Have alternative therapies shown effectiveness??

[rtremb]

Here is one link to some documents on fascia:

http://fascia2007.com/abstracts.php

This is the link to a short article about a conference held at Harvard Medical School (if I remember correctly Structural attended this?)

http://www.massagetoday.com/mpacms/m...b1e19a9db96cda

Will post more as I find them.

Ruth

[gerbo]

structural; apologies accepted

and just to get it clear; I am not "against SI" whatsoever, honestly and I think it is genuinly exciting that somebody is in a position to try it out and report back.

[jillw]

Stephanie, I can't remember what I have posted and which thread I have posted it on, but if I haven't already said it, I think you are wise to think about whether alternative therapies could help prevent your younger daughter from developing a curve...after all there is a family history given that her sister has it and she already has a rotation. Maybe (hopefully) she'll never develop scoliosis even if nothing is done. However, maybe taking action now can make the difference between her getting a large curve or not.

My approach (which is still evolving since we are also relatively new to this) is to try and figure out whether trying something can do harm - if not, I think we are likely to consider many of these alternate approaches (over time) as an adjunct. Of course if something doesn't harm, but doesn't help either you may have spent money and time that could have been applied elsewhere...but that's what we all have to balance when making decisions (and its a risk, within reason, my husband and are are able/prepared to take). Some things could actually be fun and informal (I've heard anecdotal stories that swimming -i.e. lap swimming - has helped some with minor curves), some could be free and not too time consuming (hanging from and playing on the monkey bars to provide a bit of "traction" which was mentioned in an article celia posted about a boy who seemed to have good results from certain activities). Others could be more formal like SI or physical therapy from someone with scoliosis experience ,etc. Good luck evaluating all the alternatives. If you do end up trying any of them, I would be very interested in hearing how it goes!

[rtremb]

My husband emailed me these links about Rolfing/Structural Integration:

http://www.massageandbodywork.com/Ar...scoliosis.html
http://www.somatics.de/ScoliosisFulg...isFulgenzi.htm
http://www.massageandbodywork.com/Ar...anagement.html

Ruth

[stephanieC]

Ruth and Jill,

Thank you for your ideas. I do intend to research SI and physical therapy. There is a guy locally( Holmdel, NJ) who has some type of certification in SI. I am going to call and see what he has to say. I do find that it may be out of my financial reach if my insurance won't cover any of it. I would not be able to pay $150 per hour/visit for any great length of time but, I will see what the man has to say.

Thanks
Stephanie

[stephanieC]

Ruth,

On one of your posts you said the SI treatments cost about $155.00 a pop. There are ten sessions. After the ten sessions is the idea that the correction would hold or that some type of maintenence would be required?? Is this something you learn to do with Esme at home?? Just trying to see if this route is even feasible for me to try.

Stephanie

[Karen Ocker]

I go to someone in Montclair,NJ who is also a PT. Sometimes insurance pays when done by a licensed PT. I am on Medicare so I pay privately.

[stephanieC]

Hi Karen,

the person you see in Montclair, NJ, is that a SI person or a PT person who specializes in soliosis?? Have you found it helpful?

Stephanie

[Karen Ocker]

This person is a SI as well as a PT. She does not specialize in scoliosis per-se. I go for scar issues and because my body had been deformed for so long.
Even though I had a revision 5 years ago it has helped me loosen up where I got tight over the years.
There is nothing she can do with the fused spine but I breathe a lot better and I am looser in the chest where they did the anterior surgery. I am not yet done with the 10 sessions. I suspect I might need a 'tune-up" on occasion due to my age a few times a year. SI is supposed to last. I also do my best to keep fit.
Though I cannot say for sure I suspect it might keep a child from tightening up; maybe Structural has ideas based on his experience. The key seems to be early intervention--looking at the child who has scoliosis in the family, looking for the contractures and then treating them.
I think about the Polish study where they found inherited "syndrome of contractures"(tightening of muscle/fascia) where early intervention reduced the onset of significant scoliosis needing surgery.
I personally would try it but I do not have experience with a child(my kids are adopted).

[stephanieC]

Thank you Karen,

I am planning on calling the SI person I found close to me. I am glad and encouraged to see that you and Ruth have found SI helpful. My curiosity is piqued!! ( lol, I have no idea how to spell that word )

Thanks!!
Stephanie

[rtremb]

We are expecting to have to do more than the "Rolfing 10 series" for Esme - which is what she is having now. Miranda told us that when we started.

I am not sure that I would want to try working on the fascia at home myself. Miranda has 20+ years experience and trained for two years full-time to learn how to do this. She has worked with lots of other people who have scoliosis. Given we believe the fascia is very powerful I'd be pretty concerned about not doing it correctly.

Anyway we will have to see how Esme's curves are at the end of the ten sessions and then decide whether there is a long-term benefit to the treatments and whether to continue. We really, really don't want Esme to have the surgery and she is so close to needing it we would continue the treatments if it just maintained her angles and her rotation at current levels.

It is possible that the treatments are less expensive elsewhere so please don't be put off from inquiring about it.

Ruth

[stephanieC]

Hi Ruth,

Thank you for the information!!(on the spine cor thread too!)

I see from your signature that Esme's curves are at the fusion stage. I pray that anything and everything you do helps your daughter and prevents her from needing fusion surgery.

I will be following your posts regarding Esme and praying for the best results!!

Stephanie