Reduce Your Scoliosis Without Surgery

Dr. Diana D'Angelo, DC
CLEAR Certified
Long Island, NY Scoliosis Specialist

What is Scoliosis?

Before going into what scoliosis is, it is important to understand what a normal spine should look like. From the front, the spine should be straight. From the side, the spine should have three curvatures. Scoliosis is a condition in which the body develops abnormal curvatures. When an individual develops scoliosis, curvatures develop where they are not supposed to. Many scoliotic curvatures can look like an ‘S’ or a ‘C’ shape. A scoliosis can develop in one part of the spine or multiple areas. There are many kinds of scoliosis but the most common form is

“Idiopathic” which means there is no definite cause.

Symptoms of Scoliosis

Scoliosis effects the nervous system and how it functions. Therefore, scoliosis can cause multiple different symptoms. Symptoms include poor posture, pain, numbness, tingling, breathing issues, digestive issues, etc.

Different Levels of Scoliosis

There are different levels of scoliosis which include mild, moderate and severe. Mild is a curvature that is less than 20 degrees. Moderate is a curvature in between 25 and 45. A severe curvature is 45 degrees and greater.

Why CLEAR?

Many people think that there are only two ways to treat scoliosis which are bracing and surgery. The good news is that there are more options than ever before! Instead of watching and waiting for the scoliosis to progress, you or your child can receive treatment to get ahead of the curve! Scoliosis involves the spine, brain and nervous system. CLEAR addresses all of these when treating scoliosis.

Physical Assessment

We begin by conducting a comprehensive, physical assessment to gather information about the function of the entire spine.

X-rays are needed so that the doctor knows what your body needs.

Ongoing assessments are conducted at regular intervals to monitor progress and refine the treatment plan.

How Treatment Works

Islip Chiropractic treats patients with a customized neuromuscular re-education program that includes treatment on various machines combined with exercises.

Spine Warm-up (Mix)

Before any chiropractic adjustments, the patient should warm up their spine using the following techniques.

Wobble Chair:
The chair sits upon a ball-and-socket joint and flexes in every direction to put the spine through a full range of motion.

Standing Cervical Traction:
This technique is used actively by the patient to achieve gentle, repetitive spinal traction, scientifically proven to relax the ligaments and soft tissues of the spine.

Eckard Flexion Table:
A special motorized table with belts that pulls the scoliotic curves out of the spine, and re-structures the ligaments after they have been relaxed.

Adjusting The Spine (Fix)

Adjusting instruments enhance the effectiveness of treatment while also reducing the amount of force required to correct the spine.

All adjustments are guided by the information obtained from the patient’s assessments.

Follow up examinations are used to confirm the correction of the curve.

Lock In Spinal Corrections (Set)

After the adjustment is completed, the spine is “set” in its corrected position.

This involves spinal weighting protocols, neuromuscular re-education and whole body vibration.

A custom designed scoliosis exercise and stretching program is also conducted at home two to three times daily.