# can scoliosis get worse after you're done growing?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-scoliosis-get-worse-after-youre-done-growing/651071>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 22, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-scoliosis-get-worse-after-youre-done-growing/651071 "2013-02-22T12:50:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![matt357](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@matt357](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt357)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-scoliosis-get-worse-after-youre-done-growing/651071/1 "2013-02-22T12:50:55Z")

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I am a 22-year-old man, I was diagnosed with scoliosis early in high school. When I was 19 I started developing gynecomastia and after several blood tests was diagnosed with low testosterone. They performed two different types of testosterone blood test. One was free testosterone and the other was total testosterone. One of the testosterone tests was 220 , which was way below normal ( normal is 500 to 2000) and the other one, which was either free or total testosterone was only 20 points or so above the level that would be considered too low, so it was low- normal and was the testosterone of a 50 or 60-year-old man.

They had not been able to find a cause or a solution to the testosterone problem because they said treatment with testosterone shots or cream would make me infertile. They also said because of the test that was slightly above low-level, I would not need treatment. I noticed recently that the slight curve I had in my upper back and neck which was due to scoliosis has seemed to be getting worse and I have been having a lot of pain in my upper spine.

I have read that as you get older and start developing osteoporosis or age-related bone loss you get a hump in your upper back, which I am starting to get. I also read that low testosterone causes osteoporosis and a doctor told me years ago that I was possibly at risk due or bone loss due to low testosterone. I’m wondering if the hump in my upper back is due to scoliosis getting worse or possibly a bone loss related hump in my upper back. I haven’t really done any growing since I was about 16 and they told me that my bones were fused at that age I woulnt grow anymore , although I may have grown a little bit more until I was 18 or so.

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-scoliosis-get-worse-after-youre-done-growing/651071/2 "2013-02-22T14:04:07Z")

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From [UpToDate.com](http://UpToDate.com), a subscription medical website, and quite reliable.

> [@](#):
>
> Scoliosis can continue to progress after skeletal maturity in untreated patients, particularly in those with curves measuring \>40º at the end of growth. Curves \>50º generally progress one degree per year after skeletal maturity. Curves measuring ≤30º at the end of growth typically do not progress. In a long-term study, 133 untreated curves in 102 patients were followed for an average of 40.5 years after skeletal maturity. Two-thirds of the curves progressed, with an average rate of 0.75 to 1 degree per year. Factors related to progression after skeletal maturity included severity of curve at diagnosis (curves with Cobb angles \>30º tended to progress, whereas smaller curves did not) and curve location (increased risk with thoracic curves).

So you’ll need to know how large your curve is to make sense of this.

Hope that helps.