Scoliosis exercises come in many shapes and sizes, however very few of them are worth the time and effort when it comes to this complicated spinal condition. Many attempts to treat an "idiopathic" (unknown cause) condition would be a frustrating experience for the patient and physician alike and treatment for Idiopathic scoliosis is no exception. For literally thousands of years, doctors, religious leaders, and the various "wise men" of the day have attempted to "crack the scoliosis treatment code" without success.
Devices that provide artificial correction of the spine have been developed and used since the beginning of recorded history and the first metal scoliosis brace was developed in 1575. To date, none of these devices have been able to reduce the steadily increasing rate of scoliosis surgery, nor alter the natural course of the condition.
Attempts to surgically "correct" idiopathic scoliosis have been utilized since 1865 and, while having improved dramatically since that time, still remain a highly invasive procedure with many complications and a poor long-term success rate.
So why isn't traditional "scoliosis treatment" working? Perhaps it is, because all previous attempts to treat scoliosis were primarily or solely aimed at treating the primary "symptom" of the condition and not the actual cause of scoliosis.
Virtually every accepted theory on the cause of idiopathic scoliosis is based on a yet to be discovered brain dysfunction or under-development in the automatic postural control centers of the brain stem (and a possible hormonal link as well), which means the scoliosis spine itself is really an outward symptom of a neurological disorder. Think of it this way, looking out the window one can't "see" the wind, but one can see the effects of the wind on the grass, trees, flags, etc. The same logic can be applied to "seeing" the effects of an unknown neurological disorder on the scoliosis spine as a curvature.
All of a sudden, it becomes very clear and obvious why the traditional scoliosis treatment methods (scoliosis braces and scoliosis fusion surgery) are very ineffective. One must treat scoliosis primarily as a neurological condition that has its primary effects on the spine in the form of a curvature.
Currently, the only known way to "tap into" or "re-train" the automatic postural control centers of the brain is by artificially changing where the brain perceives the major center masses of body are in relation to each other via highly specialized scoliosis exercises. In the typical scoliosis patient, the head, pelvis, and torso center masses aren't in line with each other and for whatever reason that doesn't set off any alarm bells in their brain's automatic postural control center telling their spines to self-correct and line the back up. The result of this is a crooked spine that doesn't send the message to the brain that something's wrong. The trick to "teaching" the crooked spine how to fix itself is to add weight to the patient's head, torso, and pelvis (according to the needs of the patient) so their brain will "recognize" these respective center masses of these body part aren't in line and the brain's automatic control centers kick in and pull the spine back into alignment.
The brain will soon begin to learn these new neurological "pathways" and soon will learn to hold the scoliosis spine in a straighter position automatically. By placing increased demands on the spinal system the body's righting reflexes will automatically recruit muscle firing to stabilize the spine in gravity based on the new demand. Neurological adaptation occurs after approximately 120 days and a new muscle pattern will become the set point altering the spines three dimensional position in gravity.
Dr Dovorany and Dr Stitzel provide custom individualized scoliosis exercise boot camp programs for both children and adults. Click here for more information about our scoliosis exercises
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Brian_T_Dovorany
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