Scoliosis Treatment

Scoliosis Treatment: Recent Improvements & Alternative Options

Early Intervention and Neuromuscular Retraining Key for Best Outcomes


So why are we using it?

Doctors commonly opt to only observe children with early stage scoliosis—curves measuring less than 20 degrees—for at least the first six months. The idea is that doctors can tell if the mild scoliosis is progressive or not after this time. Yet, if the curve reaches 25 degrees, there’s a 68 percent chance the scoliosis will continually get worse. The ScoliSMART™ doctors know it’s best to intervene and start spinal resistance training as soon as scoliosis is detected.


Improve Scoliosis Detection



Why Early Scoliosis Intervention is Crucial

Scoliosis creates a twisting of the spine around its axis. This is caused by lateral bending and rotation of spinal movement patterns. Picture a rubber band being twisted. This twisting causes severe torque that makes the existing spinal curve twist and bend even more. We call this self-feeding loop the “coil-down effect.” We can often see this spinal deformity in your child’s torso or notice a rib hump before the Cobb angle measurement indicates a problem. When treatment begins while the curvature is minimal, we can halt this crankshaft phenomenon and greatly increase the odds of reducing a curve to 10 degrees or less.

Treatment for Early Stage or Mild Scoliosis

Most cases of scoliosis are idiopathic, meaning they have no known cause. Yet the progression of scoliosis is caused by a miscommunication between the brain and the muscles. The brain doesn’t realize that your child’s posture is out of alignment, so it doesn’t send the messages telling the muscles to correct the spinal curvature.

ScoliSMART™ training focuses on correcting that neuromuscular miscommunication. Our Auto Response Training creates new muscle memory and coordination that helps the body stabilize. This exercise training lowers the chance that scoliosis will get worse and often reduces the curve to less than 10 degrees. No scoliosis treatment can “fix” the condition 100 percent. Beware if someone tells you they can “cure”scoliosis—there is no cure. The best result is to halt progression and reduce the curve as much as possible.

Thankfully, a genetic test developed in 2009 called ScoliScore™ tells us the probability that your child’s scoliosis will progress to 45 degrees or more, which is when surgery is often recommended. This saliva-based DNA test shows the probability for extreme scoliosis progression is less than 1 percent in 85 percent of children. This is good news. It’s also good that your child won’t be required to have multiple x-rays year after year—a monitoring method accompanied by the danger of radiation exposure.


Scoliosis Brace Treatment

Frenchman Ambrose Pare created the first metal scoliosis brace in 1575. Many others have been created since then, but patients tell us they still look and feel terrible. A scoliosis brace usually causes more harm than good. It’s typically prescribed if your child’s curve measures 25-40 degrees, the measurement of moderate scoliosis. This treatment squeezes the ribcage and the pelvis for up to 23 hours a day in an attempt to force the spine to straighten.

In some cases, it appears the brace is helping in follow-up x-rays. But the condition worsens as soon as the brace is removed. That’s because your child’s muscles are weakened and joints become terribly stiff when they are not allowed to move. A rib hump, breathing problems and other complications often occur within weeks of using a brace. Read more about the problems with scoliosis braces here.

The low success rates of scoliosis braces combined with the physical and psychological damage they cause make us question why anyone would prescribe them. Admitting traditional scoliosis treatment doesn’t work is the first step toward innovative changes. Your child can beat scoliosis, even if his or her curve is 25 degrees or more.

Scoliosis Spinal Fusion Surgery

Spinal fusion surgery for scoliosis also has a long history of complication and failure. The surgery has advanced and yet two thirds of patients have complications. A scoliosis curve isn’t life-threatening and people with a curve often live without pain. American Family Physician has stated that “there is no difference in the prevalence of back pain or mortality between patients with untreated adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and the general population.”


How Nutritional Support Boosts Treatment



Neurotransmitters are typically made from certain B vitamins and amino acids. We can test your child for neurotransmitter imbalances and restore the body’s communication with supplements. For example, many scoliosis patients are deficient in serotonin. Serotonin-controlled nerve pathways are responsible for satiety, happiness and dynamic postural control. Serotonin is also converted into melatonin; and melatonin deficiency is tied to scoliosis.


Choosing the Right Scoliosis Treatment for Your Child

Making the right scoliosis treatment decisions is difficult for you and your child—especially if you’re not presented with all the options. You deserve to know that scoliosis is not simply physical. Treatment shouldn’t be, either.

The Society of Scoliosis Orthopedic Rehabilitative Treatment (SOSORT) says there are many factors more important than correcting a Cobb angle. These factors should be considered before you make scoliosis treatment decisions:

Is your child disabled? Can the treatment cause disability?
How is your child’s quality of life now? Will the treatment improve it or worsen it?
Are your child’s breathing functions good now? Does the treatment pose a threat to breathing functions?
How is your child’s psychological well-being? How will it be affected by the treatment?

We can help you learn about scoliosis and your treatment options. No matter what you’ve been told, you deserve a second opinion. We’re not going to promise a quick fix or magic potion. We will give you treatment options to improve your child’s condition and life—forever. Get help today.