PersonalA little something about |Perseverance

When I was 15 I found out I had a back problem called Scoliosis, it's a really common thing, it usually happens if you grow really quickly or you have a bad posture during the growth process.

My spine had an 'S' shape, it was curved to the right on the top and curved to the left on the bottom.
I discovered I had it when I was doing some abs and my gymnastic's teacher put her hand in my back and notice that something was wrong. She had the same problem when she was little so she help me a lot and gave me great tips.

I went to the doctor and he made me take X-rays. It was really true, I really had my spine curved and that explained the pain I was having everyday.
The doctor told me the only treatment I had was to do surgery but we should only do it in extreme cases. He told me the only thing he could do for me, at that moment, was to give me painkillers.

Some years later I started having some difficulty walking, especially with ballerinas shoes and flat sole shoes. I went to other doctor and he told me that my Scoliosis was causing me knee problems and that I was going to feel back pain for the rest of my life.

Hearing such a horrible thing was hard, so I started doing exercise at that time, I actually made some posts about it (the first one - it's in Portuguese) and asked you to join me, I even made some freebies for you to download with tips about exercises.

The truth is that it worked! I still have pain everyday, but it's weaker, and the difficulty to walk happens less, and if I didn't hurt my knee last year I bet I'd be even better. 
And my spine? It's almost perfect. Can you believe it? My "S" shaped spine is almost like it should be, and the doctor swore to me that I wasn't going to get better.

The first step to get better, and one of the most important, is to set your mind to it! I was focused in getting better and I worked really hard for it. 
The second step is to find your own treatment, search for exercises and alternative methods that will help you along the way. Keep a notebook with all your findings, just think of it as a journey and at the end of the road you will find a healthier you. 
The third step is to not let yourself down if you don't see results right away. This treatment I've put myself into is hard, I'm not gonna lie. I had to be alert about my posture, every single second.
I have a bad habit, when I feel back pain I start to lose a good posture to ease the pain, and every time this happened I had to force a good posture again. It is so hard, and it hurts a lot, I also experimented with clothes with posture correction and it's the worst, I always ended crawled in the ground with pain.

But now I'm here, healthier and better than I was on that first post, and I'm so happy you accompanied me along the way. 
All problems are different and maybe this will work better for you or maybe it won't work. But believe me that you can always try to be healthier, you can't say it doesn't work if you don't at least try.
Don't let anyone let you down, like they tried on me, and tell you can't do something. You can do everything you set your mind to. I tried, will you give it a try? 
Be brave and stay strong.

10 Comments

  1. Estou a apreciar muito o seu blog. Todos os dias tenho visitado o mesmo e delicio-me com os seus posts. Espero que continue com o bom trabalho.

    Cumprimentos

    Margarida Fonseca Dias

    http://www.revenderyodeyma.com

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  2. Gostei imenso de ler este post e a tua história fez-me lembrar alguém que eu conheço que tem o mesmo problema e sim é verdade, o exercício resulta! Há exercícios para igualar os dois lados das costas, compensando o outro lado, e as dores passam quando se faz exercício, embora não se "cure" a escoliose, porque não pode ser "curada", o jeito que as costas tem pode ser melhorado e embora não conheça muito desse problema, como disse conheço uma pessoa que tem escoliose e oiço muito falar nisso e nos seus progressos, por isso admiro muito essa pessoa, assim como admiro a tua história de força.
    Nós apesar de termos problemas, se não der para os resolver, temos que trabalhar neles e arranjar a melhor solução para a nossa vida.

    Stay Strong e força aí! Beijinhos :)

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  3. Eu tenho postura escoliótica, tanto que tenho muito a tendência de ter um ombro acima do outro. No entanto, o médico não me deu um prognóstico tão limitativo. Disse-me que para melhorar tinha de fazer exercicios que aumentassem a musculatura das minhas costas: ténis, ballet (por me obrigar a manter a postura), natação, ginásio. Soube recentemente pela minha irmã (que também foi presenteada com uma coluna em S) que o médico lhe disse que o pilates também era muito bom para melhorar.
    Por isso, o importante é não desistir, lutando todos os dias por uma vida melhor :)

    Beijinho
    http://dcidadedopecado.blogspot.pt/

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  4. Stay strong baby! Amei as tuas palavras e a sinceridade com que as escreves-te! <3
    GIVEAWAY a decorrer no blog, participa fofinha!
    Beijinhos

    http://denisedeassis.com

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  5. Uau Maria, fico feliz pela forma como lutaste e lutas para resolver este problema, és maravilhosa!
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  6. Adorei o teu post :)
    Eu também tenho escoliose dupla, o tal S e foi a minha professora de educação física que reparou... Ainda me lembro que alguns colegas meus acharam piada à situação... Felizmente eu não tenho dores. É algo que me deixa frustrada, teres dores xD Entretanto já tive alta do hospital :)
    É ótimo estares melhor da coluna, a minha nem vai para um lado nem para o outro. Mas tudo se resolve, de uma maneira ou de outra :)
    Beijinho e continua positiva <3

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  7. Tão bom ler estas coisas querida! És mesmo uma inspiração <3

    http://big-hill-of-hope.blogspot.pt/

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  8. Olá Maria! Eu tive o mesmo problema mas acabei mesmo por ser operada! Quando descobri fui logo reencaminhada para o Hospital de Sto Antonio (sou do Norte) e depois lá disseram-me que como já tinha crescido tudo o que havia para crescer não adiantava de nada usar um colete e que a única solução era ser operada mas que, obviamente, só era se quisesse. No futuro podia piorar e ao ter filhos era muito mais complicado.
    Fui operada e agora estou bem. A operação custou imenso mas valeu a pena!

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  9. I'm so glad to hear you are doing better now, thank you for sharing. <3 And yes, perseverance is the key, you can do anything if you truly want to!

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