Why Splitting Spines?

I was thirteen the day I went downstairs and told my mother that I thought my one side was flatter than the other. A typical girl of that age, my primary concern was my appearance. I was gawky and too tall after my most recent growth spurt, and all I wanted was to look like the girls in my magazines.

They don’t have one side that is flatter than the other. So, the simple conclusion was that I should not, either.

Even then, I think I knew. For the past week, I’d been going to sleep with a rolled-up towel beneath my left ribcage; thinking that if it got a little nudge, everything would work out fine. I’d grown up seeing the difficulties my mum faces every day, you see, and knew I didn’t want that for myself.

Mum didn’t want that for me, either.

As soon as I told her my suspicions this sort of wary, disappointed - yet not surprised - look crossed her face. A quick check later, and yep - it was apparent that I had the early markers of scoliosis.

Scoliosis is, by definition, the abnormal twisting and curvature of the spine. First noticed by small symptoms in appearance, the condition can continue to worsen if left unchecked and go on to cause life-altering problems.

In the most extreme cases, the ribcage shifts and can be pushed against internal organs like the lungs and heart, increasing the risk of pneumonia and heart disease. My mother, herself, experiences great difficulty with mobility and pain that not even her medication helps.

So, we knew exactly what the risks were when we went to the doctor.

Thankfully, we did everything as well as we could. We saw the signs way beyond what is typical because we knew the risks were already there. Thankfully, we were told that my condition appears less severe than my mother’s.

Unfortunately, that means there’s not a lot that can be done to help.

The advice in my case is simple: keep active (don’t gain weight that’ll put pressure on your spine), try to sleep in certain positions, and do some yoga. Spine lengthening yoga, to be specific. Don’t carry too much weight in general. If you have to carry anything, try to do so in a backpack. Get a massage.

Seriously, I was told to get weekly massages. I, of course, do not.

Regardless, the point remains that despite being lucky, scoliosis of the spine still affects my daily life and will continue to do so. There is no direct ‘cure’, per se, just maintenance which can grow worse with age.

I suppose, when I wrote my first blog post (years ago, now) about creasing books and breaking their spines, I thought the entire thing ironic. Of course, I would be a serial offender for splitting the spines of books.

I confess the name is odd. Splitting Spines perhaps doesn’t scream ‘blog’ but I thought of it and knew I liked it. It feels 100% me, in some strange way. Perhaps simply because the name, itself, is strange.

And, since I want this blog to be a culmination of my thoughts, opinions, and experiences, I kept the name. It does, after all, capture all three.