Treating Scoliosis Before Experiencing Scoliosis Progression

As a complex structural spinal condition affecting close to seven million people in the United States alone, scoliosis-awareness is key; it can lead to early detection. While there are no treatment guarantees, when scoliosis is diagnosed early and treated before it progresses, there are fewer limits to what can be achieved.

Scoliosis is progressive, meaning its very nature is to get worse over time, but when treatment is started prior to a patient experiencing progression, an interesting thing can happen; the condition’s progressive nature can be counteracted, and progression can be managed effectively.

The first step to receiving any type of scoliosis treatment is being officially diagnosed, so let’s start with the assessment/diagnostic process.

How is Scoliosis Diagnosed?

Scoliosis isn’t the only spinal condition that involves a loss of healthy spinal curves, but it does have some characteristics that set it apart from the rest, and can make it complex to treat.

Scoliosis involves the development of an unnatural lateral (side-to-side) spinal curve, but not only does a scoliotic spine bend unnaturally to the side, it also twists; it’s the rotational component that makes scoliosis a 3-dimensional condition, and in order to be treated effectively, it has to be addressed as such.

Scoliosis ranges widely in severity from mild to moderate and severe to very severe, and in addition, scoliosis is a progressive condition, meaning its nature is to get worse over time, particularly when severe and/or if left untreated.

A condition’s severity is determined by a patient’s Cobb angle; this is a measurement taken during X-ray, and in order to be considered a true scoliosis, an unnatural spinal curve has to be at least 10 degrees.

The higher the Cobb angle, the more severe the condition, and the more likely it is that its effects are going to be noticeable:

• Mild scoliosis: Cobb angle measurement of between 10 and 25 degrees
• Moderate scoliosis: Cobb angle measurement of between 25 and 40 degrees
• Severe scoliosis: Cobb angle measurement of 40+ degrees
• Very-severe scoliosis: Cobb angle measurement of 80+ degrees

The condition’s severity levels are also its progressive line, so even if a patient is diagnosed with mild scoliosis, that doesn’t indicate where it will stay.

Now that we understand the parameters that have to be met to reach a diagnosis of scoliosis, let’s talk about progression and what actually happens to the spine as it occurs.

Understanding Scoliosis Progression

When scoliosis is progressing, it’s becoming more severe, and this means the size of the scoliotic curve is increasing; the vertebrae (bones of the spine) at its apex are becoming more tilted, and as this occurs, a patient’s Cobb angle is increasing.

As a scoliotic curve gets larger and more severe, the spine gets increasingly rigid, and this can make it less responsive to chiropractic treatment; in addition, if following a conservative treatment approach, certain scoliosis-specific exercises are also a key facet of treatment, and patients who have experienced significant progression can be less able to perform these types of exercises.

While we don’t fully understand the etiology of scoliosis, we do understand what triggers it to progress: growth and development.

As growth spurts are what triggers scoliosis to get worse, patient age is an important factor when it comes to crafting a treatment plan.

So as progression occurs, the condition gets more complex to treat, not only because of how it affects the spine, but also how it affects the rest of the body.

Scoliosis introduces a lot of uneven forces to the body, and those uneven forces increase with progression; in children, the main symptom of scoliosis is postural deviation, and in adults, it’s pain.

Scoliosis doesn’t become a compressive condition until adulthood, and as it’s compression of the spine and its surrounding muscles and nerves that causes the majority of condition-related pain, children are less likely to experience back pain with their scoliosis, particularly when mild.

So as scoliosis progresses in children, it’s going to disrupt the body’s overall symmetry more and more, and this can involve:

• Uneven shoulders
• Uneven shoulder blades
• The development of a rib arch
• An uneven waistline
• Arms and legs that appear to hang at different lengths

Additional effects of scoliosis can include changes to gait, balance, coordination, and due to how the condition can disrupt posture, clothing can suddenly seem ill-fitting.

Scoliosis can also be associated with muscle imbalance, and this is due to the unnatural spinal curve pulling the spine’s surrounding muscles in different directions; muscles on one side of the spine can become tight and sore from overuse, while muscles on the opposite side can become weak from underuse.

As scoliosis progresses in adults, in addition to postural changes, as the scoliotic curve gets worse, so does compression, and the condition is likely to become more painful.

Additional complications that can accompany significant progression are digestive issues, headaches, sleep troubles, and lung impairment (more commonly associated with severe and very-severe scoliosis).

So we know what it means to say a person’s scoliosis is progressing, but what does that mean in terms of treatment, and when should scoliosis treatment be started?

When to Start Scoliosis Treatment

When to start scoliosis treatment is one of the most important decisions a patient can make, and what I want patients to fully understand is that there is more than one way to treat scoliosis.

While traditional treatment has been in place for many years and was the dominant choice for equally as many years, that has since changed with conservative chiropractic-centered treatment growing in popularity and efficacy.

We’ve talked about what happens to the spine and body as scoliosis progresses; its effects get more severe and noticeable, along with the risk of developing related complications.

So what would happen if a patient diagnosed with mild scoliosis started treatment before experiencing progression?

It’s far simpler to work proactively towards preventing progression than it is to attempt to reverse those effects once they’ve developed.

Here at the Scoliosis Reduction Center, I believe in the power of starting treatment before progression, and this is because the condition is going to be at its mildest, the spine is going to be at its most flexible and responsive to treatment, and condition effects are going to be mild, if noticeable at all.

Why not start treatment when it’s likely to be the most successful? For those on the path of traditional treatment, the response to a diagnosis of mild scoliosis is the opposite: watch and wait.

To me, watching and waiting to see if a progressive condition is going to progress is wasting valuable treatment time.

When I start treatment prior to progression, the spine and its surroundings can be strengthened, and this can help manage progression effectively, and when chiropractic care, physical therapy, corrective bracing and rehabilitation are integrated into a proactive treatment plan, corrective results can be achieved.

Conclusion

Regardless of patient age and condition severity, the best time to start scoliosis treatment is always now, and if progression hasn’t yet occurred, there are a number of treatment benefits.

Take my early-onset juvenile scoliosis patients between the ages of 3 and 10, for example; this is the age group I can make the biggest impact in, and this is because although these children are growing, they haven’t yet experienced their first pubescent growth spurt, meaning significant progression is unlikely to have occurred, and this means the spine is going to be more flexible and responsive to treatment, increasing the likelihood of treatment success.

Remember, although scoliosis is progressive, it can be highly treatable, particularly if diagnosed and treated early in a condition’s progressive line.

AUTHOR BIO:

Severe migraines led a young Dr. Tony Nalda to chiropractic care. After witnessing its transformative effects, he aimed to help others with natural approaches. With degrees in psychology and Chiropractic from Life University, he established a top chiropractic clinic in Celebration, Florida. Witnessing his patients’ struggles with scoliosis, he specialized in its care and earned a certification from CLEAR Institute in 2006, as well as many of the top scoliosis certifications in the world.