Frequently Asked Questions About

Scoliosis Treatments

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Dear Website Readers,

There are some common questions I see in the email I receive about scoliosis treatments, from my web page on diet and exercise factors in scoliosis. I've put many of the the frequently asked questions and my answers on this page. Please note that the questions below are general, composite type questions from different emails I've gotten over the last year or so on scoliosis and scoliosis treatments. (I don't print anyone's actual emails here or anywhere else on my site.)

Thanks,

Sandy Simmons

Also see my main section on Scoliosis and my complete index of all the scoliosis related pages.

Question: My doctor says that are no well done studies proving that exercise is of any benefit for scoliosis treatment.

I've noticed that many conventional medical scoliosis web sites used to say that exercise had no role in scoliosis treatment. After my web site and some others had been up awhile listing a fair number of studies showing positive benefits from exercise and/or posture therapy for scoliosis treatment, I've also noticed some of those other web sites have changed their stance a bit. Now they say that there are no "well done studies with a control group showing the benefits of exercise therapy for scoliosis." Then they go on to find study flaws in the exercise studies that have been done. This is interesting, because according to a U.S. Preventative Services Task Force report on scoliosis screening, there also have been few, if any, well done studies with a control group proving the efficacy of braces or surgery for scoliosis, either. As such, it is flawed logic to make the case that surgery and bracing are preferred treatments for scoliosis correction because exercise therapy lacks well done studies with a control group, when there have been few, if any, well done studies with a control group on surgery and bracing. If none of the treatments have proven results, then why not start out with the options that are the least cost, least risky and least invasive?

Part of the reason that there have been so few studies on exercise therapy for scoliosis is that all of the research resources for scoliosis seems to go into research studies on surgery or braces and not into preventative research or alternative treatments. Yoga teachers tend not to get a lot of research grants or get studies published in medical journals. Also, it simply isn't in the economic best interests of doctors who make a comfortable living off scoliosis braces and surgery to research anything but braces and surgery.

As such, the medical profession often has somewhat circular logic when it comes to scoliosis and exercise therapy research. They say there are no well done studies on exercise therapy and scoliosis, yet the very reason there aren't many studies on the subject is because the people who research scoliosis aren't interested in doing them.

I have scoliosis and a (40 - 70) degree curve. Will changing my diet and starting to exercise help my scoliosis and if so, how long will it take? I'm not sure if I should bother trying exercise treatments--my doctor says braces and surgery are the only proven treatments to correct my scoliosis.

I don't know if exercise will help your scoliosis, and if it does, how long it will take. Those curves are much more significant than the ones I had. Exercise did help my mild (under 20 degrees) scoliosis, and as noted in my main scoliosis page, there are a number of studies and anecdotal evidence that exercise has helped at least some other people with scoliosis, too.

Most of the things I did to try to help my scoliosis, such as having a bone density test, working with a doctor who understands nutrition, exercising and eating properly for strong bones, getting tested for nutritional deficiencies, seeing a physical therapist, maintaining good posture, practicing trigger point therapy and doing gentle yoga exercises to balance out my muscles are generally considered relatively low cost, low risk healthy things to do anyway, whether or not you have scoliosis.

I get a lot of people who write to me who want me to guarantee them that exercise will help their scoliosis before they try it. I can't give anyone that guarantee. However, I don't understand why so many people who email me are so hesitant to at least give exercise and diet changes a try before considering a higher cost, higher risk alternative like surgery. Surgery is not without it's risks. The mortality rates for scoliosis surgery are not zero. It's a serious operation, and if it were me making that decision, I would certainly weigh the risks versus the benefits of the surgery very carefully.

There are many people who are very happy they had surgery for scoliosis, and for some people it may be the only viable alternative. I've seen some pictures in my health books of people with severe scoliosis which included very deformed rib cages. At the point the people were at in these pictures, it seems unlikely to me that yoga or anything else short of surgery would really help them much. However, I've looked at many of the conventional medical websites on scoliosis surgery, and I don't feel that most of them go out of their way to convey to people the true risks involved in the surgery. So if it were me, I would very carefully discuss with my doctor the risks versus the benefits of surgery before I made any decision.

(For more information, see my page on Complications from Scoliosis Surgery.)

I would also find out the exact type of surgery planned and then check out any research studies specifically on that type of surgery.

While exercise and diet therapy for scoliosis may not have been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be a beneficial form of scoliosis treatment, they are certainly a lot less costly and a lot less risky than surgery. I've never heard of anyone dying or becoming paralyzed from eating healthy food, doing gentle yoga poses or practicing good posture.

I'm personally really interested in holistic heath care, as well as avoiding any surgeries unless absolutely necessary. Unless there was some urgent reason why he needed immediate surgery, if it were one of my sons who had scoliosis, I would at least give diet and exercise therapies a try first before considering a higher risk - higher cost alternative such as surgery. (One of my sons did start to develop a small curve in his back from a pulled muscle, and we think we nipped it the bud from becoming a permanent curve with immediate physical therapy. The therapy he had included getting him special padding for his chair at school that improves his posture and helps him sit more upright.)

If one of my sons did develop scoliosis, I would certainly print out and discuss with his doctor the study abstract in my website that recommends that children with scoliosis have bone density testing, along with all of the other studies linking osteoporosis in young adults with scoliosis. And if his doctor felt that bone density testing was unnecessary, I would expect him to justify his conclusions with some pretty good reasons why he felt it wasn't important, and why he felt he knew enough to override the perfectly logical seeming recommendation in the study.

If it was determined that my child had scoliosis due to weak bones, then I feel it would be it would be logical to pursue correcting his bone strength to improve his scoliosis as a first course of action.

What is your opinion of braces for scoliosis?

As far as bracing in general goes for for scoliosis, a1993 report by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force noted that, "Beyond temporary correction of curves, there is inadequate evidence that braces limit the natural progression of the disease." A 1984 study on scoliosis braces noted a "slight but nonsignificant (sic)" improvement in those who had been braced, "suggesting that bracing reduced the overall probability of progression in the braced curves." The study authors went on to report, "However, noting that nearly 75% of the control group curves were nonprogressive, it is possible that a similar proportion of the braced curves need not have been braced."

A 1995 study by the Scoliosis Research Society, conducted after the 1993 task force government report on scoliosis was written, did find bracing to be effective for scoliosis treatment. The SRS report is one of the few scoliosis bracing studies that included a control group, which is the gold standard to have a scientifically acceptable study. The SRS study may be a good one to order and read for anyone considering bracing for scoliosis treatment.

If you do order the study, keep in mind as you read it that the study was sponsored by the Scoliosis Research Society -- a trade group made up mostly of orthopedists who have a monetary interest in continuing to perform bracing as a major treatment option for scoliosis. I personally think it is always prudent to view studies like this, where the people funding the research stand to profit monetarily from the study findings, with a healthy dose of skepticism.

A 2001 paper from orthopedists in Ireland who did not use bracing as a technique noted that in their experience scoliosis braces did not reduce the proportion of children with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who required surgery for cosmetic improvement of their deformity. The Ireland doctors felt that bracing "could not be said to provide a meaningful advantage to the patient or the community." They noted that "Recent studies notwithstanding, the question of the efficacy of orthoses in idiopathic scoliosis remains unresolved." So do braces successfully treat scoliosis? I guess the answer depends a lot on who you ask, what their financial interests are and what their definition of a successful scoliosis treatment is.

The book that I found the most helpful for my scoliosis was:

Back Care Basics : A Doctor's Gentle Program for Back and Neck Pain Relief

Visit my home page and use my search feature and site map for more information on pectus excavatum, scoliosis, connective tissue disorders and related topics.  

Also see my main section on Scoliosis and my complete index of all the scoliosis related pages.

Related sections of interest:

Mitral Valve Prolapse

Marfan Syndrome

Pectus Excavatum

TMJ: Diet and Exercise Treatment - covers the many factors that played a role on my recovery from temporomandibular joint disorder pain.

Zinc - examines the potential links between zinc deficiency and scoliosis

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