Idiopathic Scoliosis has long challenged scientists, clinicians, and parents for hundreds of years. Although research has led to many theories on why it occurs in adolescent females at an 8 to 1 ratio, developed better prognostic testing, newer brace technology, and more expensive fusion surgeries, no one seems to have changed the way it is treated. The standard system in the US and most countries is to first, diagnose the condition with physical exams and x-rays costing hundreds of dollars, second rule out pathology using MRI's costing thousands of dollars, then wait and observe the condition. Statistical data varies, but on average one could easily assume half of these kids reach stage two where the curvature has advanced to where it becomes visually noticeable at 25 or so degrees and now are presented with the recommendation to place their young child in a rigid orthosis (brace) to wear 23 hours per day until they reach what is termed skeletal maturity, around age 15 or 16. On average according to genetic based authorities, the makers of scoliscore, approximately 75% of these kids won't reach surgical threshold of 40 degrees or higher by this age even if they are not placed in the brace costing thousands. The other 25% even with bracing reach the end stage of the condition where surgical fusion is recommended and most often performed costing hundreds of thousands.
It seems almost surreal that in this age of technology and medical sophistication we have not changed the way kids with scoliosis are dealt with in over 50 years. You may be asking yourself, what other options are there?, and if there were legitimate options someone would have figured it out by now. Therapists have been working with kids with scoliosis for decades primarily using the Schroth exercise method developed in Germany with little effect on the natural course of moderate to severe spinal deformity. Neither chiropractic nor electrical muscle stimulation have done little to alter the course of this condition as well. Researchers have isolated the type of muscle and what portions of the brain are involved the most with scoliosis but the trick has always been how to alter these areas without invasive life altering procedures.
The interesting thing about scoliosis is that the spine in a patient with scoliosis is really no different anatomically then a person with a straight spine, meaning research has demonstrated no structural differences in the bone or spinal cord. So what creates this somewhat aggressive asymmetry? The majority of theory points to a miscommunication between incoming messages from the environment and outgoing muscle control to the antigravity system of the spine which positions the center masses of all the bones in the spinal column, the head, and pelvis. So the key ingredient here is the antigravity system which is a complex system where communication travels from the receptors in our joints and muscles from environmental forces acting on them, through the spinal cord where it is processed by our hindbrain. The hindbrain then sends information to the intrinsic (deep) layer muscles of our spine and to larger muscles of our pelvis and legs to counterbalance these forces so we remain balanced and upright.
By using a scoliosis exercise cantilever (extended lever arm out from the body) we can challenge the spine in ways it has never been challenged before. The forces from this scoliosis cantilever cause small stabilization reactions in the deeper spinal muscles which in turn alter where the individual vertebrae are positioned while the person is standing upright. This ultimately reduces and stabilizes their scoliosis. If you were to stand on an unstable surface, like something flat filled with air, and someone were to try to push you off and you resisted them your spine and body's antigravity system would be functioning at an extremely high rate. When this new exercise system is performed daily in 20 minute increments the spine literally uncoils itself.
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