Scoliwhatsis?
A few weeks ago, my husband brought our daughter home from gym with some unwelcome news: one of her coaches thought Megan was developing scoliosis.
None of the gymnastics coaches have medical training. However, the head coach has been leading womens' gymnastics teams for nearly 40 years and has seen hundreds of pre-adolescent girls through growth spurts and body changes that affect their performance. There are two other male coaches who are a lot younger, but have been working in this field for several years. If one of them had noticed something odd in our daughter's stance, I would believe it in a heartbeat.
But the source of this information was Megan's floor and beam coach. She's a 24-year-old woman who has only been coaching a few years, and while she has a lot of talent, her inexperience and immaturity have caused some difficulties. I didn't feel her assessment was all that credible (especially since Megan just had her annual checkup and her pediatrician didn't see anything), and I especially did not appreciate the fact that she offered her opinion in front of my daughter.
But both my husband and daughter were disturbed by this. I hit WebMD and other Internet sources and learned that Megan is at the age of rapid growth (12) when scoliosis can develop. She's grown an inch since that checkup. Now that the subject was raised, how bad would I feel if I let it go and it did not get discovered until her NEXT annual physical?
So I reluctantly made the appointment and drove down to her pediatrician's office yesterday after school.
"What's wrong with Megan?" the doctor asked.
I explained the situation. He raised an eyebrow. "Bring me a scoliometer," he instructed an aide.
I had no idea there was actually an instrument to measure this. It looked a little like a leveling tool, except that it was curved to fit across a young person's back. He asked her to bend from her waist and touch her toes.
"Looks good," he said.
He then measured the length of each of her legs. He drew dots on her hips and measured across.
"She has lordosis, but that's common for young gymnasts," he said. Funny. I had that too, when I was her age. I had to take a special corrective PE class for it, which was fine by me, because I was NOT a gymnast (or athletic at all!), and corrective was a lot less strenuous than regular PE.
"One hip is very slightly higher than the other, but that's not too significant," he said. "I really don't see any evidence of scoliosis."
This is exactly what I wanted (and expected) to hear.
"Now if you want a second opinion, I can refer you to an orthopedist," he added.
NO. I DON'T WANT A SECOND OPINION. I'M VERY HAPPY WITH THIS ONE.
Our doctor went on to explain that current medical thinking is that most of the braces and interventions done in the past for scoliosis didn't really help. He said that today, most doctors prefer to let it be -- that the problem tends to correct itself as the child grows.
I went home feeling very relieved... and a little bit angry at my daughter's coach.
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