Clear Institute vs. Schroth Method

[MissEmmyF]

ha, ooops, still not too good at using this i guess! hope you can figure out my reply, sorry!

[hope404]

Complicated

I also just wanted to add....that I think what has been sadly missed in scoliosis therapy is a MULTI...DISCIPLINARY approach. Each medical professional has their expertise...more med. professionals need to start taking a look at this thing from its onset....early stages. We need more heads working on this thing...

[Dingo]

Balance board

MissEmmyF

how exactly are you supposed to use the balance board? just stand in the middle of it and try to balance while standing up straight without falling off? are you supposed to have your knees bent at all, etc.? what do you think is an adequate amount of time to use it over the period of a week (i.e. once a day for 15 min.)? seems like a cool idea for sure...would def. help to strengthen all core muscles! thanks.

The balance board is great because you can do it while you watch TV. It came with a DVD that contained a core exercise routine but in my son's case he is only 5 so we use it for simple balance practice. We use it in our kitchen/family room on a tile floor so I put a small exercise mat under it. Fixscoliosis is right about the exercise mat, it helps on a hard floor. Scott stands on it while he tries to keep it upright as long as he can. He looks sort of like this when he is on it. He usually watches a Spongebob cartoon while he uses it. We do it 15 minutes per day but he usually gets on it a few extra minutes per day for fun. We have two and my wife and I stand on them while we watch the news at night. These things are addictive. I last between 30 seconds and a minute without tipping which is probably normal for an adult.

When he started a month ago he couldn't stay balanced for even a second (neither could I at first). Today he can last about 5 seconds. He doesn't fall off when it tips, he just pushes it back up and tries to balance again. He likes to jump on and off like it's a skateboard.

The Gofit balance board is adjustable so as it gets easier you can make it higher and higher for added difficulty.

Here are a bunch of videos of a guy doing various balance board exercises. On one of these videos he does 1 legged balancing with a board on cement. That is TOUGH!

[Pooka1]

-my daughter too old for brace to do anything
-curves too small for surgery

OPTIONS-----ZERO
or

I assume she is having pain, yes? Or are you worried about progression to surgery territory in the future?

Do I think a balance board will correct her scoliosis.....NO!

If exercising produced a permanent cure, Weiss or someone else would have the Nobel. We don't obtain that result. Therefore...

I think your post is both interesting and rational. There is a key difference between having a healthy intellectual skepticism and "thinking" with your heart.

[mamandcrm]

If our surgeon hasn't mentioned any of it by now, do I really have to read them? Are all the surgeons completely incompetent in your opinion? Do they all ignore relevant literature IN THEIR OWN FIELD???

Personally, I don't have the general confidence you do that doctors give patients all the alternatives--many only bring up the ones they agree with. For example, I think there are quite a few docs out there who do not inform their young scoli patients about VBS...because they personally do not find the studies/data on that procedure to date persuasive, or are undecided about it. Our doctor, who I think is great, did not bring VBS up to me until the 2d appointment (after she had progressed 10 degrees from 25 to 35) because, in her opinion, the jury's still out on it. I would have liked to know about it at the first appointment. Just food for thought...

[Pooka1]

I wrote: So I guess our surgeon is "moonlighting" in knowing the bracing literature COLD.

i don't really know anything about bracing, so i'm not going to comment on that.

You don't have to know about bracing to see my point that orthopedic surgeons are on top of literature on OTHER than surgical topics. Do you see how that relates to your original point that surgeons only know surgery?

I wrote: Do you really think these guys don't keep up on all proposed treatments and not just surgery?

maybe they try to keep up on all proposed treatments; i'm sure some are better than others. but mainly, i think they know the most about surgery and way less about alternative treatments...because that's their profession.

If there was a non-surgical permanent cure, scoliosis cases would no longer be referred to surgeons AT ALL, yes? We don't obtain that result. Therefore...

I wrote: ETA: If there was a non-surgical permanent treatment then it would be MALPRACTICE to fuse people. And yet these guys are still walking around loose in the community. Your explanation would be....?

no one is saying there is a non-surgical permanent treatment for scoliosis - especially in skeletally mature adults with significant curves. all this thread is talking about is alternative treatments that MAY be helpful and definitely not harmful to scoliosis.

I think some are definitely suggesting at least the possibility of a non-surgical cure in immature patients in the face of no good evidence and giving the impression of false hope. Parents of patients and patients themselves have enough on their plate without that.

[Pooka1]

I also just wanted to add....that I think what has been sadly missed in scoliosis therapy is a MULTI...DISCIPLINARY approach. Each medical professional has their expertise...more med. professionals need to start taking a look at this thing from its onset....early stages. We need more heads working on this thing...

I think that's a great point.

[Dingo]

Doctors and Scoliosis

Somebody needs to make this T-Shirt.

"I took my child to a Scoliosis specialist and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt"
(at the top)

WATCH & WAIT
(at the bottom in large print)

[Pooka1]

Personally, I don't have the general confidence you do that doctors give patients all the alternatives--many only bring up the ones they agree with. For example, I think there are quite a few docs out there who do not inform their young scoli patients about VBS...because they personally do not find the studies/data on that procedure to date persuasive, or are undecided about it.

But those are rational reasons based on data if that's what they think. Do you think they don't tell patients without first investigating the VBS data? Are all surgeons nutty or just some in your opinion?

Our doctor, who I think is great, did not bring VBS up to me until Gillian's 2d appointment (after she had progressed 10 degrees from 25 to 35) because, in her opinion, the jury's still out on it. I would have liked to know about it at the first appointment. Just food for thought...

Fair enough. But I like someone with a medical degree and a board certification in orthopedics vetting these experimental surgical techniques for me rather than think I can figure it out myself. Call me crazy...

Most likely, in the time between your surgeon told you that, they discovered that kids above a certain Cobb should NOT be stapled. Who knows what else they will discover in the coming years. It is still experimental for a reason.

And that's not to say I wouldn't chose it now over years of brace wear in a JIS case because I would if my kid met the criteria. AIS is a different story.

[Pooka1]

Somebody needs to make this T-Shirt.

"I took my child to a Scoliosis specialist and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt"
(at the top)

WATCH & WAIT
(at the bottom in large print)

Have you read the testimonials from kids in the bracing section. They will break your heart. Some days I can't read them.

[mamamax]

You, like mamamax, are thinking emotionally. Communication is impossible.

Excuse me Pook - you do not know me well enough to make such a statement. For the record - my choice in treatment is more rational than your emotional response to it.

[Pooka1]

Excuse me Pook - you do not know me well enough to make such a statement. For the record - my choice in treatment is more rational than your emotional response to it.

All I can do is go by what you write. Linda has had to reel you in a few times for a reason.

[mamandcrm]

[QUOTE=Pooka1;78187]? Are all surgeons nutty or just some in your opinion?
QUOTE]

Sorry I don't get this comment. Where did I say any surgeons were nutty? I think I said that some do not offer potential alternatives, even those with science and respected doctors behind them (like VBS), because they do not agree with the data. I'm not advocating the muscle therapy discussed here. I'm simply disagreeing with you on that point.

[Pooka1]

[QUOTE=mamandcrm;78191]

? Are all surgeons nutty or just some in your opinion?
QUOTE]

Sorry I don't get this comment. Where did I say any surgeons were nutty? I think I said that some do not offer potential alternatives, even those with science and respected doctors behind them (like VBS), because they do not agree with the data. I'm not advocating the muscle therapy discussed here. I'm simply disagreeing with you on that point.

A professional opinion on experimental surgery "A" is just that. Go to another surgeon and you will get another professional opinion on experimental surgery "A" that may differ from the first opinion.

If the surgery was proven it wouldn't be experimental, yes? So all we have is professional opinion. There is no surgical standard with respect to VBS yet. Just as I mentioned to Ruth, if your child was stapled before they realized she wasn't a good candidate for some reason then you would have thanked your lucky stars your surgeon failed to mention it or even dissuaded you from trying it.

They are the professionals. They have the training. There is nobody better to ask. Who better to ask if not them?

[mamandcrm]

How do I ask if I don't know about it? I don't want my doctor "screening" out options for me that are accepted by many others in the medical community. I want to hear the option, the opinion, discuss it and then be allowed to make up my own mind.