Condition of the Month: Scoliosis

This month’s health observance is about scoliosis.(Wikipedia entry) Basically, scoliosis is an abnormal curvature of your spine when looking at you from the front or back. Some of the side effects of scoliosis include back pain and altered function of the organs within your abdominal & chest cavity.

www.healthsystem.virginia.edu

What causes scoliosis?

Essentially there are two types. One is due to a malformation of your spinal vertebrae which then leads to the abnormal curvature (congenital scoliosis). The other is most commonly due to an imbalance in the spinal muscles (idiopathic/functional scoliosis).

How can scoliosis be treated?

If the scoliosis is due to a malformation of the spinal vertebrae, bracing or surgery may be warranted, all dependent upon the severity. If scoliosis is due to an imbalance in spinal muscles, we first must determine what’s causing the imbalance. Functionally speaking, the imbalance is most commonly due to some altered function in the kidney’s or bladder. You’ll also see a functional weakness and tightness of the corresponding psoas muscle, which is on the front side (anterior) of the spine.

I commonly find that people with functional scoliosis have heavy metal toxicity and inability to utilize certain minerals. They are also dehydrated and stressed out to the max!

Here’s my recommendations:

• Find a chiropractor well trained in functional medicine who understands manual muscle testing (especially an Applied Kinesiologist). He or she will probably make nutritional recommendations as well as detoxification recommendations.
• Get your spine in alignment. By stimulating specific nerve pathways, your body can relax the spastic muscles and turn on the inhibited muscles.
• Get hydrated. Drink at least 1 liter of water for every 50 lbs of body weight.