These days, coincidentally, two mothers of girls who had undergone scoliosis surgery sent me distressed messages because they didn't know what else to do due to chronic pain in the scapula they were experiencing. Both wanted to know if I had experienced this type of pain after scoliosis surgery and how I had resolved it.
The truth is, I didn't go through that. My pains were very strong and intense for seven days when I was in the hospital with a morphine pump, but after that, they gradually decreased. I didn't have scapular pain. Anyway, I tried to help by saying that each patient reacts differently, but it was worth a medical evaluation because the idea is not to have chronic pain, and that needed to be resolved somehow. It was then that, after some exams, the first mother who contacted me said that at first, there was nothing wrong, but the doctor also requested a thermography exam for a better assessment. We had never heard of this exam, but let's trust that this time the reason for so much pain appears. After a few days, she sent me another message, and here came the result: the thermography showed very clearly that her daughter had a significant inflammation exactly in the area of the pain and that this was related to scoliosis surgery.
Thermography is a medical imaging technique that records the heat emitted by the body. This is done through a device called a thermographic camera, which detects and measures the infrared radiation emitted by the skin's surface. This radiation is converted into a thermal image, which can be analyzed by healthcare professionals. The main idea behind thermography is that different parts of the body have different heat emission patterns, and changes in these patterns can indicate health problems. For example, an inflamed area or increased blood flow may emit more heat. An advantage of thermography is that it is a non-invasive examination and does not use ionizing radiation, as is the case with X-rays or CT scans. However, interpreting thermographic images requires skill and experience on the part of the healthcare professional, as many factors can influence the readings, such as ambient temperature and the patient's physical activity.
Thermography can play a useful role in managing post-operative scoliosis pain because, after surgery, patients may have some type of inflammation or discomfort. The exam can be used as a monitoring tool to assess the body's response to surgical trauma and to identify areas of inflammation or dysfunction that may be contributing to pain. By performing thermography post-operatively, healthcare professionals can identify abnormal thermal patterns in the surgical area, such as areas of elevated temperature that may indicate inflammation or neurological dysfunction. This information can help doctors adjust the pain treatment plan, adapting analgesic medication or physiotherapy as necessary.
Additionally, thermography can be used to monitor the progression of recovery over time, helping doctors to track this process and identify any complications that may arise during recovery.
It's important to emphasize that thermography should be used in conjunction with other tools for assessing postoperative pain, such as clinical evaluation, pain questionnaires, and imaging exams, to provide a comprehensive picture of the patient's condition and guide pain management effectively.
In the end, after she explained everything to me, I put her in touch with the other mother who was going through the same situation with her daughter, so they could exchange information and help each other.
I made this post in case anyone out there is experiencing the same pain, so they can ask their trusted doctor about this exam, which also aims to assist in the postoperative monitoring of scoliosis.
Have you heard about it before? Tell me!
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