Scoliosis

Andrew is a young man who was brought to me by his parents when he was 10 years old.  His mom and dad made sure he and his 5 siblings had their spines checked and, just like any other healthy habit such as brushing your teeth or exercising, Andrew was put on a conservative routine care schedule.  Andrew is a nice young man, lively and happy.  You’d never know he was counting down to a surgery that might have changed his life forever. Andrew had scoliosis.  The doctors let his parents know that by the time he was 12 he would most likely require surgery.   The surgery was something all involved wanted to avoid.  Cutting the back open and inserting metal rods along the spine and twisting it into a proper curve is no joke and I have never met a doctor who went at this without trying every option first.  His doctor consulted with our office and after he learned of our gentle, non-invasive approach he recommended that the young man give chiropractic a try.

Scoliosis is an abnormal sideways curvature of the spine.  Any shifting of the spine is not usually accidental and typically happens because the body is reacting to abnormal stress.  As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.  If allowed to advance, these postural changes can become a permanent deformity.  Allowed to advance, it can interfere with vital organs like the heart and lungs.

In some folks the cause of scoliosis can be congenital, that is, they are born with it.  Other cases are due to habitual behavior and the scoliosis is developed.  Still others are labeled idiopathic in nature, which means the cause is not known.  Whatever the cause of scoliosis, catching it early is critical.

In many cases, there are clues.  Parents may notice one shoulder higher than the other.  The hips may be higher on one side than the other.  The child’s clothes may fit oddly or uneven shoe wear can be seen.  In scoliosis there can be signals such as back and leg pain that develop.  Be careful not to dismiss these as growing pains.  Andrew’s parents didn’t.

If his parents had taken a “wait-and-see” approach, Andrew was heading for back braces and surgery.  They had nothing to lose and chose Chiropractic care for his scoliosis.  We did not try and push his spine back into place.  We simply began and regimen of adjustments to remove pressure that was affecting his spinal cord.  Xrays revealed where the pressure was and how we could help.  On each and every visit we monitored his progress with the latest, state of the art instrumentation to be sure we were having an effect.  And we waited.  It didn’t happen overnight.  It would take time.  It got so that we forgot about the scoliosis.  Andrew came to us when needed.  We did our job and adjusted only when necessary.   A few months before his 12th birthday his mom brought us a set of xrays and a letter from the spinal surgeon stating that there was no evidence of the scoliosis.  No surgery!  The savings in time and money along with the piece of mind his parents gained is priceless.  You have options.  Don’t say you’ve tried everything until you have checked with our office.  By the way anyone who is serious enough about this just needs to call my office and ask to speak with Dr. Phil.  I will be happy to put you in touch with Andrew’s mom and while I have you on the line I’d like to tell you about J.P. – another scoliosis story, with a different ending.

Gatcha Chiropractic Scoliosis Results

Gatcha Chiropractic Scoliosis Results

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