No height gain for me

When, after two and one-half years of treatment with the Milwaukee Brace, Dr. Keim decided that I needed scoliosis surgery, I wondered if I would be taller. Seemed logical to me: curved spine made straight should add a few inches, right?

That was the subject of a recent study at Boston Children's Hospital, published in the National Library Medicine. The conclusion was that, yes, among the 116 patients (average age: 14.8 years), additional height was gained after scoliosis surgery, and some patients continued to grow post-operatively.

In may case, though, I did not gain any additional inches on my pre-surgery 5' 3" frame. But then my surgery was likely more extensive than those patients participating in the study. I was also older (16) and had probably achieved my adult height by that point.

But thanks to the study's authors for confirming my hypothesis lo, those many years ago.