Reversal of childhood idiopathic scoliosis in an adult, without surgery

[flerc]

http://www.scoliosisjournal.com/content/4/1/27

[rohrer01]

Very interesting article. However, in my opinion, the title is very misleading. Anyone who has been reading this forum for any length of time knows that Martha Hawes has improved her scoliosis through exercise, something that is very rare in the scoliosis world. The title of the article says "Reversal of Childhood Idiopathis Scoliosis in an Adult, Without Surgery". To me, this implies that the scoliosis has resolved. As can be clearly seen in the article, this is not the case. There was >10* improvement, not complete reversal.

I had a "reversal", if you want to call it that when I was 17 years old. My "reversal" was by 3* and it held for several years. I had to maintain a strict exercise routine and cervical traction to hold that 3* correction. Hardly what I would call a normal life. Even now, I do exercises, but it has failed to hold my curve. These curves seem to have a life of their own. It is very frustrating.

I thank you, flerc, for posting this for all those people out there willing to try any and all non-surgical methods. One must remember, though, that they must be willing to give up a "normal" life to live this way. Then there are no guarantees. I speak from experience. I HATE my scoliosis. It has robbed me from having a normal life. It has caused me to be exposed to enormous amounts of x-rays, it has contributed to multiple miscarriages (due to the drugs to control pain), it has made things difficult for my family, and I live with daily pain. Sorry, I'm venting again. I didn't mean to hijack your post to vent. Sorry, flerc. It really was an informative article. It just seems that the reality of the situation is that even if these methods DO work, a person is still robbed of living a "normal" life.

[mamamax]

http://www.scoliosisjournal.com/content/4/1/27

Good post flerc ... I study her :-) Her book is available in the NSF bookstore. To date she has reduced two curves by 50% or, matched surgical expectations for her individual case. She publishes every 4 years on this - will be interesting to see what 2014 brings. Think the book is available in Spanish also. Did you purchase the book? The upside so far, is that she shows it can be done - the downside, we are not exactly sure how - given the many methods she used. It seems focusing on chest wall expansion, helped her a lot. And currently she devotes about 30-45 minutes a day to exercise that she feels will help her, based on a lot of her own research.

Edited to correct next year of publishing

[rohrer01]

I will start off with the fact that I know nothing about the types of curve Martha Hawes has. So my question is, do certain curve types respond better to exercise and/or bracing? How could one even begin to speculate that her routine would help them at all? And like you, Maxene, the Spinecor brace has been such a blessing for you. I wonder if it is your curve type? I'm hardly optimistic that ANYTHING will help my upper thoracic curve, even surgery, as I'm afraid the hardware will cause just as much pain if not more than the scoliosis itself. But then again, during episodes when I can't breathe, I'm willing to try anything. That is if I could even move.

[Lorraine 1966]

Rohrer01, I too had an upper thoracic curve a bad one as I have written here before and honestly with hardware and all that I led a perfectly normal life until 13 years ago. Now my life isn't all that bad but it is overshadowed by pain and what I can and can't do. But as I was 15 time of op and 47 when things went haywire I had 32 years of absolute normalcy. Also I manage really ok now, just get a bit BLAH sometimes.

The thing is though everyone is different, and we all react differently to operations and it is a very personal choice.

You know I wish you all the best, you are way up there in the nicety department.

Best to you
Lorraine.xx

[rohrer01]

Well, I've at least added exercise to my diet of drugs. I also bought a massager that can reach under my shoulder blades and really get into those muscle spasms, although it seemed to cause more pain when I was done...??? I probably should invest in a Martha Hawes book or something like it. The worst that could happen is that my curves could progress, which is taking place as we speak anyway. Thanks for the compliment. It means a lot.

[flerc]

Mamamax, I'm trying to get this book, it seems to be difficult for me.

Roher01, did you try with Mackenzei people? http://www.slideshare.net/lavosky/Po...oliosis-747965 I don't know this page, but seems to be a really serious method. Here are, in spanish, but a great explanation: http://www.efisioterapia.net/descarg...o-mckenzie.pdf
I really think you should to try with this.

[rohrer01]

I'm having trouble opening anything. My computer got a really nasty virus and some malicious malware. I removed it all, but I think it damaged my computer and now I'm having serious connection problems. Flerc, I really wish the language barrier weren't there. I've thought about learning Spanish. My children are 1/8 Spanish and started speaking it when they were toddlers, but my ex-mother-in-law quit talking to them in Spanish for some reason. I was learning as they were, but it's still hard for me to decipher, especially medical things. I'm still unable to load the link you posted. I'll try again later, but thanks a bunch!

[mamamax]

I will start off with the fact that I know nothing about the types of curve Martha Hawes has. So my question is, do certain curve types respond better to exercise and/or bracing? How could one even begin to speculate that her routine would help them at all? And like you, Maxene, the Spinecor brace has been such a blessing for you. I wonder if it is your curve type? I'm hardly optimistic that ANYTHING will help my upper thoracic curve, even surgery, as I'm afraid the hardware will cause just as much pain if not more than the scoliosis itself. But then again, during episodes when I can't breathe, I'm willing to try anything. That is if I could even move.

Do certain curve types respond better to exercise and/or bracing? That is the million dollar question! I think all curve types respond - and maybe respond better when young - and respond best when using the best bracing for curvature type. Just my opinion. Hopefully the brAist study will help answer some of these questions.

But then Martha enters the scene and does "exercise" with out bracing, as an adult & responds to match surgical expectations for her age and curvature pattern. So - it can be done - but even she will not publish a "how to" because curvature types vary so greatly. In her case, working on chest wall expansion to better her breathing had some unexpected results.

Schroth has taken these various curvature types into account for decades - and the most recent generation with Hans Weiss (orthopedic surgeon) puts a lot of focus on bracing the young, along with exercise that is really rehabilitative (PT) in nature - typically only PT for adults but sometimes bracing and PT with adults when pain is a great issue. And PT for post surgical patients in some circumstances, when pain is an unresolved issue.

His newest Best Practice Method (based on 3 generations of Schroth with his own vision), is something I would really like to do. Unfortunately it is so new that even while it is made (it seems to me) for use in physical therapy departments, it has not been implemented in US PT departments yet.

Adult bracing is something rather new in the US - I can say it brought me through a truly difficult time (right thoracic/left thoracolumbar), I cannot say who else it may or may not help. A decision for patient, medical doctor, and brace provider. Adult bracing seems more prevalent in other countries like Germany. Certainly, there are times when surgery is necessary and the newest instrumentation and methods makes the surgery of today far more successful than in decades past. I don't know if that is your case or not - but whatever your medical decisions are in the future, I am wishing you all the best of success!

[mamamax]

Mamamax, I'm trying to get this book, it seems to be difficult for me.

It is not even available at the US amazon.com! I think you're best option at this point is to contact NSF - they sell it in their bookstore. Outside of that I can only suggest writing the author herself.

[Carly's Mom]

My daughters scoliosis curve has decreased with exercise. She also wears the Spinecor Brace. both working together to improve her spine. She is doing so much better than years ago.