Yesterday, on the TV show “The Doctors,” they included a segment on scoliosis. At first I was thrilled that a major show was finally covering scoli, but when I realized how they were covering it, the rage began to set in. By the end of the piece, I literally felt nauseous and thought I might have to run to the bathroom to throw-up. Seriously.
Take a look for yourself: Clip 1, Clip 2
Interestingly, if you watch closely, you’ll see that this young woman’s lumbar curve progressed 20-30 degrees from the time they taped the first segment to the time the surgery takes place. See how the doctor talks about her X-rays in each segment? This is not a natural progression of scoliosis for a person her age. I’d wager it happened because she was doing nothing to manage her scoli.
After watching the footage, I furiously posted this comment to the show’s Facebook page:
I’m saddened, and quite frankly disgusted, with how this show covered scoliosis in this beautiful young woman’s case. I have scoliosis, am a former Radio City Rockette, am a Pilates instructor, and am author who has devoted my career to helping those with scoliosis. There are always non-surgical solutions to improve the lives of those with scoliosis. This woman complains of pain. I guarantee that she will still have pain after the surgery, both physical and emotional. Surgery doesn’t take the scoliosis out of her, emotionally or physically. I can’t believe that the only hope this show offered people with scoliosis was in essence a Home Depot tool commercial – you physically showed her body being sawed apart and drilled into. I pray you will be more mindful of showing other ways to deal with scoliosis in the future, besides just surgery, because there are many.
I invite you to take a deep dive into the articles on movement and scoliosis contained on the Spiral Spine website. Read first-hand accounts from others with scoliosis, and learn how they’re managing their scoliosis with movement, structural integration, Pilates, Schroth, and more. Hear from those who’ve undergone spinal fusion surgeries, and learn about their experiences, both before and after. Educate yourself with products designed to give you the knowledge you need to take the best care of your body.
If you’ve already had spinal surgery, please know you still need to take care of your body. The surgery doesn’t “cure” you of scoli. You still have to keep your body strong and mobile, but you must train wisely.
While you can clearly see where I stand on fusions, I nevertheless have many clients that come to me post-fusion surgery because they are in pain, something they thought surgery would fix, but didn’t. Surgeries often beget other surgeries because the patient isn’t told they must still move their body wisely. I love on these fusion clients, and I teach them to love their own bodies while showing them that movement heals.
#IAmScoliBeautiful #ScoliosisWarrior #BentButNeverBroken
Michelle Fernandes says
June 1, 2018 at 8:37 amMy 11 year old daughter was told she has mild scoliosis by her pediatrician about a year ago. The pediatrician saw the horrified look in my eyes when she said that and assured me me it was “nothing, we’ll justkeep our eyes on it.” Well, just yesterday, at my daughter’s 12 year old check up, I asked her pediatrician to give her spine another look because I have been noticing her walking and running funny, not normal. (Since she was first told she had mild scoliosis, I’ve been making sure to remind my daughter to maintain her posture at all times per doctors orders.) After the pediatrician had her bend forward she did notice more curvature than last time and said that it was likely that thos occured due to a growth spurt over the last year (from 20% last year to 60% this year on the growth chart for kids her age) and that’s why the dr. never really noticed how bad it was. She finally ordered xrays for my daughter to check for scoliosis. I saw the screen after the took the xrays and noticed a decidedly prominent curve especially in the lower spine region. My question is, what can I have my daughter do at home to prevent more curve progression and pain? Thank you.
Erin Myers says
June 1, 2018 at 9:27 amThere’s SO MUCH you can do, and don’t let your doctor convince you otherwise. First off, watch the Starting Point series (look at the top icon bar of this site) and watch those short free videos. It’ll tell you how to start being proactive on your journey and what steps to take. I have many products that you can also use to help you be proactive. Go to the shop page of this site and look at everything. There’s lots that will inform you and help your daughter. Once you get a handle on how you can be proactive, then you need to find a few practitioners in your town that can walk along this journey with you. It’ll be alright, and I’m so proud of you for wanting to be proactive about your daughter’s spinal health. You can do this! Blessings, Erin Myers
Greg says
October 31, 2018 at 3:51 pmI think you should look more into schroth physiotherapy, it’s a non-surgical form of treatment that stops curve progression and helps to correct spinal curvature. Always consult with a doctor before starting treatment but I’m going to include 2 links that might be helpful in your own research the first is to an article from scoliosis care centers that explains what schroth physiotherapy much better than I can https://scoliosiscarecenters.com/schroth-physiotherapy/
And the next link I am posting is for a study that supports that schroth physiotherapy improves spinal curvature https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3847831/ it’s a peer reviewed study and it’s from a reliable source. Overall just do your research scoliosis care centers specializes in nonsurgical scoliosis treatment so there are many more articles on there an alternative treatment forms.