The Recovery Curve: How Functional Medicine Can Treat Scoliosis

The Recovery Curve: How Functional Medicine Can Treat Scoliosis

Does scoliosis make it difficult for you to do daily tasks? Click here to learn some of the best treatments for your back.

About 2 to 3 percent of the population is affected by scoliosis. That’s around 6 to 9 million people in the United States.

Scoliosis can develop as early as infancy, but the primary age of onset is 10 to 15 years old.

Not all scoliosis requires treatment, and females are more likely than males to progress to a magnitude of a curve that requires treatment.

For those who seek treatment, many get fitted with a brace, and some undergo spinal surgery.

But are there alternative options to treat scoliosis?

Does your scoliosis make it hard for you to complete daily tasks? Keep reading to learn how functional medicine could help treat your back pain.

What Is Scoliosis?

Scoliosis is a disorder. The disorder causes an abnormal curve of the backbone or spine.

Everyone has a standard spinal curve when you look from the side. But the spine should always appear straight when you’re looking from the front.

Every healthy spine has a bit of a curve at both the top and bottom of the spine. But if someone’s spine has an “S” or “C” shape, then they might have scoliosis.

What Causes It?

The same source we mentioned above reveals that around 80% of scoliosis cases develop without a known cause.

Sometimes things like genetic conditions, neurological abnormalities, and birth defects come into play.

All of the cases with no known cause are called idiopathic scoliosis. These are broken down into age groups.

• Infant (0 to 3 years)
• Juvenile (4 to 10 years)
• Adolescent (11 to 18 years)
• Adult (18+ years)

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is the most common.

Of the remaining 20% in which a cause can be pinpointed, there are 2 types of scoliosis.

There is congenital scoliosis, where spinal deformities are apparent at birth. And there is neurological scoliosis, in which nerve abnormalities affect the muscles in the spine.

It can be either nonstructural or structural. With structural scoliosis, the curve of the spine is caused by an injury, birth defect, or a disease, and it’s permanent.

With nonstructural scoliosis, there are temporary curves in the spine that can still be fixed.

How Can Functional Medicine Help?

Some people frown on functional and alternative medicine because it can be very different than “modern medicine.”

The thing is, though, that many aspects of functional medicine have been around for thousands of years. Things like acupuncture, essential oils, and many forms of therapy have been used medicinally and successfully since long before all the modern techniques we’ve come to know so well.

While there are circumstances in which surgery is necessary, functional medicine opts to try everything else first, many times with great success.

Because the causes for scoliosis are relatively unknown, it’s essential to use an integrated and personalized approach to every patient.

Functional medicine determines the underlying causes of the disorder. It allows the patient and practitioner to enter into a therapeutic partnership in which all things are considered.

It’s revolutionary. Rather than just addressing your scoliosis symptoms, functional medicine doctors address the whole person in an attempt to alleviate those symptoms further, and if possible, correct the disorder.

Physical Therapy Can Do Wonders

Depending on the severity of your scoliosis, physical therapy may be all you need for scoliosis treatments.

While most United States scoliosis treatment is centered around conventional medicine like bracing, observation, and surgery, Europe has seen things differently for a while.

Recently, the United States has jumped on board with several physical therapy approaches, like the Schroth Method.

The Schroth Method is a structured regime that consists of particular exercises. Those exercises, combined with bracing and lifestyle coaching, could reverse curves in both adolescents and adults.

Thus far, the Schroth Method has allowed some individuals with ample curves of the spine, avoid surgery.

Yoga and Meditation for Scoliosis Pain

Yoga is another alternative scoliosis treatment that medical professionals should always consider and try before surgery.

It has to be done correctly, though, and some maneuvers can be harmful to certain scoliosis patients.

Make sure that your instructor has experience with scoliosis and understands your case in particular.

With the right instructor, the possibilities are quite amazing.

When people experience stress, one of the first places they feel that stress and pain are in their backs.

If you have scoliosis and are living a stressful lifestyle with little exercise, those things could very well be contributing to the severity of your scoliosis.

Meditation could alleviate much of that pain and get you on the right track to living a healthier, pain-free life.

Your Lifestyle Could Be Making It Worse

Are you sitting and hunched for long periods of the day?

Does your job require you to make movements that worsen your condition?

Both of these aspects of your lifestyle, amongst hundreds of other questions will get discussed between you and your functional medicine doctor to determine how your life could be better.

Even something that seems simple, like your diet, could be contributing heavily to your pain and discomfort.

But when you opt to see a traditional doctor, their main goal is to treat your condition. While that’s a good thing, without analyzing the whole patient, complications and misdiagnosis are much more likely.

Treat Scoliosis by Getting Someone to Look at All Aspects of Your Life

The future of medicine lies within looking at the whole patient rather than just the symptoms or sickness.

This is especially true when it comes to scoliosis! Because the reasons for so many cases are unknown, it only makes sense to asses every aspect of an individual’s life to adequately diagnose and treat their pain.

Treat scoliosis by giving it the care it deserves and visit a doctor who will avoid invasive surgery at all cost.

Give yourself some peace of mind today, and contact us for a FREE consultation.