Scoliosis

Did you know that Scoliosis affects 5 to 7 million people in the United States? According to the American Chiropractic Association more than a half million visits are made to doctors’ offices each year for this condition.

While scoliosis can begin at any age, it is most commonly discovered between 10 and 15. Girls are more commonly affected than boys.

Scoliosis is generally described as a sideways curvature of the spine. It can also be combined with forward curves or reverse curves of the spine. Because most of the nerves that go to major organs run through the spine, this can create some serious complications if it is not addressed.

Scoliosis can certainly come from genetics, but it is not always related to this. Think about when a baby is born there is a lot of pressure on the head and neck and when forceps or help is used up to 70-90 pounds of force can be put on the neck. Then when the baby starts to walk, how many times to they fall down? While they are not falling far, it can still affect their spine and structure. As they grow, they run and play hard. Children are resilient to say the least, but their bodies take all of that impact.

When a diagnosis of scoliosis comes up in a medical office, most doctors look at the options: Watch / wait, bracing, or surgery. Chiropractic has a different approach, just by the difference in our field. For most people we can actually help change these curves with adjustments, therapies, massage, and orthotics.

We see a lot of success with this. When one of our patient came to us years ago, the medical doctors had already put her in an uncomfortable hard brace at night and she was facing surgery. As her scoliosis progressed, she had to stop doing the activities that she loved like basketball. Here is what she had to say about her treatment, “During the summer before my freshman year, Wellness First Chiropractic had reached Sullivan. My parents had heard wonderful things about them and their staff. So, we quickly jumped on the opportunity and fell in love with them! This chiropractor and the staff had so many new things to improve not only your spine, but whole body. Their sweet, giving, helpful and concerned personalities, made going a joy! The doctor came up with a whole system of what I would be doing daily and how things would improve. And you know what, I DID! I was in love with the improvement and decrease in pain. I also became very close with the staff and actually got to know them on a personal level. I was hooked!”

We recommend that every child be checked for scoliosis by a chiropractor every year. We want to catch it early and help them grow up healthy and strong. It is the policy of WellnessFirst that every scoliosis screening be completely free, because it is that important to a child’s growth and development. We don’t want there to be any reason not to bring in children for this very important check-up. You get teeth and eyes checked every year, but you only have 1 spine…get it checked, too.

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Source: https://www.acatoday.org/content_css.cfm?CID=2189