When I use the word scoliosis you probably think of a teenage girl stuck in a brace for days on end.
Or maybe you think of a little old lady slumped over, slowly pushing her shopping cart through your local grocery store.
What I think of is… HABITS.
Yep, I know, kind of weird but for the majority of people diagnosed with scoliosis, their habits have played a role in either starting the problem or at the very least, in making it worse.
Scoliosis Basics
There are 2 main categories and 4 types of scoliosis.
- Structural – labeled to be permanent. Make up the majority of scoliotic diagnoses.
- Congenital – You’re born with a curve that is abnormal.
- Neuromuscular – Neurologically induced scoliosis due to overactive and underactive muscle groups.
- Degenerative – occurs later in life due to degeneration of the spine.
- Idiopathic – Unknown Cause and makes up 80% of scoliosis cases.
- Non-Structural – labeled as non-permanent, temporary manifestations of spinal asymmetries.
- Muscle spasms
- Inflammation
- Leg length difference
I can’t tell you how many times a patient has come to me with X-rays or an X-ray report, with said scoliosis, only to find out that their diagnosis is likely not permanent or accurate.
The most dangerous phrase in the language is,
“We’ve always done it this way.”
– Grace Hopper
That’s how we’ve always done it.
Scoliosis curve degrees are likely arbitrary when looking into the history of research on the topic. Review the summary by the Clear Institute for yourself.
Below I am paraphrasing the restrictions and options based upon Dr. Kane’s statistical work from 1977.
- <10 degrees – Said to be a spinal asymmetry. No diagnosis is made, therefore no treatment is prescribed. This type of spinal curvature has the highest prevalence and is often misdiagnosed as scoliosis.
- 10-20 degrees – Diagnosed as mild scoliosis with high risk for future treatment and intervention. The most common treatment is observation and palliative care. This diagnosis has the highest prevalence among accurately diagnosed scoliotic patients.
- > 20 degrees – Diagnosis ranges from moderate to severe scoliosis. Treatment ranges from observation to bracing interventions and possible surgery. Scoliosis greater than 20 degrees has a low prevalence among those diagnosed.
This standardized policy was not based on scientific evidence back then and is even more antiquated at this point in the 21st century. It’s time to investigate deeper and with the latest evidence available.
What should we do differently?
The highest prevalence of scoliosis diagnoses are labeled idiopathic and mild. (>80%) Still, some are misdiagnosed as scoliosis when they should be referred to as asymmetrical.
The lack of care, for this population, due to the wait and watch approach used is unethical, to say the least. Instead, we should be taking a preventative approach with all of our youth as well as adults. Conservative preventative treatment should include palliative care, education and exercises.
It may be true that many of these curves have the potential to get worse and manifest health issues. It is also true that many of these curves will stay the same. Observation should be carried out in both cases, but treatment and prevention are appropriate as well. Research has shown that even small asymmetries (<10 degrees) can still cause intense and often chronic pain to the patient.
Homework and habits for better health
The majority of people with a scoliosis diagnosis (or asymmetry) can help themselves and seek appropriate care from a back and posture specialist like a chiropractor or physiotherapist. I’m speaking to the 80%, as this may not be effective for all types of scoliosis.
Your postural habits are essential to the health of your spine which is essential to the health of your nervous system. The nervous system is central to your health.
Daily routines can build the life of your dreams or destroy them.
Routines Build Dreams
Your habits make or break you when it comes to your health. If you have a curve with no explanation of where it came from, then at least Pay-Attention to one possible cause and at the very least stop making it worse.
Build routines that create diversification in all areas of health. Some of my favorite basic postural exercise routines are 9 Exercises for Upper Crossed Syndrome and 11 Exercises for Lower Crossed Syndrome. These postural exercises are directed at reversing the effects of our everyday sedentary and modern lifestyles.
String Theory
Imagine this. Tie a string to the ground. Pull it up taut and straight, as high as you can go. Now, let it relax and drop it down a foot or two. The less you pull it up, the more the string curves towards the ground. Just like your posture.
Stand up straight. Fight back against the curve imposed upon us by gravity and our laziness. Stand tall like you have a string tied to the top of your head pulling you towards the heavens.
Hold the Line
Likewise, when someone already has a diagnosed curve, congenital or otherwise, leaning into the curve is easier and more comfortable. Straightening or mirroring the curve is quite uncomfortable. It takes very little effort to make the situation worse and great effort to make it better. Fight against the curve despite the discomfort.
We as humans tend to enjoy comfort and convenience more than hard work. To improve upon your position you will have to face the challenge. Hormesis involves voluntarily facing hard things so that you may improve or become stronger.
Bottom line, If you let the curve win out of convenience or comfort or laziness, it will get worse. If you fight and embrace the struggle, you can improve even if it doesn’t show in degrees, it may show in strength.
Start with the End in Mind
Having Self-Awareness of your structure allows you to not only fix the abnormal presentations but prevent them from ever starting.
Pay-Attention to your posture and how you carry yourself like it matters. Pay-Attention to your kid’s posture and how they carry themselves. It matters more than you know. (Posture and self-esteem links)
Scoliosis may increase, decrease or stay the same, but your posture can be improved at almost any time in life. Paying attention to your posture is a good initial defense to scoliosis. Paying attention to your posture helps to slow the rate of entropy on your physical structure.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
-Chinese Proverb
7 Ways to Improve your Scoliosis
- Stand up straight. Use the idea of a string that is centered on your head and pulling you towards the sky. Relaxing your core muscles creates weak abnormal postures. See string theory above.
- Practice maintaining a strong core. A strong core isn’t just about how many reps you can do when performing crunches, but also how long you can sustain a strong core. A standing pelvic tilt builds endurance, strengthens your core and decreases your susceptibility to injury. Standing posterior pelvic tilt.
- Avoid poor static upright postures. Remember it’s not the one time you do it that matters, it’s the routine that does.
- Joint Stacking – The ease of leaning into one hip or the other creates uneven hips as well as compensation by the surrounding joints and muscles. This lazy posture, if done with some routine, can end up causing or increasing your scoliosis curvature.
- Anterior pelvic tilt – This abnormal static posture probably won’t cause you scoliosis, but it does create great tension and pain on your back. Especially if you already have scoliosis. This is very common in Lower Crossed Syndrome often caused by sitting.
- Rounded shoulders and back – Again, this abnormal static posture probably won’t cause your scoliosis, but it definitely can’t help with the pain. Rounded shoulders and a hunch back leads to a question mark like posture. This is commonly seen in Upper Crossed Syndrome. Check out my latest article on Cervical Syndrome.
- Sit up straight. Again, use the idea of a taut string arising from the center of your head and being pulled up towards the heavens. See the string theory section above.
- Avoid poor sitting postures
- Again joint stacking can be a problem here. Most will allow their mid-back to round until the muscles, ligaments and joints stop it passively. Rounding forward or leaning from one side to the other will create stress and strain on the joints. This is especially damaging to an already pronounced curve.
- Crossing your legs repetitively to one side will also create patterns of muscle imbalances that encourage leg length differences and can cause problems for the surrounding compensatory joints. It’s not the occasional leg crossing that is damaging, it’s the repetition.
- Sleep straight on your back. I prefer a stiff mattress for keeping the body in the coronal plane. Pillow tops can create some cushion for comfort. The bottom line is sleeping positions on your stomach or your side, when done repetitively, will create asymmetrical patterns of the spine and the surrounding muscles.
- Get Adjusted. Chiropractors have been shown to help scoliosis curve outcomes as well as palliative care for the symptoms that may arise. Movement is life. Movement can be the catalyst of change. Especially when referring to biomechanical changes. Here are 12 Reasons your Body Needs Movement and many reasons why a Chiropractor is best trained to help resolve these issues.
The Takeaway
Scoliosis can have numerous causes with 80% of them being unknown.
The current treatment of any curvature less than 20 degrees is to watch and wait.
It has been shown that asymmetries of the spine (less than 10 degrees) can cause chronic pain.
Abnormal curvatures in the spine lead to alterations of biomechanics which contributes to pain and early arthritis. It literally speeds up the aging process of entropy in the long term.
Intervention with chiropractic, ergonomic education, exercises and new routines can make a difference in the short term and long term.
Self-Awareness of your postures and the way you carry yourself every day can prevent some curvatures of the spine as well as prevent them from increasing in severity in some cases.
One Adjustment Action Step
- Understand how your posture plays a role in increasing, decreasing or causing spinal curvatures. Implement various postural exercises I have listed in past blog posts.
- Read up on how Movement affects all systems of the body. Understand that scoliosis impacts the way you move.
- Practice Self-Awareness of your postures in all positions.
Improving your life can be made One Adjustment at a time. Fancy gizmos, gadgets and complex systems aren’t always the answer when it comes to health.
Health comes from within and health isn’t man-made.
Knowing how to create a plan for your health can improve your life dramatically. We will be discussing how to become Self-Aware of what your body needs and the why behind it in the next few blog posts.
Cheers,
Nick the DC
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