The vast majority of scoliosis doctors are pediatricians and orthopedic surgeons. The communication pipeline between these practitioners and parents is scripted. The current medical model addresses scoliosis with blinders on using only three primary treatment options, observation with mild curves, bracing for moderate range curves, and surgical fusion for curves greater than 40 degrees. So naturally what most doctors are failing to communicate is that observation is not a form of treatment yet scoliosis is a progressive condition, meaning it gets worse with time. What doctors are telling you that it is ok to wait and watch with periodic x-rays because most of these don’t get worse is false; most scoliosis cases do get worse. The majority of mild scoliosis  curves may not reach levels where surgery is recommended but often your child’s scoliosis will get large enough to produce noticeable postural deformity. Doctors won’t tell you that 1 out of every 4 cases will reach a severe level.  If you knew that there was a 25% chance that your child would develop a severe spinal deformity would you still wait around while 6 months of growth passes by?

Scoliosis doctors won’t tell you that rigid bracing is controversial and there are just as many research studies proving bracing doesn’t work as there are proving it does. The most common brace utilized in the US is the Boston Brace or TLSO which is one of the main brace types that has been under scrutiny for years with ample investigation demonstrating its short comings and failure as a progression stopper. Doctors won’t tell you that scoliosis is primarily a neurological condition and that the biomechanics of rigid scoliosis brace treatment like the Boston brace are not addressing this neurological component and therefore are treating the scoliosis with a band-aid approach pushing around curvature with external passive force rather than treating the condition using neurology based rehabilitation which is becoming more readily available. Doctors won’t tell you that moderate to high risk genetically stratified children with scoliosis who wore the rigid brace had no different of an outcome as the control group who did nothing, meaning the brace had no effect whatsoever on this group. They won’t tell you that rigid braces significantly decrease breathing capacity and can cause permanent psychological scars.

Scoliosis doctors won’t tell you that breathing capacity is the same in children with scoliosis as children without scoliosis all the way up to 60 degree curvature in the thoracic spine. In addition scoliosis doesn’t impact the cardiac or other organs function until thoracic curvatures reach upwards of 100 degrees. Surgeries performed on scoliosis curvature prior to 60 degrees are performed for cosmetic improvement only. Rib hump deformity is not corrected by scoliosis fusion surgery and often gets worse afterwards. The only way to permanently reduce the rib malformation is to perform a second surgery called a rib resection surgery which causes permanent breathing capacity loss, and a much longer recovery time. Doctors won’t mention that lumbar scoliosis doesn’t affect breathing capacity at all and that fusion of the lumbar spine below L4 will significantly reduce spinal range of motion potentially creating a 60% decrease in side bending capability. In the majority of cases scoliosis fusion surgery is worse than the condition itself and trading deformity for dysfunction, disability and pain is not a smart tradeoff.