Discover Options to Scoliosis Surgery in the Tampa/ St. Petersburg Area
If you’ve were told that you or your child needs scoliosis surgery, it likely shocked you a bit. You probably wondered “Isn’t there another option?”
The answer is quite possibly yes. There are a lot of non-surgical scoliosis options that are now available. Some are better than others. It comes down to knowing what to look for when trying to find the right doctor to treat your scoliosis without surgery.
5 Things to Investigate When Looking for a Non-Surgical Scoliosis Doctor
1. The Specialist is Certified In the Treatment of Scoliosis
If you are facing surgery you want to be certain to choose a doctor that specialized and is Certified to treat scoliosis rather than just someone who treats scoliosis patients as a sideline.
Gary Deutchman, D.C. and Marc Lamantia, D.C. were among the first doctors to be trained and Certified Providers of SpineCor, a flexible, dynamic tension brace for scoliosis treatment. It has a patented design that helps correct abnormal movement patterns found in scoliosis to help stop the progression and correct curvatures.
Although SpineCor was developed initially for adolescents several years ago our doctors felt that adults would benefit from Spinecor too. So they helped the company pioneer adaptations to make it available for adult scoliosis too.
They travel to more than a dozen regional centers across the US and work tirelessly to help both adolescent and adult patients with their scoliosis. In the process they have treated thousands of patients becoming the most experienced SpineCor providers in the country.
People seek out our clinics for non-surgical treatment of scoliosis because our doctors advanced training and multiple certifications in scoliosis treatment. This has established them as leaders in the field of non-surgical scoliosis treatment and earned them recognition for their work.
A patient, actress Ashley Argota who plays Lulu on Nickelodeon’s “True Jackson VP” discusses her success with her SpineCor brace and our specialized scoliosis exercises. This is what she said:
Many of our other patient’s enjoyed similar successes with their scoliosis and shared their experiences with us on our Youtube Channel – Scoldoc.
2. Scoliosis Treatment – Backed By Research
Ask if the doctor if their methods of treatment are “Evidence Based” and back up by research. Unqualified providers using untested methods with equipment that looks like it was made in their basement will tell you that is not important, but you should know if their methods stand up to scientific scrutiny!
Evidence based treatment means that it has been researched and found to be effective in the scientific literature. We encourage the people that contact us to do their homework and interview doctors before they make a decision. Those that do tend to choose us because they learn that our equipment and methods are backed up in the literature. Click her to Learn More About the Research Behind Our Scoliosis Treatment.
Scoliosis Care Foundation, our non-profit organization, was founded as a way to support scientific research on non-surgical treatments of scoliosis. We created our Parent’s Guide to Scoliosis to help better educate parents about non-surgical, evidence based scoliosis treatments as a FREE download on our Facebook page.
3. Scoliosis Exercises Should Be Highly Specific and Unidirectional
What do I mean by “unidirectional”?
Scoliosis may appear on x-ray like a side to side abnormality, but it is far more than that. It is a unilateral rotation dysfunction of the spine where the spine coils, kind of like the helix of a spring.
Straightening out a crooked spine requires specific rehabilitative exercises that are only done in one direction in each area of the spine to correct counter rotation dysfunctions of the shoulder girdle, the torso and the hips. This means that unlike most other exercises scoliosis exercises MUST only be done in on area of the spine that is counter rotated to the area found above or below.
Since almost all other exercise programs are taught to be performed in both directions this can create a problem by doing the exercise in the wrong direction, causing scoliosis curvatures to worsen!
We recommend the Schroth Method of “scoliosis specific exercise” originally developed over the past 80 years ago in Germany. Because it is highly effective and well regarded in the scoliosis literature it has become the Gold Standard in scoliosis treatment in much of Northern Europe.
Our doctors are among a handful of Schroth Certified Instructors in the US qualified to teach these highly specialized, unidirectional exercises for scoliosis.
4. Minimize the Exposure to Harmful Radiation
Although we cannot fully eliminate the need for x-rays in most cases of scoliosis we can significantly reduce it with an non-radiation alternative to x-rays called Formetric Rastersterography that we use to monitor a patient’s scoliosis improvement over their follow up visits.
Developed over 20 years ago, since that time this highly accurate technology has been used by research universities and orthopedic offices in Europe for scoliosis monitoring. With this we can reduce our patients x-ray exposure over the course of care by as much 75%!
5. Scoliosis Related Conditions Treated with Latest Technology
Scoliosis causes are many so treatment varies as well. Your specialist should be up to speed with all the latest breakthroughs. One of the most intriguing neurological causes comes from the field of pediatric neurology and involves misalignment of the upper cervical spine affecting the portion of the brain that controls posture, movement and balance.
When the top vertebra, called the Atlas, moves out of alignment it causes pressure to these underlying structures that can cause a back up of cerebral spinal fluid surrounding the brain that adversely affects control of balance and postural. These can significantly aggravate a scoliosis so relieving the source of this pressure can help reduce the neurological contribution of the scoliosis curvatures.
We incorporate treatment to reduce this type of misalignment in our office. It is called Atlas Orthogonal (AO) and is aa sophisticated system of treatment and analysis that can determine the exact nature of the misalignment with precise x-rays of the upper neck.
If a misalignment is found that is contributing to your scoliosis then this highly effective treatment will gently re-aligns the vertebra using a gentle pulsed Orthogonal instrument to relieve the fluid pressures in the brain. During your initial evaluation in our office if it is determined that misalignment of the Atlas is present then further Atlas Orthogonal work up will be recommended to determine is this is contributing to your scoliosis.
Looking for alternative scoliosis treatment in the Tampa/ St. Petersburg area? Then give us a call to find out if one of our research backed treatments could help you. Our doctors offer a FREE Phone Consultation to discuss the particulars of your case with you. Call today and find out if non-surgical scoliosis is right for you.
Don’t Delay, Knowledge is power. Call Now! (877)560-0567
One of our doctors will get a hold of you to discuss your case with you within the next 24 hours.
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Email your question to us at Scoliosis Care Foundation on Facebook.
Dr. Brett Diaz, D.C.
Director of Patient Education
Spine Cor Associates of St. Petersburg
418 94th Avenue
St. Petersburg, FL 33702
(727)346-8624