Melatonin may have helped my son's Scoliosis

[Dingo]

terrible sleeper

hope404

Just a side note..my daughter (who has the scoliosis) is the only one of our 6 member family with terrible sleep issues. Very restless sleep...talks in her sleep...wakes up super early... can't fall back asleep..blah..blah. Has had these issues since childhood.

That's interesting because my son had always been a very light sleeper until we darkened his room. Any noise or disturbance would wake him at night and every morning he'd come down the stairs upset. His emotions would run wild for 20 or 30 minutes each morning and many times he'd cry at the sight of his breakfast. This had been going on for years and nothing we tried helped. We grew to accept it as a quirk that he would eventually grow out of.

This disappeared when we darkened his room. Looking back I wonder why we never put his moodiness together with poor sleep but we didn't.

[MissEmmyF]

Question

After my son brushes his teeth he does 50 rotations with a stabliity ball. It looks just like this video except we don't do the chest press part. I stand behind him to make sure he stretches the same speed and distance in each direction. I put my hands up to block the ball if he goes too far. Then we sit down and stretch out for a couple of minutes like this. After that he gets into bed and I use a massager like this model on his back for about a minute. The whole thing takes less than 5 minutes and it loosens him up tremendously.

I've been very interested in reading about all these trunk rotational exercises/studies. I have a question; or maybe more of a thought really. I've been doing Schroth exercises for about 2 weeks now, and before each exercise is done, heavy emphasis is placed on "correcting your pelvis position" since it's the main base of your whole body. What I mean by this I have a left hip prominence. So, before I do any Schroth exercises, I do a few "adjustments" to get my pelvis into it's proper place (basically, I shift it over to the right and back). Then, once I actually do the exercises, my muscles are being trained to hold everything in the corrected position (with my pelvis in the correct location), etc.

Sooo, my question is, if you're just standing or sitting in a neutral position while doing these trunk rotational exercises, I'm wondering if you're just kind of strengthening the muscles overall or in general vs. retraining them to work in a more efficient manner while you're in a corrected position. Does that make sense?

[MissEmmyF]

Sooo, my question is, if you're just standing or sitting in a neutral position while doing these trunk rotational exercises, I'm wondering if you're just kind of strengthening the muscles overall or in general vs. retraining them to work in a more efficient manner while you're in a corrected position. Does that make sense?

Oh, and obviously, "neutral" when you have scoliosis is what our body has come to think is "neutral" from the natural compensation that occurs with scoliosis. It's not actually "neutral."

[Dingo]

Schroth

MissEmmyF

I'm wondering if you're just kind of strengthening the muscles overall or in general vs. retraining them to work in a more efficient manner while you're in a corrected position. Does that make sense?

If I understand you correctly yes. What Mooney and later studies found was very uncomplicated. Torso rotation strength training builds strength equally on both sides of the spine. This causes most curves to regress and only the most severe curves continue to progress. Mooney's concept is to work on both sides equally. I believe that Scroth encourages patients to focus on a particular side.

[MissEmmyF]

MissEmmyFMooney's concept is to work on both sides equally. I believe that Scroth encourages patients to focus on a particular side.

If you work on both sides equally, won't the side that's already strong become even stronger?

[Dingo]

It shouldn't

MissEmmyF

Strength training will produce the same level of strength on both sides. One side will not become stronger than the other.

For example:
Training start
50 pounds right turn rotation
30 pounds left turn rotation

4 months later
80 pounds right turn rotation
80 pounds left turn rotation

Your body has a natural potential and with progressive strength training you can ensure that you're doing the same work on both sides. This isn't possible with traditional exercise because your body will always favor a particular side. Morover your brain doesn't have a system to measure how much it's favoring a particular side.

[Ballet Mom]

Dingo,

It sounds like this blood test you mention, if it works, will be much better than a possible DNA test to detect scoliosis in children prior to their growth spurt. What a great innovation. It will surely be less expensive than a genetic test, may be more accurate, and sounds like it could actually revolutionize the way these kids are treated. What wonderful news that the test might be out this year. I wish it had come out a few years ago...

[Dingo]

Blood test

Ballet Mom

I agree, the blood test appears to be a significant advancement over the genetic test.

First it measures the way the nervous system responds to Melatonin. There are three main types of Scoliosis and each child will know which type he/she has. This test is performed only once.

Second the test measures the level of what I'm 99% sure is Calmodulin. This part of the test is given several times per year. If Calmodulin levels rise curve progression is imminent. If Calmodulin levels are low curve progression is unlikely. Bracing lowers the level of calmodulin in the blood stream. I find that pretty amazing. Doctors will be able to use this to test to determine if a brace is effective because a good brace should lower calmodulin. Previously doctors had to watch and wait to determine if a brace was effective.

I talked to a scientist involved in the project and he thought the test would be FDA approved this year. If you live in Montreal you can get the test free of charge before it's final approval.

[CAmomof2]

Our daughter is getting this test done at Montreal in August - we'll let you know what we find out!
S.

[christine2]

We are also considering doing the test but Dr Rivard is preety sure that my daughter's levels will be low because of how effective her brace has been. So it may not be worth if for us.