It is important to understand what Scoliosis actually is a sideways curvature of the spine that occurs most often during the growth spurt just before puberty. Also, it is more likely to occur in girls rather than in boys. While scoliosis can be caused by conditions such as cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, the cause of most scoliosis is genetics, hence the label "idiopathic scoliosis".  So what? Is there anything that you can do to mitigate the 'scoliosis' gene from expressing itself? Or, is there anything that you can do to mitigate scoliosis progression once the gene has expressed itself? YES. There are environmental triggers that could be avoided and there are also proactive measures you can take to stabilize or maintain your scoliosis in check.  One of them being exercise based scoliosis treatment. But, not just any scoliosis exercises...

Exercises such as Leg & Arm Extensions, back extension, and triceps raises are some of the exercises that are posted all over the internet that claim they can help with scoliosis. Not true.  These exercises do nothing for scoliosis.

With so much mixed information on the internet concerning scoliosis and exercises, it is no wonder many adults and children are weary about the benefits of exercise with scoliosis. Some will avoid exercise for the fear that it may exacerbate their scoliosis. While this may be true of some exercises, certain exercises, if done correctly can be helpful.

An exercise based scoliosis treatment that incorporates neuromuscular re-education is best.  Scoliosis treatment that does not incorporate any exercises to re-educate the brain (i.e. neuro-muscular re-education) or strengthen the spinal and core muscles will not work for long term correction. Note: A strong core is essential in a scoliosis maintenance treatment. Note 2: Posture is the window to your Spinal health. An exercise based scoliosis treatment program will help both your core and your posture.  So, if you have scoliosis...catch yourself as you sit.  How's your posture? Are you slouching? or leaning over to the side position?  If yes, these are signs that you would benefit from an exercise based scoliosis treatment incorporating neuromuscular re education, core strengthening and postural awareness exercises.

By Dr. Aatif Siddiqui

            It is agreed that very little is known about the cause and cure of the scoliosis patient.  Obviously, there is no cure for the disease, or no one would have it.  However, an effective system of treatment for the reduction and stabilization of scoliosis has emerged on the scene.  The fight against scoliosis is being lead by the doctors of the CLEAR(Chiropractic Leadership Educational Advancement & Research)  Institute, who have developed a system of neuro-muscular rehabilitation, chiropractic adjustments, and vibration therapies that essentially “reverse engineer” the condition. This treatment provides a viable alternative to the traditional bracing and surgical treatment choices.

Clear-Institutes highly advanced protocol consists of three primary functions in its ability to reverse engineer scoliotic spines; the first being what’s referred to as the MIX component, the second component termed FIX, and lastly a SET component designed to secure the changes taking place. The MIX component is designed specifically to cause a relaxation of the scoliotic spine by using bio-mechanical and bio-chemical reactions created from cyclical motion, heat, pressure, and specific vibrational frequencies. The MIX component is critical because the amount of reduction of a spinal curvature is in most cases directly proportional to the curves flexibility. The MIX component is designed to enhance the flexibility of the spinal curvature.

The FIX component involves a very sophisticated analysis of the patients spinal biomechanics using both static and dynamic x-rays. The global spine is then broken down into 6 primary functional units using vector analysis which is commonly used in the engineering field. CLEAR doctors are trained extensively in this process and are able to consistently create a spinal adjusting sequence to match the patient’s biomechanical needs. Spinal adjusting is a combination of techniques using instrumentation, drop mechanisms, and hand contact force. A critical part of adjusting protocols which differs from the general chiropractic profession is that P-A thoracic spine adjusting is contraindicated in the scoliotic patient and is never performed by CLEAR doctors.

The SET component is a combination of fixing and setting the spine. It involves traction coupled with de-rotation and vibration. The primary weapon utilized to accomplish this unique combination of therapies is the scoliosis traction chair or “STC”. The STC provides the scoliotic patient an opportunity to workout in a decompression environment. The STC has the ability to create global spine traction, de-rotation using a specific ratchet system with strapping, and vibration based muscle reeducation similar to the very publicized whole body vibration fitness craze. The SET component continues with specific spinal isometric exercises in addition to gait and proprioception re-training.

            Due to the coupled motion (lateral bending and rotation) of spinal movement patterns, scoliosis creates a twisting of the spine around its own axis.  Much like twisting a rubber band from the top and bottom, the middle of the rubber band is susceptible to buckling into a curved and rotated position which is the beginning appearance of the spinal curvature.

            The twisted and bent position of the spine creates a tremendous amount of torque which then further drives the existing spinal curvature into more twisting and bending and results in further buckling (increase in the spinal curvature).  This becomes a self feeding loop which is often referred to as the “crankshaft phenomenon”.  Often at this point the spinal deformity starts becoming outwardly apparent in the form of a torso translation or a rib hump.

            A large scale, medically peer reviewed study clearly shows that curvatures under 30 degrees (measured with the Cobb angle method) in early spinal development (Risser’s sign of 0-1) will see their spinal curvature progress 68% of the time. (1)  Since the majority of spinal curvatures under 30 degrees are diagnosed in pre-adolescents, a progression of the spinal curvature can be expected over 2/3 of the time!

            The current medical standard for the treatment of scoliosis does not recommend any treatment for spinal curvatures until they progress to a lofty 25 degrees Cobb’s angle.  At that point, spinal bracing is recommended which has not been showed to effect the progression of the curvature until it reaches a measurement above 30 degrees Cobb’s angle. (2)  While there have been no research attempts to introduce the concept of highly invasive surgery into the early intervention of scoliosis, one study shows a worse outcome for patients whom had the surgery at a younger age than patients whom were older at the time of the surgery. (3)  Spine Cor has attempted to introduce bracing into the realm of early scoliosis intervention with little to no success. (4)  Despite early scoliosis intervention in terms of patient age and size of curvature, both bracing and surgery have shown poor results.It is apparent that a non-surgical, non-bracing early scoliosis intervention for the treatment of spinal curvatures and idiopathic adolescent scoliosis is long over-due. 

            What CLEAR trained doctors are finding out is that curvatures under 30 degrees when treated using their protocols respond even better than curves over 30 degrees. In most cases of curvatures under the 30 degree mark, full correction to under 10 degrees is not only obtainable, but fairly common. Spinal curvatures reduced to below 10 degrees are no longer considered a scoliosis by most authorities meaning it would be defined as a cure. The bio-mechanical reasoning for this response is most likely due to a lack of “coildown phenomenon” being present in curves at this smaller level. Radiographic review of smaller curves, under 30 degrees, demonstrate much less visible spinous process rotation at this level indicating less torque, and therefore more flexibility.The higher the degree of flexibility of the curve the greater amount of correction is possible.

CLEAR recommends that chiropractors refer any curvatures detected to a properly trained doctor that can apply these protocols in either an expanded treatment schedule over the course of several months or if a certified doctor is not within driving distance for the patient an “Intensive Care” program can be administered which generally is done in one week with smaller curves under 30 degrees. CLEAR doctors will then work with the referring chiropractor and coordinate treatment plans together to better serve the patient.

There are several ways to identify smaller curvatures including visual posture analysis demonstrating a tipped shoulder, high hip, or even translation of the skull or pelvis,

 scoliometers can detect even relatively small curvatures.  The most reliable and definitive test would be to take a full spine standing x-ray. Other factors to consider when suspecting a possible curvature are forward head posture or sway back type postures.

1.  Lonstein & Carlson, The prediction of curve progression in untreated scoliosis during growth, J Bone Surg Am 1984 Sep;66(7):1061-71

2.   The etiology of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis

           Am J Orthop 2002 Jul;31 (7) :387-95

Ahn et al, New Hampshire Spine Institute

3.    Brace treatment during pubertal growth spurt in girls
with idiopathic scoliosis (IS): A prospective trial
                                                                    comparing two different concepts                                                                    

Pediatr Rehabil 2005 Jul-Sep;8(3):199-206 (ISSN: 363-8491)
Weiss HR; Weiss GM

4.   Hawes M., University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. Pediatr Rehabil. 2006   

Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT.

"Three dimensional automatic correction of the spine” a term until today you have most likely never come across. Let me start by explaining the 3-D part. The spine is a complex organization of matter primarily consisting of bone, discs, ligaments, nerves, and muscles. When we view a spine from the side view(dimension one) it is a series of forward and backward curves creating a precise balance of head torso and pelvis centers of gravity, the front view (dimension two) reveals a straight spinal column also demonstrating balance between the three c enter masses of the head torso and pelvis, the top to bottom view(dimension three) would be similar to looking at a snowman from top down where the centers of the three spheres line up with gravity to create balance. The body has a system innately built in called the sensorimotor system of posture and balance. This system is a complex reflex control between incoming messages from our environment that are sensed primarily by our body, our head, neck, eyes, and inner ears creating an informational dialogue that precisely determines where we are relative to gravitational forces. In addition motor control of muscles are hard wired to these incoming messages so that split second adjustments can be made in order for those three center masses head body and pelvis can stay in line with gravity creating tremendous efficiency in movement and balance. These righting reflexes are responsible for the organization of what is referred to as body scheme an outward projection of what our posture looks like to the rest of the world.
This reflex organization has been labeled by scoliosis etiology theorists as Brain-Body Scheme. There are two general types of muscle that layer the spine, pelvis, and legs termed tonic muscle and phasic muscle.Tonic muscle is very resistant to fatigue and has both fast and slow twitch speeds whereas phasic muscles are highly fatiguable with faster twitch speeds. The muscles of our body contain a mixture of these fiber types in fact no one muscle is made up of 100% of one fiber type. The body also has the ability to change a muscle to encourage a phasic function(movement) or a more tonic function (antigravity) support.
There are a number of cadaveric and in vivo studies that have conclusively demonstrated intrinsic tonic muscle length differences in scoliosis patients suggesting that the bone alignment on the x-ray is certainly influenced and may even be entirely controlled by length differences in tonic musculature, especially the deeper muscles connecting segment to segment. Tonic antigravity muscles are controlled by the brain, so the imbalances are initiated by the brains output to the muscle. Muscle tone is completely regulated by the central nervous system. The body takes information in from three primary sources, eyes(occular system), inner ears(vestibular system)and body(somatosensory system)and organizes theses incoming signals (termed sensory integration) then creates an outgoing message in response to these incoming signals and reflexively organizes the body relative to gravity. Scoliosis patients have a definite problem with this organizational system.
3-D auto-correction works on reorganizing or changing the incoming and outgoing messages. It works by using specific x-ray and posture analysis, called vector analysis where the doctor can measure each individual lever arm (the groupings of vertebrae that function together as one unit to create antigravity support) and where these lever arms pivot on one another to create movement and balance. This analysis can also demonstrate which portion of the body alignment is furthest away from gravity, either the head, torso, or pelvis. Once these lever arms and pivot points are determined, a specific amount of weight is the added to a portion of the body, either head, torso , or hips which will cause the bodies reflex control to reorganize the body masses to gravity. This re-action is done through subconscious control mechanisms discussed earlier. As the body reorients to gravity it takes these lever arms with it and creates a new body scheme, if done correctly, this new body scheme will have much less scoliosis in it. After several weeks the subconscious body scheme has been altered and the patient will stand and move differently and posture, x-rays, and function will be measurably improved.
Summary:
• Scoliosis is controlled by nervous system
• The nervous system takes in information from the environment
• The nervous system sends a message to the body in response to the environmental input which creates the body scheme in gravity(spinal alignment and posture)
• The 3 mechanisms that control this are
1. Eyes(ocular system)
2. Inner ears (vestibular system)
3. Body (somatosensory system)
• By using appropriate knowledge of body pivot points weight can be added to the head, body, and hips to alter mass (how heavy something is in gravity) of these regions
• The body responds to changes in mass by altering its output to the tonic antigravity muscles
• This process of changing body scheme via re-acting to mass change is extremely effective at reducing and stabilizing scoliosis
• Because it is subconscious it is done automatically by the brain and becomes a permanent change
• The earlier we start a 3-D auto correction program with the child the better the result will be.

Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT.

Scoliosis genetic and blood tests pave the way for early stage scoliosis intervention in the future.

The treatment of idiopathic scoliosis, particularly brace and surgical treatment, has been controversial. It has been difficult to determine which patients were going to progress, and who would benefit from conservative treatment (scoliosis exercise, bracing, etc.) or "require" surgery.

Genetic testing now available, that will help answer some of the questions. An analysis of 53 DNA markers associated with scoliosis has allowed determination of three specific groups of patients: no risk for progression, moderate risk, and those that will progress to 45 degrees or more and probably require surgery. When this testing is available, it may change the entire paradigm of management of scoliosis. Those that will not require treatment will need to be followed only periodically for confirmation. Those that are in-between will still require periodic evaluation and may benefit by conservative methods of treatment, such as physical therapy and bracing. Those in the high risk category for curve progression, may have earlier surgical intervention involving fusionless techniques.

This will make the application of growth modulation techniques, such as, vertebral body stapling, more applicable. This may be effective in controlling curve progression until skeletal maturity, at which time the staples could be removed or perhaps even left in place. As a consequence, spinal mobility will not have been affected but curve progression will have been prevented. Further refinement of genetic testing may ultimately identify those patients who will benefit by physical therapy or bracing, so that these treatments can be begun at the earliest possible stage to maximize their effectiveness.

The eagerly awaited scoliosis blood test which measures level of osteopontin (OPN) will hopefully we used in conjunction with the patient's genetic risk analysis and can be used to determine how effective a conservative treatment approach may be for any given patient before they fail therapeutic trial.

Scoliosis is a condition with both genetic and environmental components (Nature vs. Nurture).  Any basic algebra student can tell you that an equation with 2 unknown variables can't be solved and this is why trying to figure out which patients needed which treatments was almost impossible to do with any amount of accuracy. Until now, the Scoliscore test can provide us with the necessary genetic part of the equation and we can now focus on elimination of the environmental aspects of the condition (since altering the genetic component is currently impossible).....this means we can actually start working towards a cure through early stage intervention and elimination of environmental factors.

Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT.

General Douglas MacArthur beat Scoliosis without bracing or surgery!

Never, Never, Never give up.

Douglas MacArthur: No Greater Honor. Pages 25-33

"He had the grades to qualify for enterance to West Point, but when he went for his preliminary physical examination, he recieved shocking news. The doctor informed MacArthur that he had curvature of the spine and was medically unfit to enter West Point.

Douglas was flabbergasted by the news; after all his sports record was excellent. He hardly knew what to think about his future; but his mother knew just what to do- a medical problem would not keep her son out of West Point, not if there was a way to cure it. She encouraged Douglus not to give up and made an appointment for him to see Dr. Franz Pfister, a well respected surgeon in Milwakee, Wisconsin.

Dr. Pfister told Douglas there was a possibility he could cure his spinal problem, as long as Douglas was prepared to do special scoliosis exercises everyday and follow all of his instructions for one year. Douglas jumped at the opportunity and made plans to move to Milwakee......By 1897 Douglas and his mother were living in the Plankinton house and the rehabilitation on the spinal condition had begun. Douglas worked with Dr. Pfister eveyday. Stretching and twisting his back muscles and lifting heavy weights......Even when his muscles ached and his back felt like it could not stretch another inch, he kept up his daily exercise program......

(following his 2nd medical enterance exam into West Point) The doctor who conducted the exam saw that while he made great improvement, Douglas' spine still wasn't straight enough to pass. At first he was angery his back was not straight enough, especially since he had worked so hard and done everything Dr. Pfister told him to. But, as he walked he calmed down and asked himself what he wanted to do with his life.

Somehow he remained sure his destiny laid with becoming an officer in the Army. "So I didn't make it this year" Douglas told himself, "but the good news is the exercises are working and my back is getting straighter. If I work twice as hard this next year, I bet I can get into the next class." (at West Point)

Once again Douglas through himself into Dr. Pfister's exerise regime......In May of 1899 he passed his physical exam into West Point. It had taken two years longer than he would have liked, but that didn't matter now, because he was accepted into West point"

Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT.

Fundemental flaws in Scoliosis treatment ~ Exercise/Rehab treatment

Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT ASAP.

Now that genetic pre-disposition testing for scoliosis progression risk is available; An Early Stage Intervention Program has also been developed to provide scoliosis patients a non-bracing, non-surgical treatment option that allows them to take immediate action in the prevention of the next stage of the standard treatment process (spinal bracing or scoliosis fusion surgery).

While it is not the intention of CLEAR Institute to condemn the efforts of sincere and caring medical professionals who have dedicated their lives to helping individuals with scoliosis. We would, however, like to add to the current list of options; to educate those who are personally involved with scoliosis about what the research says; and, to empower these individuals to make their own decision regarding their own spine, and their own life.

The three medically-sanctioned methods of scoliosis treatment - observation, bracing, and surgery - have been around for decades. A great deal of research has been done on the risks & benefits of each option. However, the general conclusion of this research suggests that a new paradigm is desperately needed as there are many conflicts and inadequacies present in the current model.

Observation Only or the “watch & wait” stage
Once an individual has been diagnosed with scoliosis, no treatment is initially prescribed, and no action is immediately taken, until the Cobb angle has progressed to 25 degrees (which is an arbitrary figure. There is no clinical significance to this number). At this point, bracing is typically prescribed. This period, which is termed "watch & wait," consists only of regular visits to an orthopedic surgeon, where full-spine x-rays are taken consistently to gauge the progress of the patient's condition.

Spinal brace treatment (Generally recommended for curvatures 25 degrees and larger)
If there ever was a time when a patient could benefit most greatly from chiropractic, therapeutic exercise, or non-surgical intervention, it would undoubtedly be during the mild stages of the disease - before the muscles & tissues of the body have been deformed by months or even years of compensating for the abnormal twisting & bending of the spine.
Bracing dates back to approximately 650 AD, when Paul of Aegina suggested bandaging scoliosis patients with wooden strips. The first metal brace was developed by Ambroise Pare in the 16th century. Today, there is a bewildering assortment of braces in use, ranging from the venerable and bulky Milwaukee brace, to the traditional TLSO (thoraco-lumbar-sacral orthosis) braces such as the Boston and the Wilmington brace. There are "part-time" braces, designed to be worn at night: the Providence brace, and the Charleston brace. There are also "dynamic corrective braces" which may use soft, elastic materials and claim to be able to do more than simply stabilize the progression of scoliosis. An example of a dynamic corrective brace would be the SpineCor brace, developed at the Sainte-Justine Hospital in 1992, or the Copes brace, developed by Arthur Copes to be used in conjunction with his STARS (Scoliosis Treatment Advanced Recovery System) rehabilitation protocol.
This dizzying variety is further complicated by the fact that not every doctor prescribes the braces to be used in the same manner, and not every patient may follow their doctor's recommendations to the same extent. As a result, research is often conflicting (to say the least) in regard to the true effectiveness of bracing in scoliosis treatment. Some studies have shown very little difference between patients who wore the brace for the prescribed time, and those who wore it barely, if at all. Others have demonstrated patients who have been successfully stabilized for years by wearing a bracing constantly; yet, there are also studies on patients who wore the brace for 23 hours out of every day, seven days a week, and continued to worsen. In every case, all corrective benefit is lost very quickly once the patient stops wearing the brace, and the general consensus is that bracing may prove helpful for some, but not for others.

Spinal fusion surgery (Generally recommended of curvatures 40 degrees and larger)
Those patients for whom bracing fails to prevent the progression of their scoliosis are left with only one option: surgery. Those who are confronted with this choice may be told that having a metal rod fused to their spine will not impair their daily activities, and will reduce the rib arch & improve their cosmetic appearance. However, research has consistently shown that surgery - which primarily focuses upon the sideways bending, and does little to address the rotation of the spine (and hence the rib protrusion) - will actually cause the rib arch to worsen (Chen 2002, Goldberg 2003, Hill 2002, Pratt 2001, Weatherly 1980, Wood 1991, Wood 1997).

Spinal surgery, like most highly-invasive procedures, carries with it the ever-present risk of death. Although mortality rates of less than one percent are claimed, no surgeon can completely eliminate this possibility. There is also the danger of neurological damage, resulting in the loss of sensation or motor function to the arms & legs (paraplegia or quadraplegia). This has become a greater concern in recent years, as surgeons strive for greater corrections in their patients, and place more stress upon the nerves running through the spinal column.

The rate of hardware failure is virtually 100% over the course of a normal lifetime. It may occur immediately after the surgery or several years later, but one or more components of the hardware placed inside the body is highly likely to fail or break. The author of one study stated, "One would expect that if the patient lives long enough, rod breakage will be a virtual certainty". Another study found that amongst seventy-four patients who underwent the surgery, pseudoarthrosis (failed fusion) occurred in 27% of patients within a few years after the procedure.

The truth of the matter is that scoliosis is an abnormality of the spine which involves much more than merely a sideways curve. Yet the "effectiveness" of surgery is measured only by the degree to which it can reduce the lateral deviation through the application of brute force, and a fused spine is every bit as abnormal and dysfunctional as a scoliotic spine.

We can alter the natural course of this disease by identifying which patients are at the highest risk for severe progression via genetic testing (Scoliscore) and by implementing an aggressive, non-invasive Early Stage Scoliosis Intervention program that re-trains the brains involuntary postural controls centers before the spinal curvature reaches the 30 degree "buckling" point.

Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT ASAP.

A wise man once said, "when in doubt, do something, because doing something isn't doing nothing, which isn't doing something......it's just doing nothing."

Quote from the NSF website.

"The data collected by orthopedists shows that without any form of treatment, 4 out of 5 minor curvatures will not progress beyond 20 degrees. For this reason, orthopedists no longer treat such minor curvatures but they do recommend periodic observation, especially in growing children."

Kind of sucks to be part of that 20% of patients whom the orthos are willing to throw under the bus huh? Anyway, the advent of genetic testing indicates that 25% (not 20%) of patient's diagnosed with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) are pre-disposed to developing a severe curvature (>40*).....Which isn't to say that the other 75* of geneticly low risk patients can't or won't still experience significant curve progression that often leads to moderate to severe impact on their quality of life in adulthood.

Adult Scoliosis: A health assessment analysis by SF-36
SPINE 2003; 28(6): 602-606

"adult scoliosis patients with spinal curves 10 degree or greater scored significantly lower in 7 out of 8 categories including physical functioning, general health, social functioning, and body pain when compared to the general population. In fact the researchers concluded "It is our conclusion that adult scoliosis is becoming a medical condition of significant impact, affecting the fastest growing segment of our society to a previously unrecognized degree."

38,000 spinal fusion surgeries (many of which with terrible long-term outcomes) are being performed and 30,000 children are being needlessly stuffed into braces (which often cause life long self esteem, depression, and other psychological disorders in addition to being generally ineffective) each year, because the conventional wisdom of yesterday has decided to take a 're-active' approach to treating rapidly progressing curvatures, rather than a 'pro-active' approach to stabilizing and reducing them BEFORE they become increasing, progressive curvatures.

Don't let a lifetime be defined by scoliosis. Be pro-active, be assertive, be informed, and when in doubt do something!!!

Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT ASAP.

I get many, many questions about what exercises are appropriate for patients with mild scoliosis (also called early stage scoliosis).  While their is no cut and dry type answer for every child with mild scoliosis on the planet, there are a few guidelines that can help in appropriate decision making.

One thing to remember is that scoliosis is the result of genetic AND environmental factors that combine to develop into the condition.  So, what are the environmental factors that should be avoided?  Well, no one knows for sure at this time but it is a safe bet  that significant spinal trauma should be avoided (duh, right?), but also activities that cause excessive compression on the spine (heavy weight lifting, trampolines, horse back riding) or activities that cause repetitive compressive shocks to the spine (like those produced by running on a hard surface for example).

Another possible key component could be "non-friendly scoliosis exercises" like repetative back bends that cause a flattening of the thoracic (mid back) spine.  This type of activity could help de-stabilize the spine's ability to deal with dorsal shear forces and cause an acceleration in the curvature.  This could explain why we see such significantly higher scoliosis rates in dancers.

Other possible "lifestyle" type activities should be avoided as well.  Stomach sleeping (sleeping on one's stomach) should be avoided due to the flattening of the thoracic curve (mentioned above) and sitting/standing in a slouched posture is never a good idea......for anyone.

There are literally thousands of environmental type things that can effect almost any size curvature and many of them we probably aren't even aware of yet, but a little common sense and some general guidelines may go a long way.

Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT ASAP.

Dis-coordination of the neuro-muscular system is probably the most important primary environmental factor contributing to the condition of scoliosis.  So it only makes sense that an scoliosis exercises / neuro-muscular rehab program would also be part of the primary treatment for the condition.  However, not all exercise will have the same effect on scoliosis.  For example, push-ups, sit ups, ect won't have any impact on the curvature.

     The rehab concepts behind how to go about doing this can be tricky. Mostly we are taking advantage in the advancements in anthropometry (yes it is an actual word meaning "the study of human body measurements") that can give us new and more accurate info in regards to the center mass points in the human body (Ex: the center mass of the head is located 4 mm anterior from the center of the sella tursica). Who cares right? Well, the center mass of an object acts as though it is the entire object (aka: the center mass of an object is it's balancing point), so the whole concept of early stage scoliosis may revolve around the body's inability to align the center mass of the upper torso (the head) and the lower torso (the pelvis) in relation to each other. Therefore, the spine connecting the two major center masses (head and pelvis) becomes crooked in order to connect the two. Bingo! Early stage scoliosis! The real trick is that center mass misalignment appears to be occurring in the side view (sagittal) and front view (coronal) plane at the same time (gotta think 3-D to understand this one).

It obviously takes more spine, spinal cord, muscle tissue (on one side of the curve), ect to travel a crooked line rather than a straight line and thus the adverse mechanical tension is created on the spine cord (kind of like an acquired spinal cord tethering) which results in an uncoupling of the spinal rotation patterns in the thoracic spine seen in curves 30 degrees or larger (that's what creates the rib humping). Keep in mind that while all this is happening, the center masses (head and pelvis) are getting further and further out of alignment, which is creating even more instability within the system and then the poor kid hits a growth spurt that adds another 10-20lbs of compression force on the spine. That system further collapses on itself and the curvature buckles even further to the side creating more adverse mechanical tension on the spinal cord, which in turn stimulates even more rotation into the concavity (rather than the biomechanically expected convexity) in order to allow the stressed out spinal cord to travel though the inside of the curvature instead of forcing it to travel the longer distance around the outside of the curve. Of course this increased rotation creates even more spinal torque and the curve coils down even further to continue reducing the total vertical distance it must travel (again, 3-D thinking required).

Now that we have outlined the mechanism, the problem can be solved through early intervention rehab that trains the involuntary reflex arches (righting reflexes) by manipulating (through the use of weighted hats and diving belts, not necessarliy adjustments) where the body perceives the center masses of the upper and lower torso (AKA: Head and pelvis). Then we have the patient perform neurologically challenging rehab at the same time we are creating the corrective stimulus with the head weighting and hip weighting.

     I know it sounds like a lot of complex stuff (and it is), but it works.....especially if we can implement this 3-D auto correction type treatment system during the early stages of the scoliosis condition (mild scoliosis).