

Ugly Betty star Vanessa Williams has Scoliosis. Before Vanessa became a famous star through her seasons of Ugly Betty she was to be a dancer. Vanessa Williams wanted to be a professional dander with the Joffrey Ballet until those plans were cut short by scoliosis.

Vanessa is reported to have said “It derailed me for a while,”. “It was so severe I had to have a spinal fusion where they put 8-inch metal rods and screws in my spine. I just took off one year where I didn’t do any physical activity. But then, of course, I was terrified. It’s so strange … It felt like having an operation and then healing and going back to your real body. It was really like having a new center of gravity and getting used to a new body.” She admits, “It was devastating for a while not to be able to dance and know I couldn’t be a professional ballerina, but I got to leave the hospital, and when you’re in the hospital you realize that some people don’t get to leave.”

As things turned out, “it was a blessing in disguise because I couldn’t dance, and that’s when I started acting and fell in love with it. Now I’m so grateful that I’ve come back from it, and I’m as flexible as I used to be. I feel blessed every day I can get up and walk and run and jump and dance.”

How to get rid of scars on the back

Merderma scar cream + SPF 30

You can apply the scar-treatment cream to your scar two to three times a day. Mederma contains an onion extract that has been shown to reduce the appearance of scars, with regular use. People generally see improvement in their new scars after eight weeks of use. Older scars take longer to improve, with people seeing results in three to six months.

use the link below:
http://www.mederma.com/products/spf

Acne, surgery and injuries can cause visible scars on the back that might impact your self-esteem and body image. Although no scar can be completely removed, you can reduce the appearance of most scars, even older ones. Set realistic goals during your approach to smoother skin, and remind yourself that your scars are a part of you, and a normal response to tissue injury.

Famous people with scoliosis - Liza Minnelli

Tony-winning Broadway star and daughter of Judy Garland told Tony of Time Out New York about her scoliosis, after he’d mentioned he didn’t know about it:

“Major. Always. In fact, I didn’t realize I had anything wrong with my back until—I guess it was around the time of The Sterile Cuckoo that Fred said, ‘Come on, somebody’s imitating you. Let’s go see her.’ So we go down to one of those places that used to be in the Village and we sit down and I’m all excited and this girl comes on and she goes like this [She demonstrates by walking with her shoulders twisted and uneven.] I was so indignant, I said, ‘I don’t do that.’ And he said, ‘Yes, you do.’ I found out that because of the scoliosis, if I lean back one way it hurts. The only reason I do anything like I do is because [Screams] it’s the only way I can do it without hurting! Literally. It’s really funny. It is so weird.”

Famous people with scoliosis - Isabella Rossellini

Isabella Rossellini, daughter of legendary actress Ingrid Bergman, and a successful model and actress herself, was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 13, and underwent surgery with bone grafting and casting. Isabella’s daughter Elretta, was also diagnosed with scoliosis, illustrating the genetic link which has been discovered by current research into the causes of scoliosis.

That’s the bad thing about having scoliosis, when there isn’t any solution to pain, we jus have to grin and bear it. If the physical therapy didn’t help maybe you need to start doing some light exercises. Light exercise is anything that will allow you to talk while you’re performing it. Most activities that cause your heart rate to increase slightly and make you feel warm can be considered light exercise. Light exercise can help lower stress, anxiety, and blood pressure.

Examples include:
1. walking
2. arm circles
3. speed walking
4. walking up a flight of stairs
5. dancing
6. stretching
7. knee raises
8. leg raises

Before you perform these activities, keep in mind that you are exercising and need to wear appropriate clothing and footwear to avoid injuries.

The more light exercise you perform, the greater the health benefits, according to a BBC News report. While exercising for 30 minutes a day three days a week can have a positive impact on your health, exercising for the same length of time five days per week is even better. For those who feel they don’t have 30 consecutive minutes a day to exercise, experts say that even if you exercise in 10 minute increments three times per day, you can reap health benefits.

Once you are comfortable doing these exercise, you will become a little healthier and your body will become accustomed to working out.

Here’ what you can do on Mondays
1. stretch for 5mins
2. walk a couple of blocks for 15mins
3. walk up and down a flight of stairs for 10mins
(You would have worked out for 30mins)

If you want you can also play some music and just dance around the house or your room, and it doesn’t matter whether you know how to dance or not, just move your body. On Tuesday you can add a couple more exercise to Mondays exercise, and on Wednesday you just keep adding more exercises and after 2 weeks do the exercise the physical therapist wanted you to do and it shouldn’t be painful for you anymore, as long as you are dedicated to doing your exercise regularly. And don’t stop doing the exercise even after you feel better because that pain will come back, and you are going to wish you didn’t stop. Trust me, that’s what I did. Hope I helped.

Famous people with scoliosis - Rebecca Romijn

Most famous for her role in “Ugly Betty,” Romijn has also appeared in several X-men movies, as well as an episode of “Friends.” In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, she said:

“Everyone knows what it feels like to feel different from everyone else. When I was thirteen I was diagnosed with scoliosis and I shot up like six inches over the next four or five years and my body was just in so much pain and nobody told me that exercise would have helped that. I mean, I was like, in fact that was why I became a theatre geek, because I stayed away from sports all together, cause I was so self conscious and in so much physical pain from my body and now I do Pilates, which actually helped tremendously with scoliosis because scoliosis is something that is always there.”

Famous people with scoliosis - Elizabeth Taylor

Appearing in films such as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and Jane Eyre, Elizabeth is considered a great actress of the Golden Age. Now 78, she suffers from chronic neck pain due to her scoliosis, but is feeling too weak to have further operations. She has been hospitalized over 100 times in the last 25 years for her back and hip problems.

Famous people with scoliosis - Kurt Cobain

In an interview with Jon Savage, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain said:

“My body is damaged from music in two ways: not only has my stomach inflamed from irritation, but I have scoliosis. I had minor scoliosis in junior high, and since I’ve been playing guitar ever since, the weight of the guitar has made my back grow in this curvature. So when I stand, everything is sideways. It’s weird… I go to a chiropractor every once in a while. You can’t really correct scoliosis, because it’s a growth in the spine. Your spine grows through your adolescent years in a curvature. Most people have a small curvature in their spine anyhow, though some people have it really bad and have to wear metal braces. It gives me a back pain all the time. That really adds to the pain in our music. It really does. I’m kind of grateful for it.”

Good pillows for people with scoliosis

When you have scoliosis, finding a good sleeping position can be a huge problem. Scoliosis is a condition wherein your spine curves, rotates, or twists in an unnatural manner. As a result, people with scoliosis tend to have one shoulder or one hip higher than the other.

Although scoliosis is not caused by incorrect sleeping positions and is not aggravated by the way you sleep, adopting a correct posture while sleeping can help relieve pain. Scoliosis may affect the upper back, in the case of thoracic spine scoliosis, while it can also affect the lower spine, also known as lumbar region scoliosis.

How Body Pillows Help

A good body pillow can help support the neck, the shoulder blades and the back, especially if you choose a U-shaped body pillow. In the case of scoliosis patients suffering from upper back pain, it is important to tuck a smaller pillow under the shoulder blades in addition to a standard pillow in order to relieve pain. Side sleepers can benefit greatly from a body pillow, since this help support the legs while the sleeper is resting in a sideward position. For those who lumbar curve scoliosis, a full U-shaped body pillow can help support the lower back while providing ample support for the head and neck.

Consulting With Your Doctor

Prior to buying a pillow however, it is best for people with specific health concerns to consult first with their trusted physicians. If you are suffering from sleep apnea for example, and you’re using a CPAP machine while sleeping, your doctor is likely to recommend a CPAP pillow for you. Since there are many types of pillows and body pillows sold today, getting expert opinion from your healthcare provider can help you choose the pillow that is best suited for you, especially if you have scoliosis or sleep-related disorders like sleep apnea.

Can adults have scoliosis?

Although scoliosis is most commonly associated with children, adults can develop it, too. In some cases, they have actually had it their whole lives, but it has gone unnoticed or untreated until it started to cause pain or other problems. In other cases, age-related changes in the spine, such as disc degeneration, lead to scoliosis.

Part 3 Scoliosis surgery video - Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis