My Pictures - how bad is it, and what can i do?

[DeathMagnetic]

hello, im a 19 year old male who is suffering from Kyphosis. im a little overweight and my 'Hump'' has been said to look like a fat man's back with muscle...people say i look like an angry gorilla ready to fight. i try not to let it get the best of me, but im getting self conscience about it. i havent had any trouble making friends because of my back...my good friends havent even said anything to me about it really. i've been this way for 5-6 years...mostly from poor posture. i go to my doctor every few months for a blood pressure and blood sugar checkup and aside from 1 time they havent mentioned anything about it. i've never had it x-rayed or anything....

i have some pain related to it, like the back of my head hurts a lot and it aggrivates meive been looking online for exercises and tips on how get to straightened...i hope i can correct this by stretches, good posture, exercise and maybe a low-profile brace. my pictures are linked below...what i want is your opinion on the severity of it, and what i can do to help correct it.

these first pics are with me in a shirt...its not extremely profound looking through clothing...i usually wear 2 layers to help hide it.

http://i37.tinypic.com/6ycg2h.jpg
this is me basically leaning over with my hands on the middle of my legs
http://i33.tinypic.com/110cdg9.jpg
http://i35.tinypic.com/6r59mr.jpg

now these are bare skin:
standing upright
http://i38.tinypic.com/9gzqk0.jpg
an angled view
http://i37.tinypic.com/102un8x.jpg
my front (dont know if you can notice anything from a front chest shot:
http://i35.tinypic.com/16a1sbb.jpg
sitting:
http://i35.tinypic.com/dfd3eq.jpg
hands up in the air (and waving them like i just dont care)
http://i38.tinypic.com/148d65x.jpg
me leaning over again with hands on middle of legs
http://i38.tinypic.com/1zvwpc4.jpg
upright:
http://i34.tinypic.com/20sac0i.jpg
another hands on legs:
http://i36.tinypic.com/2ijss3o.jpg
back:
http://i37.tinypic.com/28l421x.jpg
me with full hump leading down:
http://i35.tinypic.com/2lvz1ar.jpg

i must also mention, im a metal vocalist. one of my vocal trainers said my back is not giving me enough airway, or air capacity to sing more with less breathes. she says its a wonder how i can actually pull of metal screams, growls and singing with my back.

for cosmetic relieve i usually wear black-heavier shirts that wont stick my skin showing off my back...i usually wear button up shirts as well they seem to hide my back.i dont bend down a lot in public...one thing that does me good is i am 6'4 anyway...would straightening my hump gain me another inch or 2?

my mom had scoliosis, she had surgery back in the day and theres tons of metal in her back...its corrected now, but the right side of her back sticks out. im pretty sure if she was a teenager now-a-days it would have gone better.

the big question is, do you guys think this will require surgery? or can this be treated with working out, and having a better posture...also what kind of low-profile not noticable brace or whatever do you guys recomend for my back?

thanks a lot!!

[mark]

Welcome to sso

Unfortunately you have passed all your growth spurts so bracing is probably out of the question, physio may help if it is postural rather than structural

The first thing you need to do is get a refferal to a scoliosis/kyphosis specialist, your gp should be able to do this for you

Where abouts in the world are you

There is a post in the general forum on specialists in the UK, Ireland the US and Australia

mark

[DeathMagnetic]

thanks mark, i live in arizona.

[mark]

Wow nice and warm then :D give us a day or two i will try and dig out a few specialists in your area

mark

[DeathMagnetic]

specifically Lake Havasu City, AZ.

im going to run by the idea of going to a specialist to my grandma....but i have no money for any kind of treatement.

[mark]

Sorry i don't know how the American system works, do you have to pay for your treatment?

[DeathMagnetic]

im pretty sure you do, we have medical insurance..but its not valid in this state for some reason (we just moved here about 5 months ago) and i was in the hospital twice but i wasnt charged then...maybe because it was ER?

[mark]

Sory to read you ended up in ER, i hope it wasn't anything too serious

[DeathMagnetic]

first time was food poisoning.

second time was eye infection.

[sins]

Hi and welcome,
There's no way any surgeon would offer the option of surgery for your spine as it genuinely doesn't look that bad.Kyphosis surgery is a major,major op that's usually only offered in the case of severe pain and deformity.
Do you have much pain?
It may be worth looking up some physical therapy or doing something like tha Alexander technique which could also help your vocal skills and breathing.Have a search around the site and have a look at other threads about the technique.
Hope you can get your insurance sorted soon.A move is always major upheaval.
Once again welcome
Sins

[GillyG]

first time was food poisoning.

second time was eye infection.

Oh dear, sounds like you're going through your whole body, bit by bit :p

I've had a look at your piccies and on the bending ones it looks as though you might have a mild kyphotic 'hump', although I think it's very unnoticeable in the other photos :)

Exercise is very good for strengthening the core stability muscles which in turn will help to support the spine. This may well help with your pain issues. However, if your curve is structural, no amount of exercise will actually be able to change it, although it can help with posture.

Oh, and by the way, welcome to the site :D

[DeathMagnetic]

ok thanks you guys...im going to find a specialist to see it its postural or structual...and then go from there.

hopefully its postural and some pysical training will help me out.

[GillyG]

ok thanks you guys...im going to find a specialist to see it its postural or structual...and then go from there.


Sounds like a plan :D good luck!

[Amazed Jean]

Hello and Welcome to SSO. You aren't that far from me. We live in Oklahoma. I agree with the others I do not think you have a catastrophic problem at this time. It would do you well to have yourself evaluated by a scoliosis specialist so he can tell you exactly ahere you are. The breathing thing is what concerns me. You might look into a pulmonologist in your area. They can run a lung function series on you and might have some suggestion. I waited way too late but I'm still here and raising a little hell. Hang in there! PM me anytime.

[Seeking_help]

Agree with everyone here. See a specialist first; however, it doesn't look bad enough for surgery. Maybe some phsyio and exercise will help. The procedure is also a big hurt financially in the US if your insurance doesn't cover it (think north of $250k).

Good luck!

[Kentish]

Welcome to SSO.

Its impossible to say how bad your kyphosis is from photos. If you have congenital kyphosis like I do, the true extent could be quite well hidden. When I first went to see my doctor, it was quite a battle just to get an xray taken of my back because he just couldnt see a problem. I was also a bit overweight and that too can hide how your spine looks. You really do need to have an xray and see a specialist as you need to know whether your curve is progressing. If you have posteral kyphosis then its good to catch it while its not too severe so you can do some things to slow down or stop its progress.

Exercises may well help a little with the shape of your back but to be honest, the best thing that I did for my pain was to lose a bit of weight. Losing as little as 12 pounds was really noticable for me in terms of how much pain I suffered from. Before my surgery I managed to lose more than 60 pounds and it helped me loads. I was braced when I was 19 or so but only to see if it helped with the pain, not because it was going to help with the shape of my back.

Please look into seeing a specialist. I know it might be costly but if you could look and feel better at the end of it, surely its money well spent :)

[Little Ali]

Just wanted to say hi and :welcome: