My wife has about 30% curvature and she refuses to ever go under the knife for many of the reasons you've shared. I honestly don't trust any doctor any more than I would any auto repair shop. They're out to scare you into buying as many services as needed, whether they're actually beneficial / necessary or not and often don't give you all the facts.

It's sad the state of our health care system here in the U.S. It's just like most other industries--money is their top priority and not honest customer service. Sure it's important to make enough money to survive and stay afloat but selling X product by misleading the consumer is just plain wrong.