Things You May Not Know About Scoliosis !!
Scoliosis – “skOH-LEE-‘OH-sihs”; noun: sco-li-o-ses: a lateral curvature of the spine greater than 10 degrees; a disease of the neuromuscular skeletal system; often becomes apparent during adolescence, (more than 66% of the curves continue to progress even after skeletal maturity) as defined by Dorland's Medical Dictionary.
The National Scoliosis Foundation says that Scoliosis:
- reduces life expectancy 14 years[6], stunts growth, causes cardio-pulmonary weakness, headaches, digestive problems, chronic disease, there is an increase in mortality rate by 15 %[8] and that there is NO confirmed genetic cause[9] of Scoliosis.
We counsel many parents regarding this fact as many hold blame in themselves for their child's condition.
Based upon the national averages of occurrence for Scoliosis, there are as many as 60,000 cases of Scoliosis in Puget Sound.
Medical doctors have attempted electrical muscle stimulation, as a treatment modality both on and under the skin, however this will not work what-so-ever [9]. Many medical physicians prescribe a watch-and-see treatment until the curve is more than 25 degrees. At 25 to 40 degrees they prescribe proven ineffective bracing until at 40 degrees they prescribe surgical fusion in children and at 50 degrees in adults. A very common and very damaging permanent side effect of the bracing and surgery is the degenerative joint disease (arthritis). There is also a risk of degenerative disk disease in these post operative adults as well as the children.
Our own patients have told us that in an attempt to be talked into surgery, they were told that the procedure was the only option for correction, and that they would suffer 3.2 degrees of loss of the spinal correction in the first 12 months post-surgery. This loss would be followed by a 6.5 degrees loss of correction within 24 months. Then there would be at least one degree of an additional loss of the spinal correction every year thereafter until the curve had completely returned to the pre-surgical amount!!
A recent study documented how wear[13] was present in 75% of the patients. Corrosion[10] of the spinal implants--mainly around the interfaces with hooks, screws and cross connectors--occured in as many as 62% of all surgical cases. Post operative infection occured in nearly every single case. The corrosion led to heavy metal toxicities and an additional host of other health challenges for these unfortunate patients. The infections often lead to an additional surgery.
At ASR we have been specifically working with Scoliosis patients for nearly 10 years. We agree with the literature when it says that Scoliosis increases its progression when there is insufficient lumbar curvature [15].
The treatment regimens that we have implemented at ASR are based upon sound clinical research. A comprehensive examination of the functional, status of our patients include lung capacity, range of spinal motion, specific radiographic spinal examination and analysis.