Challenges Faced by Adults with Scoliosis
Living with scoliosis is challenging, especially when it comes to managing chronic back pain and maintaining good posture. Scoliosis is a condition characterized by an abnormal curvature of the spine, which can cause discomfort, limited mobility, and even difficulty in performing daily activities. While scoliosis is often associated with adolescents, it can also affect adults, and finding effective solutions for relieving pain and enhancing posture becomes crucial.
Chiropractic care offers a promising avenue for adults with scoliosis to relieve back pain and enhance their posture. With advanced training, chiropractors like me can treat and manage scoliosis through non-invasive and drug-free methods.
Chiropractic Care as a Solution for Scoliosis related Back Pain
One of the primary concerns for adults with scoliosis is managing the persistent back pain that often accompanies the condition. During the first appointment, I will conduct a thorough individualized assessment to determine how the scoliotic curve affects your daily activities.
Scoliotic curves cause asymmetry on either side of the body. With gravity causing a downward pull on the body, an abnormal curve can cause poor posture and pain due to muscle imbalances and nonconscious favoritism towards one side of the curve.
Scoliosis specific exercises are vital in managing scoliosis. As a chiropractor I incorporate these elements so that you can grasp self-managing techniques that will help your stay out of pain. Often I find that this approach involves paying attention to the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles as an aid to support the body. Gluteal maximus is our large buttock muscle that primarily supports the body when we walk or shift our weight forward. If this buttock muscle is not properly activated or weakened, individuals may start involving their thigh or their smaller back muscles to support their body. This can be disastrous for scoliotic individuals since there is already an asymmetry in the spine that affects the muscle fibers and joints along that region.
Secondly, the gluteus medius muscle performs important day-to-day tasks such as supporting the body as we shift our weight side to side. The gluteus medius is a smaller buttock muscle on the outside of the hips. As stated earlier, the abnormal curvature in the spine will be fighting against downward gravity. Having strong gluteus medius muscles, will help you to have the right support system as the body shifts in activities of daily living.
Promoting Better Posture through Chiropractic Care
Improving posture is another key aspect of chiropractic care for adults with scoliosis. Poor posture can exacerbate the symptoms of scoliosis, leading to increased pain and discomfort. In this case, the Schroth method is used to aid in posture correction. The Schroth method approach uses exercises to de-rotate, elongate, and stabilize the spine.
The purpose of integrating the Schorth exercise method is to restore muscle symmetry and alignment, breathing into the concave side of the body and teaching individuals how to become aware of their posture. The abnormal curvatures in the spine can cause one side of the back muscles to weaken, while the other side of the muscles becomes overworked and tight.
That said, as a chiropractor I also use various exercises to target these findings to enhance muscle symmetry. In addition, abnormal spine curvatures can affect the ribs. To address this I include individualized individuals rotational angular breathing techniques to de-rotate the spine and reshape the surrounding soft tissues. Lastly, I also will help clients build their postural awareness through exercises. As part of my core chiropractic training, I also provide guidance on proper body mechanics and ergonomics. This includes recommendations on how to sit, stand, and move in ways that will aid in your postural awareness in activities of daily living.
Manual Therapy Options for Scoliosis Management
Aside from incorporating self-managing techniques for better posture and pain relief, chiropractic care offers a range of manual therapy options for managing scoliosis-related back pain. Hands-on therapy such as spinal mobilizations, soft tissue release, spinal adjustments can also alleviate pain and pressure on the affected nerves. This can also reduce back pain and improve the overall well-being of individuals with scoliosis. By addressing the underlying muscular imbalances associated with scoliosis, chiropractors can provide long-term relief from back pain.
The Orthopaedic Therapy Clinic has always been a leader in treating scoliosis-related pain, and you can read more about our approach. The recent addition of chiropractic care offers even more options for you to relieve back pain and enhancing posture in adults with scoliosis. Through a combination of gluteal awareness strategies and strengthening, Schroth Scoliosis Specific exercise techniques, and manual therapy, our chiropractic team can help individuals manage their condition and improve their quality of life. If you are an adult living with scoliosis, seeking chiropractic care may be a beneficial step towards relieving pain and improving your overall well-being.
