Hello! Today I’m sharing information I wish I had about 20 years ago. It’s related to natural ways to heal scoliosis (s-shaped spine).

When I was 13 I was diagnosed with scoliosis, and at the time, I was told by conventional allopathic medical doctors that the only thing to do was wait until I was out of the growth spurt (about 2 years) and then have surgery to lock the curvature of the spine as it was and prevent it from getting worse. At the time, about 20 years ago, this was the best allopathic medicine could do.

So, with no other information available to me (or my parents) at the time, the choice was made. The surgery ended up being surgeries (2 of them) and those went well from the standpoint of they were intended to do, place metal bands to lock the spine curvature and prevent it from getting worse. But they broke me emotionally and mentally, from the feeling of powerlessness of being in a hospital for many weeks (not an uplifting environment in general) to the changes in my back that were done then. And I ended up developing OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder, an anxiety related mental disorder), something that took me the next 20 years to clear. Also, in my mid-twenties, my body started to reject the metal plates, so I had to have another surgery to remove them. And honestly, I’m very happy to be without them now!

And let me just make this point clear: I’m not blaming allopathic medicine or the doctors who do the best they can with what they know, but I do want to point out that we’re all human, and we don’t know everything. So I wanted to write this article to present a couple of other ways of dealing with scoliosis or other spine problems that don’t imply surgery. And although these may not be able to heal all spine deviations, they can certainly help correct them in a much more gentle and natural way.

Generally speaking, spine curvature disorders are due to imbalances in the strength of the muscles that support it, either back muscles or hip muscles. In practical terms, one side or group of muscles is much stronger than the other, and pulls the spine from its normal central alignment. And knowing this is very important, because it opens up the mind and body to the possibility of natural healing and finding new solutions to correct that muscle strength imbalance. Knowing what causes the deviation empowers the person to take their health choices into their hands; the condition stops being a mystery that needs drastic measures, and it actually starts to feel “correctable”.

One way those muscle imbalances can be corrected is through acupuncture. What it does is find out the underlying reasons that caused some muscles to get weak, and corrects those reasons, while stimulating or toning the weakened muscles. It can also work the other way, meaning, if there is an imbalance that is causing the other muscles to be abnormally developed and strong, it can correct that imbalance too.

Another way that scoliosis or other spine curvature imbalances can be corrected is directly through specific exercises, and osteopathic medicine is very well versed in spine alignment correction. We’re talking about muscle strength, after all, so to balance those muscles with exercise makes perfect sense. These exercises should be overseen by an expert, of course, because a self-made exercise program can make things worse if it’s not targeting the correct muscle groups. With that said, I found and use an exercise video that is “tailored” to the exact curvature I had. And I say had because, even though no doctor ever told me that it could be corrected, I am seeing my posture get better. The video is called “How to Correct a Scoliosis With Exercise and Stretching”.
 

There are also clinics that specialize in programs to correct spine deviations now, usually using a multidisciplinary approach, and they’re becoming more frequent and accessible throughout the world. One of the first methods used in clinics was the “Schroth Method”. This method was very well known in many European countries since the 1960´s and is now being used in posture correction clinics worldwide.

More and more information is coming out about natural ways to correct spine deviations, so, if you or someone you know suffers from any kind of spine imbalance, know that there are alternatives to surgery, and they are much more gentle and natural, holistic ways to approach healing.