Scoliosis Treatment with Dr. Tony Nalda

Scoliosis is not just a misalignment of the spine. It is a progressive, uncurable condition. No matter what method you’re using, whether it be surgical, conservative treatment, whatever it is, there’s no fixing it. However, it can be managed and treated proactively with conservative treatment and Chiropractic can be a modality within that program that you’re using to help manage a Scoliosis patient. Does chiropractic care help scoliosis? Can a chiropractor correct scoliosis? How can Chiropractic help? Can scoliosis be fixfed? A lot of patients with Scoliosis will have symptoms such as: Muscle Spasm Pain These can draw a patient in a Chiropractic direction and they will start getting some Chiropractic adjustments. Depending on the type of scoliosis if idiopathic scoliosis, adolescent idiopathic scoliosis or neuromuscular scoliosis, the patients will be asked to do some exercises or maybe some basic therapy and they will feel better. Since they’re feeling better now, the patients will think they are treating scoliosis and that the curve is actually reducing but what’s really happening is the treatment that was provided is helping reduce the pain and some of the symptoms that they were feeling. It’s very different than actually doing a program that’s going to reduce the curve more than what they’re feeling. You can visit a family-based chiropractic practice or a famous chiropractor the goal is to receive corrective chiropractic care. While a chiropractor can provide supportive care for scoliosis, especially in managing symptoms, fully correcting scoliosis typically requires a more comprehensive approach, including targeted scoliosis treatment tailored to the individual's age, and may involve exercises designed to naturally improve spinal alignment. Treating the symptoms and treating the curvature are two different things. Although getting this type of Chiropractic care is a step in the right direction for scoliosis patients keep in mind, it is not a Scoliosis treatment. Scoliosis-Specific Chiropractic Care is multi-modal and includes much more than just Chiropractic Adjustments for scoliosis pain so make sure that the Chiropractor you’re going to is trained specifically to help reduce and manage Scoliosis and has been doing this for years. In this podcast, Dr. Tony Nalda also discussed: Clear Institute ISICO SSE ScoliBrace. Want to learn more? Check out Dr. Tony Nalda’s podcast below or head over to our YouTube channels and watch our YouTube videos. Musicbed SyncID: MB01JPRETTYKU6K

Scoliosis is measured in several categories:  Mild Scoliosis Moderate Scoliosis Severe Scoliosis What constitutes Mild Scoliosis? Mild Scoliosis is a curvature less than 25 degrees but greater than 10. If you went to the doctor and you were diagnosed with Mild Scoliosis, either as a child, adolescent, or an adult, and you asked them what should you do, they will tell you to do nothing. Which makes no sense. One thing that we do know is small curves eventually become big curves. What every big curve has in common is that it was once small. Nobody can tell you how fast your curve will progress and nobody knows how big your curve is going to become. But why risk it? The idea with mild curvature, you would want to reduce or manage them now so they don’t become anything that you don’t want them to be, later on. One reason that people don’t treat Mild Scoliosis is that they don’t feel any pain, especially in adolescent cases, so they don’t worry about it. Unfortunately, the opposite is true in adult cases, they almost always feel pain and it has no relationship to the size of the curve.  When dealing with adult cases, people that are in their 40s to 60s who have severe cases, one thing that they will always say to Dr. Nalda is, “I wish somebody would have told me this will worsen, I would have done something more about it.” The problem is most patients are told not to worry about it which is completely the wrong approach. The good thing about Mild Scoliosis though, they respond well to treatments. Patients have lots of options like therapy, rehab, and even bracing. The treatment results are fantastic for mild cases but when you don't seek the proper treatment, this tends to progress overtime. Want to know more? Check out Dr. Nalda’s podcast for more information. Musicbed SyncID: MB01VVBE6IWWAI6

How do we define the severity of Scoliosis? Scoliosis is defined as a curve that’s 10 degrees or greater with rotation. The curvature of the spine can be measured objectively using a Cobb angle to determine the degree of Scoliosis. Mild Scoliosis is between 10 and 25 degrees. Moderate Scoliosis curve 25 and 40 degrees. Severe Scoliosis is 40 degrees and greater. The feeling of Scoliosis can be different depending upon the patient. In this podcast, Dr. Nalda talks about how each case is unique based on multiple factors: In terms of where the curve is Is it an S-curve or a C-Curve? Age of the Patient Flexibility of the Patient When people talk about Scoliosis they don’t really talk about how it feels like but the questions you should be asking yourselves are: Can Scoliosis cause pain? Can it cause stiffness? Will the patient feel fatigued? Will it affect the patient’s balance? Will it affect the patient’s emotions? What is the best way to deal with these? Reduce the curve because you’ll get better improvement in all the things that you’re dealing with. The thing you must remember right now is if you know you have Scoliosis, don’t let it have a snowball effect. Don’t let it worsen, the best way to act is pre-emptively. The sooner you try to reduce it when things are just mild, the more likely you are to get a good result than let it worsen overtime. If you have any of these feelings regarding Scoliosis, check out Dr. Nalda’s podcast for more information. Musicbed SyncID: MB01W9FGJYN2I8V

Scoliosis bracing is one of the biggest controversies in the medical field. Some doctors believe in traditional bracing, while others completely avoid using it on their patients. Traditional bracing tries to stop curve progression by squeezing the area. But the only group of patients that can use this brace is children with mild to moderate scoliosis. The problem with squeezing scoliosis curves with traditional bracing is that it can cause muscle atrophy and weakness, and developing this can result in even more problems for the patient. After researching more information about traditional bracing, Dr. Nalda decided to try them on some of his patients. This process resulted in worse scoliosis progression in all the patients that tried traditional bracing. This trial and error helped the Scoliosis Reduction Center to develop a corrective-style bracing that could be used in all types of patients that could benefit from it. These corrective braces push into the curve and work as a complementary program to in-office rehabilitation and exercises. These corrective-style braces can be used in a wide variety of patients instead of traditional bracing, which is only used in children. Younger patients can benefit from corrective bracing by strengthening the spine to stop progression during growth spurs. Adult patients will also benefit from a smaller curve and greatly reduce the body pain caused by the condition. Musicbed SyncID: MB016D6WPQ3WHGL

Scoliosis patients are often concerned with what is the best way to sleep with scoliosis. Scoliosis has an indirect effect on how people sleep. It affects how comfortably they might lay down in their bed, it might cause discomfort when sleeping on their backs, and patients often need to find different sleeping positions. Scoliosis also impacts patients' ability to breathe properly, and lung impairment is greater when patients have thoracic scoliosis. But also, in patients with a different degree of scoliosis, there can be difficulty breathing as scoliosis progresses, especially when it is severe. Since scoliosis causes pain in some cases, patients who have scoliosis pain also struggle when sleeping. One of the solutions given to scoliosis patients is traditional bracing to hold the spine and prevent the curve from progressing. However, this type of bracing squeezes on the body and the ribs, and it creates a restriction feeling that prevents the patient from taking deep breaths. This makes the brace more difficult to wear the longer the patient wears it, and it can cause trouble when sleeping for patients. Corrective bracing, however, pushes the spine to become straighter, and as it straightens, it becomes easier to wear. Initially, with this brace, the patients might take shallow breaths, but it gets easier to take deeper breaths in time because their scoliosis is improving. That is why the best way to sleep with scoliosis is with a good corrective brace. There is no one way to sleep better for patients who do not have a brace and have thoracic scoliosis or lumbar scoliosis. Either way, they will put pressure on the spine, and there won't be a correction without the brace. All that can be done is finding a comfortable position to sleep with their scoliosis. When mattresses are too soft, patients sink into the mattress because they do not offer enough support. So, the best mattress is a firm one with a medium-size pillow top. Patients also inquire about different types of support to help their scoliosis, like using a pillow on their knees or other types of support. In general, any support to your spine and your scoliosis is better than none. The worse way to sleep with scoliosis is face down because the neck is twisted. The second worse way is on the side without any support on the knees or the torso. Now, the best way to sleep with scoliosis is on your back, and even better is sleeping with a brace on your back. It is always best to speak to your doctor and look for options to reduce your scoliosis because as scoliosis worsens, it becomes more difficult to sleep comfortably. But the straighter your curve becomes, the easier it will be to sleep with scoliosis. Musicbed SyncID: MB01JTYDCDA86EZ

Based on all current knowledge, scoliosis can not be fully corrected, even if people use that term or others such as "fixed" or "cured" when referring to their scoliosis. What we can do though, is manage the scoliosis by reducing the curve using conservative treatment methods. The traditional approach to scoliosis treatment is not proactive, and the approach is just to "watch and wait" until the risk of the scoliosis is higher than the risk of scoliosis surgery, which is an invasive treatment. Only when it reaches 40 degrees or more action is taken, and that is usually spinal fusion surgery. Some of the risks of spinal fusion are: Poor healing Infection Rejection of the rods Blod clots Limited flexibility Long recovery time Bleeding Possible future surgery Failed hardware Fusion extension surgery and more... Dealing with your scoliosis proactively with a conservative approach is preferred to dealing with invasive surgery and all its risks. This approach not only deals with the pain, if there is any, it also addresses the structural problem of scoliosis. A successful conservative approach is multimodal. It combines different approaches and treatments such as exercises, rehabilitation, chiropractic care, corrective bracing, vibration, and lots of other therapies to get the benefits of each one to manage better and reduce the patient's scoliosis. The proactive management prevents scoliosis from snowballing and progressing into adolescence or snowballing into adulthood, as it happens because of the effect of gravity over time in the spine. When looking at scoliosis management, we know we can't fix or cure it no matter what options you choose, but the more you manage your scoliosis, the fewer issues you are to experience with it later in life. If patients choose to manage scoliosis with chiropractic care, therapy, bracing, and other rehabilitation techniques used in the conservative proactive approach, the spine will maintain its use and normal function. Once you fuse the spine, it will be straight, but it loses its function since it can no longer move. The traditional approach leads to surgery. The conservative approach, being proactive, helps keep the curve down addresses the progression, and patients do not need to deal with the risks of surgery. Musicbed SyncID: MB011PFAYBYUCA6

Dr. Tony talks about what patient-centered approach includes and why it is truly the best approach for the patient. He also explores what that will look like in the near future, improving the options that scoliosis patients have when it comes to treatment.

While some people think general chiropractic care can help fix a scoliosis curve, that isn't the case. Dr. Tony contrasts chiropractic care vs scoliosis-centered chiropractic to help clear this up. Dr. Tony also shares about this contrast, because he has been on both sides of the coin, and is now an expert known worldwide for his expertise in this matter.

The functional approach to scoliosis treatment utilizes four key pillars, when put together, allows scoliosis patients to actually see reductions in their curve, as well as improving quality of life. And, Dr. Tony talks about what these pillars are, and how each individual patient and curve requires a different mix of these four pillars of treatment. One-size-fits-all just doesn't work in scoliosis treatment, even for people with the same degree of curve.

For parents of a child with a scoliosis diagnosis, Dr. Tony says that they need to be their own advocate and he shares some insights into how to best address this tricky situation. He also talks about how myths about scoliosis can really affect treatment options that are considered.  

Dr. Tony addresses an aspect of a scoliosis diagnosis that many people do not think about: the emotional side of things. Yes, scoliosis is a structural and physical issue, but it can affect patients emotionally. He also shares what can often lead to frustrations with certain treatments, that then lead to other decisions about treatment.

Is scoliosis painful? Dr. Tony dives into this common concern, and answers this questions and busts some myths about scoliosis pain. Dr. Tony also looks at how scoliosis affects adolescent scoliosis patients vs adult patients.

In this episode, Dr. Tony talks about the traditional treatment model which includes "watch and wait", traditional bracing, and surgery. He also shared how the more modern, functional approach to scoliosis treatment is working for people, and how newer bracing techniques compare with the most popular types of braces.

In this episode, Dr. Tony talks about how both diet and exercise can affect scoliosis, and how they can help if you're getting the right kind of treatment. What foods are good or bad for scoliosis? What exercises are good or bad for scoliosis? Dr. Tony sheds light on these popular questions.

In this episode, Dr. Tony explores some of the popular myths about scoliosis, and also helps answer questions people have about confusing aspects of scoliosis and scoliosis treatment. He also explains why "watch and wait" is one of the worst myths regarding scoliosis treatment as well as why scoliosis pain is not the best indicator for scoliosis. Also, he discusses pregnancy myths related to a scoliosis diagnosis.