Suffering From Scoliosis in Mobile AL?

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What are the Consequences of Scoliosis?

If scoliosis and its cause go unchecked it can lead to severe, long-term consequences. Scoliosis is associated with back, neck, shoulder, and buttocks pain. It can lead to re-occurring injuries and has been linked to sciatica. In severe cases, it can cause diminished lung and heart capacity, painful menstruation, and physical disability.

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How is Scoliosis Identified?

Parents, or someone close to the person with scoliosis, are often the first to notice, as the shoulders and pelvis no longer appear level. A physical examination will assess the gait and will use visual and manual examinations to assess the curvature of the spine. An Adams Position Test, which requires the patient to bend forward as far as possible, can indicate whether an issue is present or not. If a noticeable curvature is discovered an x-ray will be used to determine the extent of scoliosis.

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What are the Different Types of Scoliosis?

What causes the scoliosis that a patient might have is due to many factors. Fortunately, chiropractic treatment has a means to help one way or the other. Scoliosis can be classified as Idiopathic, which means from an unknown cause and most common, Congenital (born with a spinal malformation), and Neuromuscular, which is due to nerve and muscle disorders such as cerebral palsy. Other types, and one that typically begins during adulthood from joint deterioration is known as Degenerative, as well as types that are classified by age like Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS).

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Idiopathic Scoliosis and Chiropractic Care

Idiopathic scoliosis is characterized by a sideways “S” or “C” curve, and genetics can play a role, especially in adolescents during a growth spurt. Findings could be uneven shoulders, hips, sacroiliac joints, even shoulder blades, with treatment not necessarily trying to dramatically change the curve, but to understand what needs to be done to help the person have better function, and movement without pain.

Diagnosis and treatment may indicate a positive Adam’s Forward Bend Test, and/or simply to take x-rays to initially measure what the Cobb Angle may be.

Monitoring includes for every patient to check at least once a year, and potential increase in any mild curves (under 20-25 degrees). Those having a more moderate curve (around 25-45 degrees) typically receive the same type of treatment as those with a mild curve with that being to help the function at the vertebral levels having pain until it is pain-free again.

Even when spinal curves reach severe levels like over 45 degrees, the risk of failed surgery is very high. It is not infrequent to see a patient seek treatment due to failure from a surgery previously done that has resulted in worsening pain, deformity, or increased instability persisting or recurring. Issues like implant failure causing broken rods, poor and incomplete fusion causing a pseudoarthrosis (fake joint), infection, nerve damage, or more severe spinal imbalances are some of the dangers of surgery.

Again, chiropractic care can address most issues that bring a patient into the office, that being pain. Usually, if we address subluxated and foundational segments that aren’t working in conjunction with other segments the patient not only feels better but has increased function which leads to better healing.

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Congenital Scoliosis Occurs from Faulty Embryologic Development Causing Skeletal Malformation

The typical patient that comes in for treatment usually is not coming in for congenital scoliosis treatment, at least not in the beginning. Most of the time someone will come in with a new pain condition in their spine, and most of the time the patient doesn’t even know they have scoliosis.

This form of scoliosis usually causes a condition where the spine curves due to errors in vertebral development during early fetal life, around weeks 5-8, and involves either failure of formation (missing/malformed bone segments like hemivertebrae, or failure of segmentation (fused vertebrae), creating asymmetrical growth that leads to spinal curvature as the child grows. These defects disrupt normal spinal segmentation from somites, causing instability, and often occur with other organ system issues (kidney, heart) because they develop simultaneously from the mesoderm.

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Chiropractic: Few Limitations and Fewer Considerations

There is no cure for scoliosis coming from congenital means, although idiopathic forms can often be corrected, at least to a degree, with better function and use along with a reduction in pain. When a patient has congenital scoliosis and is concerned about the underlying structural curves, chiropractic treatment is given not to necessarily correcting curve angles, but instead to improve the function of the area around the vertebrae that is involved.

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Chiropractic care for Scoliosis

A professional chiropractor is trained to complete a thorough examination that will determine the presence of scoliosis. Once the issue is identified, the chiropractor will perform a full health history to identify any factors that could be contributing to the presence of scoliosis. This assessment helps to determine the appropriate care for the particular case.

Chiropractic care in Mobile AL is a gentle and conservative approach to relief that can prevent, slow, and stop the progression of scoliosis. A chiropractor will likely perform specific spinal adjustments to reverse the body’s compensations and assist in the restoration process. If you are looking for a safe, non-invasive approach to relieving scoliosis, chiropractic medicine has your back.