With his jovial attitude and friendly demeanor, you would have been hard-pressed to tell that just a few years ago, Adrian Yeo was suffering from several painful spinal conditions that left him in constant, debilitating pain.
The 67-year-old hairdresser shared that it happened one fateful day when he, still in his 40s, decided to catch a movie. Adrian ended up spending the duration of the movie sitting in an uncomfortable position in a bid to avoid another moviegoer who was encroaching into his space. Although he was fine after the movie ended, Adrian found himself unable to move from severe back pains a few hours later.
“At around 4am, I seemed to have pulled a nerve in my buttocks, and I couldn’t move from the pain; it felt like needles were poking me,” Adrian shared, recalling the night that seemed to have started it all. “The pain lasted till 7am. I called my helper, and she gave me a warm towel to ease the pain that had shot down from my back to my legs.”
Prior to that night, Adrian mentioned not having any history of back pains. He also led an active lifestyle, having practiced yoga for two years, and was constantly on his feet due to his job as a hairdresser, cutting and trimming his customers’ hair.
He hypothesized that his condition may have roots in his childhood.
“I used to help my father when I was younger, performing hard labour and carrying heavy metals,” said Adrian.
According to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Mash, it is possible for hard labour, excessive bending, and poor posture to lead to deformities in the spine. He explains, “Hard work, manual labour, a lot of excessive bending exercises, and poor posture can all have some contribution to the deformity. It’s called a deformity as the spine is crooked, and the bones have shifted one on top of the other. It was not just the spine shifting from the front and back; I remember Adrian’s bones also shifting from side to side.”
His severe back pains eventually led him to seek medical help from doctors, one of whom advised him to get surgery. However, that piece of advice came with certain caveats.
“I was told that if I were to get surgery, I might end up in a wheelchair if the operation failed. I was just in my 40s then; how could I put myself at risk of landing into a wheelchair? I decided not to move forward with the surgery.”
After his consultation, Adrian started exercising and stretching daily in a bid to strengthen his back. He would pick up bits and pieces of advice from his customers, some of whom also happened to be physiotherapists, and incorporate them into his exercise routine.
He kept up this routine till he turned 55, when he decided to spend a year in Japan learning the Japanese language. His back pains would continue to haunt him, due to the heavy text books he had to carry around. He would visit doctors who gave him inflammation medicine to tackle the pain; however, it did not address the root of the problem causing his back pains.
After a particularly painful episode, Adrian was introduced to Dr. Mash through his cardiologist, Dr. Julian Tan.
After consulting with Dr. Mash, Adrian was diagnosed with degenerative scoliosis and spondylolisthesis.
“He saw me for degenerative scoliosis and spondylolisthesis, which means his spine is crooked. When you look at it from the front to the back, [you can see that] the bone has shifted, one in front of the other at multiple levels. That caused compression of the nerves, causing him to have difficulty walking due to the pain, numbness, and weakness of the legs,” explains Dr. Mash.
Spondylolisthesis happens due to the shifting of your bone in your spine out of its natural alignment; this causes it to press down on the vertebra below it, resulting in lower back pains, sciatica, back stiffness, and difficulty walking for long periods of time.
Approximately 5% of Singaporeans are estimated to have spondylolisthesis, with most who are diagnosed with it not even being aware they have the condition. Many may mistake it for common backache; however, unlike the pain from a sprained back, which goes away with treatment, the pain caused by spondylolisthesis stays.
Usually underestimated and under-recognised as compared to scoliosis in adolescents, degenerative scoliosis commonly impacts seniors, with up to 68% of seniors aged over 60 affected by the condition. It is caused by the deterioration of intervertebral discs, which act as shock absorbers between the vertebrae of the spine. These discs can wear down unevenly over time, leading to an imbalanced distribution of body weight, which leads to a curve of the spine over time.
Prior to being recommended for surgery, Dr. Mash mentions having tried non-operative treatments on Adrian first.
“We tried medication, therapy, and all that, but it did not really work out very much,” says Dr. Mash. He adds, “Before his condition worsened, he was actually very mobile, going on overseas trips and all that. He wanted to go back to his original condition, how it used to be before all this happened. So then, after having failed non-operative treatments, we decided on surgery.”
According to Dr. Mash, Adrian’s condition might worsen over time if surgery is not performed.
“The distance he could walk was getting shorter and shorter,” says Dr. Mash. “So generally, if the distance you can walk gets shorter, you’re getting weaker, and you’re not improving despite non-operative treatments, then usually one of the treatments would be surgery.”
However, Adrian still had his reservations about going forward with surgery, “I was apprehensive about getting surgery as I had to work and did not want to rest for too long, so I told him to let me think about it.”
Not one to let his pain get the better of him, Adrian decided to do his own research. After also getting positive reviews on Dr. Mash from his customers, Adrian made the decision to finally get surgery to deal with his spondylolisthesis and degenerative scoliosis.
Dr. Mash performed a minimally invasive spinal fusion and decompression on Adrian, who described the surgery as one that pleasantly surprised him.
“After Dr. Mash operated on me, my back did not hurt. I initially thought the place you were operated on should hurt, especially when you are lying down, but it did not,” Adrian shared. “I did not feel any pain from the period after my operation till the wound had healed. Plus, I initially thought I would be heavily bandaged post-surgery, but it ended up only being a small plaster on the site of the operation, about 6 to 8 inches long.”
All in all, Adrian ended up being discharged after just four days and was able to walk around his room just a day after the surgery, with Dr. Mash visiting him to make sure everything was okay with Adrian.
With his condition addressed, Adrian now spends his days attending to his customers and taking long walks to keep fit.
He recalls going on trips to Australia and Japan where he would climb the mountains there without any pains or issues, “When I went to Fukuoka, Japan, in December 2024, I did not know I was capable of climbing over 1,200 steps without experiencing any pain.”
