Treatment for Scoliosis

[sting]

Hi All

My daughter (22) has had scoliosis for a few years now. She isn't in pain but she has one hip slightly higher than the other. You wouldn't necessarily notice this unless you were studying her deportment. She is obviously conscious of this. She went to the physio department of our local hospital and was given a few exercises to do. I have sent her along to have some private physio (hydrotherapy). I would be interested to know what complementary therapy is best for this problem. I have had conflicting reports on chiropractic (is it good or bad) or is there a better treatment out there.

I do reiki on her back for comfort but that is not a cure.

Grateful for your comments lads and lasses.

Love

 

[Epona Willow]

Hiya Sue
As far as I am aware medically scoliosis cannot be cured but medical treatment can be given to prevent the curve worsening, if your daughters curve has reached its max and is not growing then you can maintain the comfort zone, my preference for this would be someone who practices advance massages techniques so that the muscles can be properly looked after and supported.

You probably have this already
http://www.sauk.org.uk/

Hugs to you
T
x

 

[katie.carmen]

Hi Sue and Tracy

I have a scoliosis and I was interested to see that link and read that if anyone tells you they can cure your scoliosis out they're basically fibbing! A therapist recently told me she could pretty much sort mine out and I was very sceptical about that claim. I've had chiropractic adjustments but they've mainly helped me with pain and inflammation around the sacrum. Maybe I'll take you up on the advanced massage techniques one day, T!

As you say Sue, a person with scoliosis can feel quite self conscious. I always feel that people are looking at my trouser legs because there's a bit of a difference in the lengths! I am also asked if I limp. However as I've got older it bothers me less. As long as I'm not in pain I don't worry too much about it.

 

[Adviser! :)]

Thanks for that Siobhan.

I, too, was never sure there was a cure for it, (except for surgery which would be very drastic) but as you say, my daughter doesn't suffer except if she has been on her feet for a long time. A good swim helps and she does some Pilates stretches which can help.

Thanks for your advice Siobhan and Tigerbee.

Love

 

[Marrrrry Jane]

Hello,

Ther emay be no "cure" for scoliosis, but there are definitly complementary that can help the problem. Ho wmuch improvement you get will of course depend on how long you had the problem and what it's cause is.

SUe, sorting out the imbalanced height of your daughter's hips will help for the scoliosis too. COmplementary therpies that I know from personal experience to help for such porblems are Shiatsu and Bowen Technique. They are much gentler than ostheopathic manipulations, because you don't force any bones back into place.
Alexander Technique would be anothe rthing to investigate: they deal with posture and the spine.

Hope this helps,

Artemis

 

[Liby iby]

hello there, i to have this condition, and have suffered with it badly all my life. there is no cure for it, except like you said the drastic operation. i go to a chiopractioner, and i find that this helps me, but it may not work for everyone. because of my curve, my muscles have to work extra hard to try to keep my spine in the right condition, so i find that massage is the BEST thing! its great! but then again that only helps the muscles not the curve itself.

at 22 the curve would of stopped, so your daughter shouldnt get worse. and i have heard that the alexander technique is good as well, as long as she doesnt push her spine to a limit that it wont take (do more harm than good).

dont know if i have been any help, but i know that i would do anything to get rid of the pain sometimes.

 

[YanksFan]

Artemis is right, I forgot to mention that I go to Alexander lessons regularly (I give my teacher reflex in exchange!) and this is probably why I'm feeling no ill effects from my curved spine. It makes you very aware of your posture in a good way and I can recommend it. If you look up Society of Alexander Technique Teachers (I think that's the exact name) on the web they will probably list practitioners in your area Sue.

 

[PeaniaThypepe]

Hi Periwinkle and all,

Since muscles are attached to the spine, you can see it as the spine pulling the muscles, or the other way round! Depends if you are a chiropractor or a massage person. As A shiatsu person, I see it as the Bladder/Kidney meridians being out of balance. When they get their energy "back to normal" again, then the curve of the spine will also get better.

Artemis

 

[There She GOes]

My daughter's scoliosis started at age 3. There is no "cure" for scoliosis, but it can be helped by means of plaster jackets/bracing.

This does not stop the curvature, but splints the back to help the spine to stay aligned.

Unfortunately, after 9 years of plaster jackets and braces, my daughters curve still got to 108 degrees (her thoracic spine had a 90 degree right angle!) and she needed to have her spine surgically corrected.

With such a bad curve, it was never going to be completely straightened, but she is now fused and has titanium rods from T2 to Pelvis, and her overall health is much improved. She still has the prominent ribs caused by the twisting though.

We tried all sorts of therapies to help, but none worked for her.

Just my input

Should just add that correcting her spine did through out her hips, and she now has dislocating hips - apparently a very common side effect!

 

[Band nerd]

I don't know much about scoliosis but has anyone seen this picture?
http://www.erikdalton.com/massagearticles.htm

Starlight

 

[Drive]

I would get an osteopathic opinion on this, but then I am biased, because I am one.

I have resisted posting on this thread, because of the member, that had been told that it was incurable and that her daughter had, had to have Harrington Rods inserted down her spine to reduce her scoliosis. This does sound like a severe case and at times needs must, etc, but it's heart breaking to hear all the same.

For small children - I would suggest a cranial osteopath, for those that are older, an osteopath that is adept in the fields of general, cranial & visceral osteopathy.

Just manipulating the spine to loosen off the joints, that may be the case with chiropractic treatment (as I understand it) may actually allow the scoliosis to worsen, if the underlying strain patterns are not dealt with.

I am not saying that this approach will 'cure all', but is likely to greatly help in most cases, even if there is some reduction in the severe cases (that may involve wedging of the vertebraae), then it will, just to a lesser degree.

Andrew.

 

[Terry the Klown]

I would definitely agree that this was a severe case, and certainly not the norm. I only wish I had known some of things that I know now back then - we certainly would have explored more avenues, but the Doctors were certainly not forthcoming in advising of alternatives or indeed, complementary therapies that may have helped her curvature (but that is another story!)

I probably should add that my daughter is mentally and physically disabled and wheelchair bound, so many of the exercises were not practical. Her Harrington Rods were an absolute necessity as her lung function was starting to be compromised by the curve, and the twisting also caused severe reflux due to stomach crushing and pressure.

k x

 

[b1rak]

Even with the rods in place, it may be that an osteopath that practices cranial & visceral osteopathy may be able to help. I trust that you're not expecting miracles, but it may make things more comfortable for your daughter.

So it may be worth phoning around local osteopathic practices and get them to phone you back to disuss the problem or see if you can go in for a chat to suss it out before booking anything. You'll have to bear in mind that they may be very busy, but a good osteopath would most likely be very interested to see if they can help. We usually relish a challenge of treating someone a bit more unique, over the usual, run of the mill simple low back & neck problems. [sm=scratchchin.gif]

When I was a student at the British School of Osteopathy in London I did a voluntary clinic in a school for kids with special needs. It wasn't something that you gained any credit for, but it was very fulfilling.

When I'm in a better financial position, then it would be nice to do something for local kids with such problems, but that seems a long way away at present. [&:]

Cheers for now - Andrew.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Now this IS interesting!

I have recently very successfully treated this with EFT and was surprised at the result, but what you say makes sense and joins the dots for me. Thank you.

 

[Priya <33]

Ishta spinal touch, bowen treatments or a visit to an osteopath may provide some relief, depending on her condition and how far advanced the scoliosis is, the results may be limited, but there may be some considerable relief from pain in many people. I hope she's able to find something which really works for her.