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Please do not have surgery before investigating
our methods and discussing your case
with us!
X-Ray Showing broken Harrington Rod
Scoliosis
Surgery: the Untold Truth
Scoliosis
Correction questions?
Email:
scoliosiscorrection@gmail.com
or
call
Dr. Hersh: 860-727-8820 or 860-524-8955
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The Physics of Scoliosis-Correcting Scoliosis without Bracing
 In
achieving correction of the scoliotic spine,
it is important to place emphasis on correcting the loss
of cervical curve, also known as cervical kyphosis or
hypolordosis. Loss of the curve in your neck
will cause the spine below it to buckle. Traditional medical
science views the spine as a bridge connecting the head
to the pelvis. If a bridge begins to collapse, the correct
approach is to try to hold it together by fusing its structure.
Chiropractors, however, view the spine as an engine. If
the engine in your car starts to run funny, and you fuse
the cylinders together, this might not solve the problem.
Motion is essential for proper
functioning of the spine and the associated soft
tissue components.
 The
reason your spine buckles as the
curve in your neck disappears
has to do with physics. When you carry your groceries in
to your house from your car, you carry the bags close to
your body. Increasing the distance between your body and
the bags of groceries causes an increase in the apparent
weight of your burden. In the same way, holding your
head forward puts a greater stress upon your spine.
In fact, for every inch the head moves forward from your
center of gravity, the apparent weight of your head increases
by 10 pounds!
One of the easiest ways for the body
to adapt to this increased load is to add another curve
into the spine. If you are holding a heavy weight
in your hand and flex your wrist forward, your elbow will
swing out to the side to make it easier for your muscles
to support the weight. With our
alternative scoliosis treatment, you can correct the
scoliosis without bracing.
Why does
the curve in your neck disappear?
There may be many
different reasons. Sometimes it is a motor vehicle crash,
or an incident of trauma. More often, however, it may develop
slowly, over time, as we live day-to-day. Studying in school,
working at a computer, or focusing on a project on our workbench
often requires that we hold our head downwards and forwards
for long periods of time. Eventually, this causes the spine
to slip, bit by bit, until the muscles become tight and
strong. The body then begins to use these stronger muscles
more than the weaker ones, reinforcing the change in posture.
With the loss of the curve in
your neck, the nerves that travel from the brain to every
single cell in our body begin to suffer. In a
straight neck, with no curve at all, the spinal cord is
stretched by 10%. If the neck buckles completely, this
can increase to as high as 28%! If somebody pulled on
your finger until it was 28% longer, you'd probably complain
about it a little.
(Somewhere, something went terribly wrong...)
Why do the doctors
at the Scoliosis Correction Center know that restoring the
curve in your neck can help to correct a scoliosis? Well,
there is research that suggests
scoliosis may correct spontaneously if the tension from
the spinal cord is removed:
Can Hindbrain
Decompression for Syringomyelia Lead to Regression of Scoliosis?
European Spine Journal, June 2000; 9(3):198-201
"[16] patients underwent a hindbrain decompression, and...
the scoliosis was seen to improve or arrest its progression
in 6."
And other researchers
have concluded that the spine adapts to a short, taut spinal
cord by producing rotation in the spinal column, which will
take pressure off of the nerves.
Can a Short
Spinal Cord Produce Scoliosis? European Spine Journal,
February 2001; 10(1):2-9
"A short, unforgiving spinal cord could produce the abnormal
rotatory anatomy observed at the apex of scoliosis..."
Of course,
restoring the
curve in the neck is
only one aspect of our unique approach to scoliosis.
Rehabilitating the muscles, tendons, & ligaments is also
important, as is re-training
the brain to use the postural muscles more evenly.
For now, we hope you understand more about how what
happens in the neck can affect the rest of the spine,
and why it is important not to neglect the top of the spine
in scoliosis correction!
Why
Scoliosis Bracing Doesn't Work: Read an informative
article by Dr. Hersh about the ineffectiveness of
scoliosis braces.
CURVE PATTERNS IN IDIOPATHIC SCOLIOSIS
http://www.jbjs.org.uk/cgi/reprint/71-B/2/259
"The results of these studies are
known as Euler's laws and may be used to predict the
behaviour of any column of known shape and proportions.
The behaviour of curved columns differs from that of
straight ones and may be summarized by saying that
if force is applied to a rigid curved column
so as to tend to increase that curve, then no lateral
deviation or twisting of the column will occur
even if the force is increased until brittle
failure occurs. By contrast,
if force is applied so that it
tends to straighten the column, then twisting and lateral
bending will occur during the phase of plastic deformation.
An example of this is the ease with
which a metal rod may be bent to contour it to the spine
in comparison with the difficulty of straightening it
thereafter. The application of these laws to spinal
mechanics is clear and has been stated before. However,
if a fixed lordosis is subjected to forward
bending it will behave like any other curved column
when it is stressed to unbend it: it will twist and
bend to the side. A scoliosis must result.
If a further bending force is applied, for example by
asking a patient with a lordoscoliosis to touch her
toes, this rotation will increase; this is the mechanical
basis of the clinical test of forward bending.
The practical importance of an understanding
of the underlying sagittal profile of a scoliotic spine
is in its application to the treatment of these deformities.
If an abnormal sagittal profile is merely converted
to a different abnormal profile, as with Harrington
instrumentation, then further
buckling and progression of the curve may be anticipated
during growth.
Here is more factual information about
Scoliosis with which to make informed decisions.
- "The mortality rate (with AIS)(Adolescent Idiopathic
Scoliosis) is 15 %". "Individuals with Scoliosis
life expectancy is decreased by 14 years": idiopathic
scoliosis:long term follow-up and prognosis in untreated
patients. J.Bone Joint Surg Am 1981 Jun;63(5):702-12
- "The effects: Reduced life expectancy, it can stunt
growth and decrease pulmonary function. It's associated
with headaches, shortness of breath, digestive problems,
chronic hip, knee and leg
pain".
National Scoliosis Foundation.
- "The Scoliotic Group was characterized by a decrease
in standing stability. Center of Mass (COM) and
Center of Pressure (COP) were significantly different
between the scoliotic group and the norm." Spine 27(17):1911-1917;
2002
- Scoliosis is not only a deformation
of the spinal column, it is also a disease of the neuro-musculo-skeletal
system. Scoliosis is more than a 3-dimensional
deformation of the spine. It also involves postural
disorganization, neuro musculo-skeletal dysfunction
and unsynchronized growth patterns. IS (idiopathic scoliosis)
could be reinforced by a disrupted integration of vestibular
and visual signals at the cortical level". vestibular
mechanisms involved in IS: Arch Ital Biol 2002 Jan;
140(1) 67-80
- "There were five times more back surface abonormalities
in the blind population. These findings are compatible
with a postural etiology of scoliosis in the visually
impaired". Conversely there is a decreased incidence
of scoliosis in hearing impaired children"; visual deficiency
and scoliosis; spine 2001, jan 1;26(1):48-52
what this means is that scoliosis is more
than just a twist of the spine but something involving
the vestibular system and those that are blind have
a higher incidence of scoliosis because of the loss
of balance etc with the loss of sight whereas those
that can see but can't hear show a decreased incidence
since their balance and coordination is usually better
than normal
- "After brace treatment
we found slight statistically significant increase in
the mean lumbar curvature, but no significant change
in the mean thoracic curve." changes in curve pattern
after brace ( Boston Brace)
treatment for IS. Acta Orthop Scand 2002 jun
73(3): 277-81
- "Progression of 6 degrees occurred in 74% of boys
and 46% reached surgical thresholds. Bracing of
male patients with idiopathic scoliosis is ineffective.
Curves measuring >/=30 degrees were very
likely to progress to surgery ; effectiveness
of bracing male patients with idiopathic scoliosis.
Spine Sep 15;26(18);2001-5
- "Since 1991, bracing has not been recommended
for children with AIS at this center.
If bracing does not reduce the proportion of children
with AIS who require surgery for cosmetic improvement
of their deformity, it cannot be said to
provide meaningful advantage to the patient of the community";
adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: the effect of brace
treatment on the incidence of surgery. Spine 2001 Jan1;26(1)42-7
Children's Research Center, Dublin, Ireland.
- "The deterioration of the curves was
3.5 degrees for all surgically treated curves and 7.9
degrees for all brace treated curves.
Five brace treated patients had a curve increase of
20 degrees or more". Radiologic findings and curve progression
22 years after treatment for AIS: comparison of brace
and surgical treatment with matching control group of
straight individuals. Spine 2001 Mar 1;26(5):516-25
The work we are
doing is based on the fact that scoliosis
is not just a
spinal curvature,
but involves abnormal spinal
curves in the neck, as well as hip rotation. Active
scoliosis patients always present to the office with
forward head posture and a loss of the cervical lordosis
(as seen on x-ray). In addition, there is also abnormal
biomechanical malpositions of the head and neck. Therefore,
before the A-P dimension of scoliosis (the lateral curve
you are concerned with) can be corrected, the cervical
lordosis must be re-established first. Following this
correction, the lateral curve (Cobb angle) is reduced to
normal or as close to normal as possible.
Average change with
the work we do is a 62 % reduction (permanent, if exercises
are done)
of the
Cobb
angle.
These results are achieved with a combination
of specific spinal adjustments done with instruments,
not by hand, specific rehabilitative procedures
including proprioceptive neuromuscular re-education,
muscle and ligament rehab and vibration therapy.
The scoliotic spine
compresses and rotates three dimensionally,
therefore it must be
de-rotated, and de-compressed in order
to achieve correction. At the Scoliosis Correction
Center, we use a vibration platform and vibration
scoliosis traction chair as well as specific techniques
to pull the Cobb angle back into proper alignment.
Please contact
us for an in-depth consultation and examination to determine
if our method of treating scoliosis non-surgically is right
for you.
You can email
Dr. Daniel Hersh with any questions at:
ScoliosisCorrection@gmail.com
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