Frequently Asked Questions About

Scoliosis - Part 2

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Continued from: Frequently Asked Questions About Scoliosis - Part 1

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

Based on your email, have other people been able to correct their scoliosis through alternative therapies? If so, what has worked for them?

I have gotten a number of emails from people who claim to have corrected, or at least improved, their scoliosis through means other than bracing or surgery. The most common alternative treatments that people write to me about that actually improve their curves (not just reduce pain) are swimming, stretching and/or yoga. A few people have written to me to let me know they tried some of the books and tips recommended for scoliosis in my web site and they did find them helpful in actually reducing their curves. The book most often mentioned as being the most helpful was Back Care Basics : A Doctor's Gentle Program for Back and Neck Pain Relief by Mary Pullig Schatz. It's the only book I'm aware of currently in print that covers the role of yoga (or any type of exercise) for scoliosis in detail.

Here's a quote from the the book that I think makes a lot of sense and seemed true for me,"Just as the concave (inner) side of the lateral spinal curve can create pain due to collapse, the convex (outer) aspect of this curve can be painful because of overstretching or compression in the area.....it is possible to change movement habits and avoid pain."

Based on my email, massage therapy and chiropractic care are often mentioned as being helpful for pain, but are usually not mentioned as being helpful for actually reducing curves. This squares with the survey results of scoliosis sufferers in the book Backache Relief. The authors of the Backache Relief book note that their survey results showed that chiropractic manipulation helps in the short run, but the only therapy (surgery excluded) that their scoliosis respondents reported to help in the long run was exercise therapy.

In general, there are two kind of letters I get from people regarding scoliosis treatment. The first is from people who have obviously read through and poured over all of the scoliosis pages in my site, looked over what worked for me, and bought a bunch of the books (or borrowed them from the library or bought them used if they are on a tight budget), looked at other people's sites on scoliosis and tried some of their suggestions, consulted a yoga teacher, asked their doctors for a bone density test, changed their diets around, tried trigger point therapy, and so on. Some of these people write to me to report very good results and unfortunately some do not, despite their best efforts.

Then there are the second kind of letters that I get that are from people who maybe read over one or two pages in my site and then ask "Can you help me?" or "Where can I find a doctor to help me?" Or, they are spending a lot of money on chiropractic care and / or other treatments that I personally did not find helpful.

This second group invariably never mentions having tried or even read a book about yoga, the main treatment that helped me, they have not tried even one other single treatment I note in my site that worked really well for me, they usually have not read any of the recommended books, they haven't had a bone density test, they have not had nutrition testing, and they have not changed their diets or posture, they are doing things like weight lifting or other strenuous sports, factors which I point out elsewhere in my site made my scoliosis much worse.

If you are in the first group, then good for you. I wish you much success. If you are in the second group, then to be honest I'm not sure what more I could tell you other than to read, or reread as needed, what is already written up in my site, and check out some of the recommended books. They are full of information above and beyond what I can include in this web site.

Yoga and other alternative treatments helped me tremendously, however, I can't guarantee that yoga or anything else in my site will help other people with scoliosis. Based on my email, alternative treatments seem to help some people with just the pain aspect of scoliosis, some people report both less pain and a actual reduction in curves, and some report no improvement at all despite all their efforts. However, I've never had an email from somebody saying that their scoliosis improved from doing absolutely nothing. Based on my email, untreated spinal curves either stay the same at best, and at worst, increase over time.

The main treatment that helped my scoliosis was yoga. The yoga and other exercise books that helped me are written up in my section on Exercises and Stretches for Scoliosis. The main book that helped me was a yoga book called: Back Care Basics : A Doctor's Gentle Program for Back and Neck Pain Relief

I have also been getting feedback from a few people with scoliosis who reviewed my website and asked their doctors for bone density tests. So far I've had a number of people write to me about this, and all but one of those who wrote did turn out to have some kind of bone density problem. Of course they were really glad to have that uncovered so they could begin a treatment program.

For information on other people besides myself who have treated their own, or their child's scoliosis, without bracing or surgery, see the following pages:

Scoliosis in Children - a father's email to me (reprinted with permission) about the many nonsurgical treatments options he is pursuing for his son.

Book Excerpt - book excerpt from "Scoliosis and the Human Spine", written by a research professor who reduced her own spinal curves by 40% without bracing or surgery.

Scoliosis Brace - a reader letter (reprinted with permission) on why one mother chose alternative treatments over a brace for her daughter with spinal curvature.

You may also want to check out my page on scoliosis surgery for more information on that subject.

What advice can you give me for scoliosis treatments for myself or for scoliosis in children? What should we do?

Sorry, but I can't give people specific advice on what they should do for scoliosis treatments for themselves or for scoliosis in children. Please keep in mind that I'm a programmer with scoliosis who put up a website, not a scoliosis expert or any kind of medical person. All I can tell you is what I found out from my research and what helped my scoliosis, and all of that is written up in my sections on Scoliosis and Exercises and Tips for Scoliosis. I don't know if the treatments that helped me will help everyone with scoliosis, but perhaps what helped me may give you some treatment options to consider and review with your health care provider.

What scoliosis treatment programs do you recommend?

I have never tried any specific scoliosis treatment programs (other than physical therapy and yoga), so I have no knowledge of how much they help people. I found that yoga and physical therapy, but only with the right physical therapist, helped a lot. Physical therapy from standard PTs who used canned sets of exercises, instead of tailoring a program to my specific body alignment problems, just made me worse.

What do you think of chiropractic treatment for scoliosis?

Regarding chiropractors in general (not ones using the Copes program which is very unique) for scoliosis treatment, in my personal experience, none of the chiropractors I went to helped me at all with my scoliosis and one of them made me much worse with his massage therapy and adjustments. One chiropractor wanted me to sign a waiver saying it was okay if I died or he broke my neck during his "manipulations"! I politely informed him that I was there for simple back and neck pain, and, unreasonable as it may seem to him, I felt it really wasn't okay if he killed me or broke my neck in the course of my treatment. (Click here for an article that covers both sides of the issue on strokes and chiropractic care.) I was also a bit wary of the expense with chiropractors and the fact that so many of their treatments have you go back so often and cost so much.

The physical therapist who ended up helping me with my scoliosis really stressed teaching me things I could learn to do for myself - like setting up my computer work station correctly, acupressure, posture training and exercises, rather than modalities that would have me be dependent upon seeing him three times a week for an endless period of time. (Plus, he didn't ask me to sign any waiver warning me that he might break my neck.)

As such, I'm not too sure about going to a chiropractor again myself or my children. But I do have several different friends who swear by their chiropractors. This includes two people with scoliosis, and they are very happy with their treatments. So what worked and didn't work for me may not be the right solution for other people. A lot of the outsome probably also depends upon the expertise of the individual chiropractor.

What do you think of the Copes program (a scoliosis treatment program invented by a chiropractor that uses a variety of techniques for scoliosis treatment including bracing, exercise and nutritional therapy)

I don't know enough about the Copes or any other scoliosis treatment program to have an opinion of them. I've been to a few chiropractors for my scoliosis, though I never specifically tried the Copes program. The feedback I've heard about the program has been really mixed.

The Scoliosis World website has some reader polls on the Copes program and on chiropractors in general. Their polls ask their readers if they have tried these types of treatments for scoliosis and what results, if any, they achieved. The last time I checked, about 70% of the respondents reported that the Copes program didn't help them at all, with about one third reporting some improvement. (If you do look at the Scoliosis World surveys, keep in mind that since the respondents are anonymous, there could be voting in there by chiropractors or surgeons or others trying to skew the results. However, I'm not aware of any tightly controlled scientific surveys on the subjects, so the Scoliosis World surveys, while not perfect, are the only available data I know about.

Can you recommend a medical doctor who shares your view of scoliosis?

No, I don't know of any medical doctors who share my view of scoliosis. However, I do have a section on Finding a Holistic Doctor, which you may find useful. In my experience, most conventional medical doctors dismiss even the possibility that nutrition may play a role in disorders like pectus excavatum or scoliosis, which is unfortunate. So if, like me, a root cause of your scoliosis may have been malabsorption problems leading to nutritional deficiencies causing weakened bones, then seeking the advice of a physician who specializes in alternative treatments such as nutrition or seeing a nutritionist may be something to consider. I've learned more about what's really wrong with me in a couple of years of seeing alternative e treatment providers care than I did in decades of conventional medical care.

Related link: Finding a doctor for fibromyalgia and connective tissue disorder symptoms.

It is interesting to note the study results on the polls on the www.scoliosis.world website. A large number of people with scoliosis report irritable bowel problems, wheat sensitivities and/or problems with dairy foods, suggesting a possible link between scoliosis and malabsorption. This would make sense, since scoliosis is also linked to osteoporosis, and malabsorption and food intolerances are established causes of osteopenia and osteoporosis.

What degree was your curve? How old were you when it developed? How old were you when started your exercise program to correct it? How much of the curve did you correct?

I've had mild levoscoliosis (scoliosis where the convex side is on the left) and pectus excavatum for as long as I can remember. The first time it showed up on an x-ray was when I was 17 and had a spinal x-ray for my pectus excavatum surgery.

I don't know the exact degree of my scoliosis curve, but since it was classified as mild, I believe this means it must have been 20 degrees or less. It was a "true" scoliosis, and not just a posture problem, as you could see the curve on different x-rays I've had throughout my life. It was enough of a curve where I had to have all of my suits tailored to fit me. One arm hung about two inches lower than the other and one hip was higher. Now that my body is straighter all of my old suits no longer fit, but I like to keep them in my closet as a reminder of what I've accomplished these last few years. I can buy clothes off the rack now, except sometimes I still have to have the arms lengthened.

I had my pectus excavatum pretty much corrected through surgery when I was 17. I corrected most of my levoscoliosis through diet changes, posture improvement, acupressure, yoga and physical therapy when I was around 40.

I still have a small 'S' curve in my neck and shoulders but I'm optimistic I can get that out eventually, but it is literally taking years to do it. (I'm 44 as of this writing.) However, I keep working with nutrition oriented doctors, watching my posture, improving my diet, doing my stretches, exercises and accupressure each day, and little by little I seem to be making progress. I figure my body was a muscular, spinal and neural tension mess for 40 years so it is not unreasonable to expect it to take several years to try to reverse the damage that occurred during the first 4 decades of my life.

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 connective tissue disorder 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 on interest:

Mitral Valve Prolapse

Pectus Excavatum

Marfan Syndrome

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

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