What is scoliosis?

Scoliosis is a spinal condition in which the spine curves. Most often this curvature occurs during a growth spurt just before puberty. Most cases of scoliosis are mild, though, some children develop spinal deformities that continue to get worse as they grow. Extreme cases of scoliosis can be disabling and cause difficulties with the lungs and heart.

Children with mild forms of scoliosis are usually monitored closely to ensure that the condition isn’t getting worse. However, very mild cases of scoliosis can go unnoticed by parents and even the child themselves. In fact, it is usually a family friend, teacher or sports teammate that notices scoliosis first. These cases usually don’t cause any pain and do not need any treatment. We get to more about the treatments for scoliosis in just a little bit, but first, let’s take a look at the symptoms more closely.

What are the symptoms of scoliosis?

Symptoms of scoliosis can include but are not limited to:

• Uneven shoulders
• Uneven waist
• One shoulder blade seeming more prominent than the other
• One hip being higher than the other

If the curve caused by scoliosis gets worse, the spine can also twist or rotate as well as curving side to side. This twisting of the spine can then cause the ribs on one side to stick out further than on the other side of the body.

What are the causes of scoliosis?

When it comes to the most common type of scoliosis, we simply don’t know the cause of it. However, we can say that it appears to involve heredity factors as scoliosis tends to run in families.

Less common forms of scoliosis might be caused by:

• Congenital disabilities that affect the development of bones in the spine
• Neuromuscular conditions, such as muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy
• Infections or injuries to the spine

Of course, knowing the cause of scoliosis would help us prevent the condition entirely. However, the cause of scoliosis doesn’t need to be known in order to treat the condition. Here at The Mayfair Clinic, we have treated many cases of scoliosis helping patients in a meaningful way.

Risk factors for developing scoliosis

Some of the risk factors for developing the most common type of scoliosis include:

• Age – Symptoms of scoliosis typically begin to develop just prior to puberty.
• Sex – Although boys and girls develop scoliosis at about the same rate, girls have a much higher risk of the curve getting worse and requiring treatment.
• Family history – Having a family history of scoliosis doesn’t mean you will get it, but it can run in families. However, most children with scoliosis don’t have a family history of it.

The complications of scoliosis

Most people suffering from scoliosis will have a mild form of the disorder. However, scoliosis can sometimes cause further complications including:

• Back problems – Adults who had scoliosis during childhood are likely to have chronic back pain.
• Appearance – As scoliosis gets worse it can cause noticeable changes in your appearance. Un-level shoulders, uneven hips, prominent ribs and shift at the waist can make people with scoliosis very self-conscious.
• Heart and lung damage – In severe scoliosis cases, the rib cage can press against the heart and lungs. This makes it difficult to breathe and harder for the heart to function.

Diagnosing scoliosis

Before any treatment begins at The Mayfair Clinic, we perform a consultation. This consultation involves a physical exam, asking some questions. In certain cases, where you don’t already have spinal images, state-of-the-art imaging tests are used to confirm the underlying condition causing your pain, in this case, scoliosis. During this consultation, you may be asked questions about your medical history, any traumas or accidents and your daily life. These questions are asked to try and narrow down the search for the condition and its location. Of course, scoliosis is in the back, but the back is a large area. Once we have done the “problem solving” we can work to find a solution with treatment to help deal with the sometimes painful symptoms of scoliosis.

Treating scoliosis

Here at The Mayfair Clinic, we use the latest technology to treat conditions like scoliosis. One of these treatments is spinal impulse adjusting. Spinal impulse adjustment is essentially a more controllable and accurate version of the traditional manipulation used in chiropractic and osteopathic treatments. The click and pops used in those treatments help to release stiffness in the spine once conditions like scoliosis have pushed it out of alignment. However, these techniques are often uncomfortable and scary for children. Spinal impulse adjustments, however, are repeatable, controllable and not scary, helping oppose the forces that cause the scoliosis to worsen over time.

Spinal impulse adjustment treatment allows us to deliver treatment results for scoliosis that have previously not been possible. By using the latest technology, we can measure the movement of the spine precisely and control the machine perfectly to ensure that the right amount of movement is achieved with each visit. This technology has allowed us to provide spinal treatments to people with scoliosis that would struggle with traditional techniques or people who have tried traditional techniques to no avail.

We can also use spinal impulse adjustment treatments along with our other advanced treatments to ensure a complete treatment regime and a full recovery. Another common treatment we use for treating scoliosis is laser therapy. This sounds scary, but it is a non-invasive therapy used to increase healing in a particular area. We use a laser that pulsates through the skin into the affected area to increase blood flow. This sends nutrients and oxygen to the area and speeds up the bodies natural healing process.

The technologies that we use to treat scoliosis differ from person to person as we tailor our scoliosis treatments to the patient, but with the most advanced technology on our side, we can realign your spine and get your daily life back to normal again.

To find out more about our scoliosis treatments or if you would like to book in for a consultation with The Mayfair Clinic, please use the contact form below. Your scoliosis treatment can begin right away, and you can finally start enjoying your life again without scoliosis getting in your way.