I had a new patient come in the other day and she is in her 20’s now and during our consult she mentioned that she knew she had scoliosis as a child but her doctor told her she would grow out of it.
Before I get into that topic, let’s just say firstly this is not true…
Let’s talk about what scoliosis is and how to know if you have it.
Scoliosis is a sideways curvature of the spine, and is often diagnosed in adolescents begins around the onset of puberty and is often found more in females than males.
Most cases are mild but can worsen if left untreated. If it worsens it can lead to many different health issues, postural issues and of course pain and dysfunction. The most important thing about scoliosis is if you catch it early you can correct it.
The cause of most childhood scoliosis is unknown but a small percent can be genetic.
We diagnose scoliosis with an X-ray and we can measure the severity of the curve to see if you have a mild moderate or severe curve. In some cases, bracing is required which is a plastic brace which is worn for 23 hours of the day.
In some cases, bracing is not required and, in our practice, we also use CBP traction techniques to help correct the curves.
The type of exercises that we give you here in the office and at home will be dependent on where your scoliosis is and obviously how bad your scoliosis is.
How to diagnose your scoliosis. There are a phew tell-tale signs that you can check either yourself or your family for scoliosis and these include…
You may have uneven shoulders
One shoulder blade sticks out more
One hip sits higher than the other you keep rounding of the back when you lean forward and there is a thing called an Adams test which I will put as a link below for you to be able to check somebody else who you think might have scoliosis.
But as expected the best way to check if you have scoliosis is to have a professional thoroughly assess you and have Xrays.
Now back to when the doctor said my patient would grow out of it. This isn’t the case…. sometimes the scoliosis might get just a little bit worse but, in this case, it got (significantly worse) in the 6 years she didn’t have treatment.
The worsening could have been prevented if she had seen a chiropractor or perhaps even Scolicare who specialize in the bracing and correction of scoliosis.
It was very frustrating for me to hear that a GP gave this information out. And it must’ve been awful for that patient to have seen what had happened as a result of that bad advice.
Now, that said. I want you to understand please listen to your GP. They do know a lot about many different things. However, they are not specialized doctors for the spine like myself.
If you want specialized treatment and advice on spinal conditions that you need to see somebody who sees these conditions on a daily basis. We are best people to give you advice on these particular conditions. Otherwise, you’re just taking potentially bad advice from people who don’t specialize in that area.
I would never offer advice on psychological conditions because just it’s not my specialty.
If you think you or maybe your child may have scoliosis and want to have a proper diagnosis, we can do an initial consult for you and its currently only $29
Give us a call on 07 55621311 and we can book you in.
Peace of mind knowing that you’ve been diagnosed correctly and I’ve been given the correct treatment protocols to stop these conditions from getting worse. Or in most cases improving.