Can a Chiropractor Help With Scoliosis And Posture Problems?

How Can a Chiropractor Help With Posture Misalignments

Can a chiropractor help with posture and scoliosis is a common question within the chiropractic world. More so, considering either of these may affect most people to some extent. Many of us get on with life without realizing our spines are taking the hit of our daily routines. We just walk around with a beginning of bad posture or scoliosis (sideways bent spine) but don’t know it. 

This isn’t only happening in the US but all around the world. And it might surely apply to you as well! If you are sitting in front of a computer all day with your head protruding towards the screen or walking with a forward bend on your upper back and slouchy shoulders, know these can evolve into proper posture problems. 

One of the best things to do if you want to overcome such issues is to visit an experienced chiropractor. When a new patient visits our Los Gatos chiropractic clinic, one of the first things we evaluate is their posture. We are very mindful of this because we know that one’s posture communicates a plethora of information about their health.

To an experienced chiropractor, a person's posture may point to a structural problem, an injury, some bad habits, potential future ailments, and even their general well-being. This evaluation begins even before a single word is uttered.

If you are interested in finding out if and how can a chiropractor help with scoliosis and posture problems, read on!

What Is Scoliosis

This can be a very debilitating and painful condition, depending on how serious it is. Even though most people with scoliosis will experience a mild version of it, it will still cause pain. 

Scoliosis affects the spine by disfiguring it sideways. People suffering from it may experience difficulty breathing, reduced lung capacity, and damage to some organs. In addition, there are obvious life quality issues like the inability to do some physical tasks and chronic pain. Approximately 10% of patients will need corrective surgery.

The main aim of a scoliosis treatment is to prevent it from progressing, so early diagnosis is very important. Unfortunately, many patients are diagnosed after they have serious symptoms.

It is known that 3% of the US population has some level of scoliosis and 80% of Americans will experience back pain sometime during their life. Even though both scoliosis and bad posture may be considered posture problems, scoliosis remains a very serious ailment and has different causes and treatments compared to bad posture. 

Can a Chiropractor Help With Scoliosis?

If you’re among the ones wondering "can a chiropractor help with scoliosis?” the short answer is YES!

Chiropractic medicine is very well suited to assist scoliosis sufferers as it has a deep understanding of the musculoskeletal system, the nervous system, the spine, and the ailments associated with them. 

Chiropractors place importance on spine alignment and health. When a patient visits, one of the first things the chiropractor notices is their posture. Even patients with early-stage scoliosis with no complaints or symptoms are likely to be diagnosed during their visit to an experienced chiropractor. 

As the patient who is aware of their illness is one step ahead in choosing a treatment path, consulting a chiropractor is always a very good start. 

But chiropractic contribution doesn’t end there. In an ongoing treatment, the chiropractor will help ease the suffering, slow down, stop the progression of the illness, and possibly reverse it. Chiropractors have many tools to help spine alignment through manipulations, stretches, soft tissue manipulations, massage, and postural corrections. 

Your chiropractor may prescribe some corrective or strengthening exercises and teach you how to do them at home. 

Finally, your chiropractor may work in cooperation with your medical doctor in case you definitely need a posture corrector, or surgical intervention. 

Now that we’ve explained why a chiropractor can really help with scoliosis, let’s get into the more prevalent posture issue. Posture problems are much more widely experienced and typically less severe than scoliosis.

Why Is Posture Important

If you are interested in discovering how a chiropractor can help with posture, we’ll explain why posture is so important. 

Physical Importance

Good posture is considered as maintaining the natural position of the spine when seated, standing, and even lying down. This is your head right on top of your torso, with the right curvature of your neck, torso, and lower back spine. 

When correctly aligned and kept in a healthy posture, our spine is at its strongest to carry our body all day long. 

However, when your spine is positioned in unnatural positions such as keeping your head forward (as some do while looking at a computer screen) or hunching over, you create bad posture. 

When our posture is poor, the spine is less capable of bearing the weight of our bodies, becoming more susceptible to injury. This prolonged stress on the vertebrae results in painful and debilitating ailments. 

In some cases, posture issues are caused by rounded shoulders. This happens when instead of being at both sides of the body, shoulders protrude. This causes a hunchback, higher shoulder blades, tight chest, and stretched back muscles. 

Curious to know how a chiropractor can help with posture? 

Your chiropractor will be able to help you fix this problem by doing spinal alignment maneuvers, soft tissue release, stretching and strengthening exercises. 

Remain unchecked, bad posture will lead to pain and possibly more serious problems such as herniated disks, arthritis, and chronic disabilities.

Social Importance

Our posture is quite possibly the first thing people notice about us. It’s how we project ourselves onto the world. Even a slightly problematic posture causes us to be perceived as shy or lacking self-confidence. 

As we are social creatures, we are affected by what we observe. Non-trained individuals will notice this without even realizing, and sometimes will reach the wrong conclusions.

Psychological Importance

Current research shows a correlation between posture and mental health. For example, people with anxiety tend to have poor posture. The interesting thing is that sitting straight and focusing on posture engagement alleviates anxiety by slowing breathing and increasing the secretion of GABA (a brain relaxing neurotransmitter). It seems anxiety and posture have a feedback loop. They can trigger each other both positively and negatively.

Now that you know the undeniable importance of good posture, it’s time to know how a chiropractor can help correct and maintain it!

How Can a Chiropractor Help You With Posture?

Correct Diagnosis

When you visit our chiropractic office you’ll notice a few differences in comparison to seeing a medical doctor. We too ask about your complaints and take notes, but spend considerably longer time with you than a doctor would. 

We focus on getting to know you. Your history, family health issues (as they may be hereditary), where you are feeling pain, and more. All while we observe your general aspect, like the state of your skin, which can show, for example, signs of poor sleep. We also look into any obvious movement problems, breathing patterns and, of course, your posture. 

Chiropractic medicine takes posture quite seriously, much more so than medical practitioners. When you visit a medical doctor for a complaint, they won’t likely be concerned with your posture. Modern, purely science-based medicine isn’t holistic. It almost always only addresses the single complaint you are consulting for. 

On the other hand, even if a patient visits a chiropractor with an unrelated complaint, the chiropractor will always address their posture problems as well. It doesn’t matter if the patient is not aware of or troubled by their posture irregularities. 

To make matters worse, even close friends and relatives may feel reluctant to tell you about your posture problems. It may be a touchy subject. Many patients that visit us in our Los Gatos office are surprised to find out about their posture issues because of this! No one told them about it before.

This is perhaps the first of many ways your chiropractor can help confront bad posture. By taking it seriously and not overlooking it. 

Early Diagnosis

Due to the importance given to posture and early diagnosis, your chiropractor will prevent your posture problems from causing damage to your anatomy. We address it long before it becomes symptomatic.

Chiropractic Adjustments And Other Specific Treatments 

Your chiropractor will know your specific condition in detail before deciding on a suitable treatment. Typically, we’ll interview you during our first meeting, do a hands-on examination, and use other diagnostic tools to have a clear picture of your problem.

Only then, we carry out some necessary adjustments to reduce the nerve pressure and allow the joints to have better movement. The adjustments have the additional benefit of giving patients awareness of their posture.

However, adjustments are but one tool your chiropractor utilizes. Wellness care such as soft tissue work, breathing techniques, exercises, and stretches are some others that will aid in helping you.

In some cases it may take just a few visits to correct a posture problem. As long as the patient becomes aware of their posture, is cooperative, and carries out the recommended exercises and techniques at home, a simple problem won’t take very long to overcome. 

Non-Surgical

Many people with unchecked bad posture end up with serious problems that may need surgery or (potentially harmful or addictive) medications. Chiropractic practices are a non-surgical and non-pharmaceutical alternative to this.

With an early diagnosis and treatment addressing the root causes, bad posture can be overcome efficiently through tried and true methods. 

Chiropractic Health Care, Final Thoughts

Posture problems exist on a wide scale. On one end is the mild but consistent chronic pain and, on the other end, life-altering herniated discs or surgery requiring scoliosis. An experienced chiropractor is well suited to assist you wherever you may be on this spectrum. 

A chiropractor will implement the best diagnostic tools and treatments with the least possible side effects, and hopefully, you won’t end up needing any surgeries or pharmaceuticals.

Hoping that this article answered your “can a chiropractor help with scoliosis and posture problems?” question, we are waiting for you in our office to discuss more.

So don’t hesitate to book an appointment today!

In the meantime, you might also like: 

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