Can a Chiropractor Help With Scoliosis? The Impressive Benefits

Many people experience back pain from time to time. It’s frustrating and annoying to feel like you can’t do the things you normally do. But for the more than six million people with scoliosis, that pain is a part of daily life.

Living with a curved spine can be debilitating and leave you feeling defeated. Especially when you’ve been told the only option is an invasive surgery. Too many people with scoliosis never get the help they need because they don’t know who can help.

Finding the right treatment is the key to managing your condition. If you’ve ever wondered, “Can a chiropractor help with scoliosis?”, we’ve got your answers! Check out this guide for everything you need to know about this option!

Signs of Scoliosis to Watch Out For

It’s normal to experience some back pain every once in a while. That happens to everyone, regardless of their lifestyle or any conditions they have. But it’s not normal for it to continue on without any relief. This is usually an indicator that there’s something bigger going on, like scoliosis.

The first sign of scoliosis is a very stiff back. It can be a lot harder for people with this condition to bend and twist than those with a straight spine. You may notice that mobility in general is on a decline.

You’ll also likely see some asymmetry throughout the body. This includes uneven hips or shoulders and ribcages that are off-center. Watching for these differences can help you start treatment fast to stop progression.

Getting a Scoliosis Diagnosis

There is a wide range of levels within the scoliosis condition. Some people have a minor curve and some have a major one. An official diagnosis can help create a customized treatment plan.

When the doctor does their exam, they’ll first do a visual inspection of the spine. They’re looking for any obvious curving or uneven areas of the body. If they do see some signs, they’ll order an X-ray. The X-ray will show exactly how curved the spine is and to what degree you’re working with it.

This specific information is crucial to finding a path towards relief.

Problems With Not Treating Scoliosis

Once you get a scoliosis diagnosis, one of the first things you’ll hear about is surgery. For most cases, this is the only thing that will permanently straighten the spine. Many doctors don’t talk about other options for improving and managing the issues. They want to skip right to this final step.

But most people don’t want to have an invasive surgery. So they put off any kind of treatment.

This can be dangerous and make your problem much worse. Most curves will continue to progress when left without any kind of scoliosis treatment. That means you run the risk of not being able to move the way you want or having other kinds of injuries.

Typical Scoliosis Treatment Options

For many years, if you wanted to treat scoliosis without surgery, that meant you had to wear a brace. This device strapped around your torso and was pulled tight. It’s designed to help get your spine into the right position and then keep it there.

These kinds of braces are very effective in keeping the curve from getting worse. And that’s why they’re especially common for kids and teens who are still growing.

Beyond a brace, it’s important for a patient to find things that bring relief from the pain and discomfort. And that’s where chiropractic care comes into the treatment plan.

Potential for Some Instant Relief

Living with scoliosis means a lot of pain and discomfort. There’s often no real way to get comfortable because the spine is out of alignment. Going to the chiropractor can mean some immediate relief by fixing those pain points.

A chiropractor is trained to help push the body back into the proper position. They manipulate the difficult area until things are lined up straight. This can help with the unevenness that often comes from scoliosis, especially in the hips and shoulders.

Leveling everything out relieves pressure points that are the cause of pain. It won’t fix the curve in your spine, but it can get rid of some of the other issues.

Better Prepared for Healing

Exercise has been described as the best medicine for a reason. A strong body is better able to heal than one that is weak. And that’s certainly true for managing scoliosis. The problem is, scoliosis symptoms make it very hard to live an active, healthy lifestyle.

Getting scoliosis adjustments can help make exercise much easier. One of the biggest benefits of better alignment is increased mobility. After an adjustment, patients don’t have the same kind of stiff limits they may have felt before. They’re better able to walk, stretch, and even lift weights.

This kind of activity means stronger muscles. Those stronger muscles will play a role in continuing to heal the spine.

Slows Curve Progression

The biggest problem with having scoliosis is that the curve can continue to get worse. This is a problem because the more curve, the more pain. A severe case makes it hard to do daily tasks and keep up with activities.

Getting adjustments can help to reduce the progression and even stop it altogether.

As your body is placed in the right alignment more often, it can begin to go there naturally. The relief from pain makes it easier to do the things that keep you in the right position as well. Regular visits to the chiropractor can help make managing scoliosis much easier.

Improve Daily Posture

One of the biggest side effects of scoliosis is how it affects your posture. A curved spine makes it very hard to stand up straight with good alignment. Poor posture then leads to a lot of other problems like headaches, breathing issues, and muscle strain.

Getting an adjustment can help you to be able to stand up straighter. The chiropractor will specifically target the pain points that are keeping you from reaching that goal. Getting rid of those issues means you’ll be able to stay in the straight position for longer.

The more you get this kind of treatment, the easier it is to get into that position.

Eliminate Pressure on Other Body Parts

The spine is the center of the body. So it makes sense that when it’s off, the rest of the body will start to have issues as well. This is especially true when the curve of your spine causes you to stand unevenly.

That crookedness means there’s more pressure on one side of the body than the other. When you stay like that too long, you’re going to run into some serious pain. Luckily, this is something that chiropractors fix in all kinds of patients (not just scoliosis patients). So they’re true experts.

Before your adjustment, the chiropractor will test your symmetry. They’ll make note of what they observe is off. Then they’ll be sure to focus on those areas to bring you the most relief possible.

Easily Combine With Other Treatments

When you’re in constant pain but trying to avoid surgery, you’ll want to try everything you can. Visiting the chiropractor can easily be added to other treatments without any issues. And you can make your chiropractic treatment as flexible as possible.

If you’ve been given a brace to wear, you can easily do that when you’re not at the chiropractor. Or if you’ve been prescribed more physical activity, these adjustments can help you with that.

When you work with a chiropractor who has a holistic approach, you can try all of the options. They’ll help you find the right balance for your body to get to the best healing.

Every scoliosis case is different, so it might take some trial and error to find what works best for you!

Develop a Customized Treatment Plan

It’s a good idea to discuss your other plans with your chiropractor. This way they can make sure what they’re doing is going to be the most effective for you.

They can help you develop a stretching and strengthening plan to work on after your visits. A more focused approach will help you get the most relief and stop the profession of your curve. It’s important to be as consistent as possible with your developed plan.

Your chiropractor won’t be able to gauge what is working and what isn’t in the plan when you’re skipping pieces. The best results come over a long period. Stick with it!