Category Archives: Scoliosis Treatment
We often speak to prospective patients who have tried other non-surgical exercise-based treatments for scoliosis to no avail. Below, we highlight salient differences between ScoliSMART and Schroth:
Established
ScoliSMART
Developed in the 2000s.
Schroth
Developed in the 1920s in Germany. Only recently introduced to practitioners in the United States.
According to data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), over 25 million American adults experience chronic pain – pain that occurs daily for at least three months. Some of the most common causes of chronic pain include arthritis, diabetic neuropathy, headache, post-surgical or post-trauma pain, and lower back pain.
After years of scoliosis treatment, 16-year-old Rachel Rabkin Peachman’s curves had stabilized and her spine had fully grown. At 45 degrees, she had narrowly escaped surgery. Her doctor told her she was done.
But she wasn’t.
“I’ve discovered in the years since that scoliosis is not something you endure and outgrow, like pimples and puberty. Now, at the ripe age of 38, I find myself with a 55-degree upper curve, a 33-degree lower curve, consistent pain — and no standard treatment to follow.”
One of the most common questions I get from parents and patients is how does the ScoliSMART Activity Suit compare to the Spine Corporation (SpineCor) Brace?
We shouldn’t simply compare, but rather contrast the differences!
The ScoliSMART Activity Suit is to the SpineCor Brace as apples are to oranges — they are different products, designed to do different things and yield different results. Perhaps the only thing they have in common is that both are used to treat patients with scoliosis — kids and adults.
Finding the right scoliosis treatment can be a long and frustrating journey. First you get the diagnosis and all the overwhelming emotions that come with it. Then you’re presented with the potential treatment options—usually bracing, surgery or “wait and see.” Finally there’s the endless digging, online or at the library, to find a better alternative.
We all remember the shock, horror, and complete disbelief of the tragic events that took place in the United States on September 11, 2001. Most of us simply couldn’t wrap our collective heads around the very idea or concept that people would hijack jet planes and convert them into 600 mph weapons of mass destruction. Immediately, fingers were pointed and blamed assigned to the various intelligence agencies whom missed opportunity after opportunity to prevent the attacks, yet failed to do so. Years later the “9/11 report” concluded the biggest failure with in the intelligence community was simply “a failure of imagination.” The intel analysists had simple become so complacent they couldn’t even imagine a “low tech” threat causing so much harm.
For most people, the rich foods that deck the holiday table represent impending weight gain and possibly gastric discomfort. For people with scoliosis, they represent something more—a potential worsening of scoliosis curves and pain.
While most doctors believe poor diet doesn’t cause scoliosis, research indicates that it’s a contributing factor. No one knows exactly what triggers the scoliosis genes. However, numerous studies have linked scoliosis progression to nutritional deficiencies, and strong evidence points to an interaction between poor nutrition and genetics.
Many people know someone who claims their joint pain can predict the weather. But is it true?
Although there’s not much scientific proof that changes in weather amplify chronic pain, some correlations have been found. Patients with joint pain—caused by rheumatoid arthritis, for example—often report that damp or cold weather intensifies their symptoms. One survey found that 67 percent of patients with osteoarthritis believe the weather heightens their pain. Another study of people with chronic joint pain found similar results.
For decades, bracing and spinal fusion have been the go-to treatments for scoliosis.
But as a growing body of research sheds new light on this complex condition, patients are increasingly turning their backs on these outdated practices—and seeking alternative therapies instead.
Massage, in particular, has gained attention for its ability to reduce the chronic back pain that’s sometimes associated with scoliosis. A skilled massage therapist “can use a combination of massage strokes, sustained pressure, positioning and stretches to help balance the muscles of the back and body” and temporarily alleviate scoliosis symptoms, says massage therapist Jeanne Troncao.
Adolescent scoliosis is one of those tricky conditions that can evade detection for a long time after it develops. Its subtle symptoms are often dismissed until a rapid growth phase causes the spine’s abnormal curve to suddenly worsen.
Even then, scoliosis can continue to fly under the radar while the curve progresses. In one study, patients with moderate to severe scoliosis went undiagnosed more than 10 percent of the time.