I was diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 16 and have been told by the doctor that it's at around 70 degrees (which is considered severe). I've had pains come and go, the most specific ones being when I'd lay down and feel like I laid down at a bad angle or on an uncomfortable bed and have these insanely sharp spikes in pain on my middle-left side of my body (I'd usually need about 10-15 minutes to recover).
Aside from those though - which hasn't happened to me in the past 8 months now and even then it only happened because I was on a very uncomfortable motel bed - I don't really experience pain. I may just be one of those people who's dealt with the feeling, I never make a deal out of it when I'm experiencing pain in general unless it's severe. I never had scoliosis surgery but naturally the doctor I spoke to told me it was vital as I could have impairment as you've described where the curvature could grow into my lungs, which it hasn't.
I'm 23 years old now and I'm thinking of going for the surgery, but it's more so as a precaution than it is because I "need" it. I'm still young enough to be able to recover in a reasonable time and I plan on moving out and living in a new city in 2017 so I feel it would be the best time to get it. But what has me worried is all of these horror stories and comments about chronic pain which are things I'm not experiencing. My fear is that the surgery will mess me up when I personally never felt like I needed it aside from cosmetic reasons.
Because of my scoliosis I want to focus my phd topic on it (specifically looking at non-surgical solutions to scoliosis for those in the 10-30 degree range). I wanted to hear your input on my situation as you have a lot of experience with spinal deformity and the processes one goes through post-surgery. I may also be interested in having you as a contact for future reference if that's ok with you :-). I'll be meeting with the same doctor I spoke to when I was 16 as I'm told he's one of the best surgeons in Ontario.
My question for you is whether or not you think scoliosis surgery is still a good idea for me, despite currently experiencing no issues?