Scoliosis - Backbone check for Secondary pupils

[MieVee]

julongmum:

Mievee, thanks for sharing. How do you manage this condition, do u wear the braces. I suppose you can't carry heavy stuff, can you? Can a person with scoliosis be detected by the look?

The Dr said that 10 degrees is still slight, so did not refer me to a specialist, and no braces. I practise Pilates and keep a correct posture to align myself properly. I try not to carry heavy stuff. During pregnancy, I had very bad backache and painful hip bones. These were gone after delivery. When I need to carry my boy (now 11kg), I use an ergonomic baby carrier.

My shoulders are of slightly different height when I stand. If I make a conscious effort to align myself, it's not obvious. If the curvature is serious, then it can be detected easily.

[MieVee]

dimsum:

MieVee:

Do note that with a scoliosis medical history, your child's insurance application would be affected. Be prepared for an exclusion on the spine where the curvature lies.

No leh, none of my insurance policies were loaded, neither were there exclusion clauses due to my scoliosis condition.

For medical and personal accident policies: pre-existing conditions are commonly excluded, so even if there is no specific exclusion, the condition would be excluded. If a future claim related to scoliosis is approved, I'd treat it as a bonus. Anyway, my scoliosis condition is specifically excluded for these plans. One company in KL even wanted to load 25% on a hospital plan.

Critical illness & TPD policies: two different companies specifically excluded scoliosis for my plans

As scoliosis is spine related, it gets underwriter concerned, even if it does not affect my health in any way now. Being excluded or loaded is such a pity yet I have no choice. Therefore, i get my boy covered by insurance properly soon after he was born, when he has no medical history.

[julongmum]

MieVee:

The Dr said that 10 degrees is still slight, so did not refer me to a specialist, and no braces. I practise Pilates and keep a correct posture to align myself properly. I try not to carry heavy stuff. During pregnancy, I had very bad backache and painful hip bones. These were gone after delivery. When I need to carry my boy (now 11kg), I use an ergonomic baby carrier.


My shoulders are of slightly different height when I stand. If I make a conscious effort to align myself, it's not obvious. If the curvature is serious, then it can be detected easily.

Thanks MieVee. Good that you're managing well and take good care of yourself.

[dimsum]

MieVee:

For medical and personal accident policies: pre-existing conditions are commonly excluded, so even if there is no specific exclusion, the condition would be excluded. If a future claim related to scoliosis is approved, I'd treat it as a bonus. Anyway, my scoliosis condition is specifically excluded for these plans. One company in KL even wanted to load 25% on a hospital plan.

Critical illness & TPD policies: two different companies specifically excluded scoliosis for my plans

As scoliosis is spine related, it gets underwriter concerned, even if it does not affect my health in any way now. Being excluded or loaded is such a pity yet I have no choice. Therefore, i get my boy covered by insurance properly soon after he was born, when he has no medical history.

I bought my life insurance policies with critical illness and TPD riders and there was really no specific exclusion or loading. They were purchase around 12 yrs ago.

[MieVee]

dimsum:

I bought my life insurance policies with critical illness and TPD riders and there was really no specific exclusion or loading. They were purchase around 12 yrs ago.

As long as you declared faithfully and no specific exclusion was passed for CI/TPD, then it seems fine. One of my policies with exclusion was bought also about 12 years ago.

Generally, I think underwriting has become stricter in recent years, as the companies are seeing more clients with scoliosis history.

[TwinMoM]

[/quote]

TwinMoM, thanks for yr advice. She is sec 1. Will continue to ask DH to carry her sch bag whenever possible. Can u share more abt the bracing, does your DD need to wear it all the time? Any improvement or can her backbone be realigned after the bracing? Hope your DD gets well.[/quote]


Yes she is wearing soft brace now (tailored made in KK) for at least 20hrs a day. It has been 3 weeks now, a lil reluctant to wear it due to the weather :x but it is still better than the hard brace which restricts her movements (like a robot) and kids at that age has a lot of self-esteem.. She is due for a review in June and we'll see if it improves.. On the day where she was braced, she took an x-ray with the brace on, it improved a good 9 degrees.. so she has to continue to put on for at least 18mths. The priority now is to stop her curve from increasing, to correct it is of cos a bonus, it does happen to some though depending on their growth spurt.

Yes swimming and pilates are good exercises for Scoliosis. Dont take on excercises that will put stress to the spine eg. skipping.

Notes to parents :idea: : Do explore the pros/cons of soft brace (KK)/hard brace (NUH) before you decide what is best for your child. See both the expertise and decide AFTER. The web nowadays provide so much info for references.

PM me if you need further info. I'm happy to help if I can.

[julongmum]

TwinMoM, thanks for your advice. Cannot skipping huh, can jog? If cannot jog, then should exempt from PE lessons right? My DD cca is a sport game requires strainess physical like batting and running. Maybe I should talk to the coach to get more advice.


Does the sch arrange backbone check every year?

[TwinMoM]

julongmum:

TwinMoM, thanks for your advice. Cannot skipping huh, can jog? If cannot jog, then should exempt from PE lessons right? My DD cca is a sport game requires strainess physical like batting and running. Maybe I should talk to the coach to get more advice.


Does the sch arrange backbone check every year?

julongmum,

I suggest you check her up first before you get too worried

As a reference, you may want to check out the following web pages for your doubts:

http://www.fims.org/files/311417173/ismj%20pdfs/Vol_9_No_3_2008/Scoliosis%20and%20sports%20participation.pdf
See page 139 for Sports partipation

http://www.hpb.gov.sg/studenthealth/article.aspx?id=690

Cheers.

[julongmum]

TwinMom, many thanks.

[wi11anna]

Hi twinMoM, how much did you pay for the SpineCor brace. Is it at the subsidised rate? We’re thinking to switch DD to wear the soft brace. Her doc (NUH) said she can change but we’ll ve to pay the full price. Thanks.