Scoliosis. Care focused on function, comfort and keeping watch.

Scoliosis is a sideways curve in the spine. Mild curves are common and often need nothing more than monitoring. Larger or progressing curves, especially in growing kids, need a team. Our role is conservative care: keeping the spine mobile, managing the pain that curves can cause, and measuring the curve so nothing is missed.

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Your first visit
  • History and hands-on exam first
  • X-ray on site, only when the exam calls for it
  • A plain-language explanation and a plan, or a referral

What to expect →

Sound familiar?

What scoliosis usually feels like.

  • One shoulder or hip sitting higher than the other
  • A rib hump or uneven waist visible when bending forward
  • Clothes that hang unevenly
  • Back fatigue or ache after standing, in teens or adults
  • In adults: one-sided low back pain, stiffness, or leg symptoms from a degenerative curve
  • A curve noted at a school or sports screening

What's usually going on

The mechanics behind it.

Chiropractic does not straighten a structural scoliosis, and we won't tell you otherwise. What conservative care can do is keep the joints along the curve moving, address the muscle imbalance that curves create, manage pain, and track the curve precisely so that if it's progressing, bracing or specialist referral happens on time rather than late.

In adults, scoliosis-related pain is usually from the joints and discs on the compressed side of the curve working harder. That's mechanical and it responds to mechanical care. We also check for functional curves, which come from the pelvis or legs rather than the spine and are a different, more fixable problem.

How we treat it at Borealis

Find the cause. Treat it. Keep it from coming back.

1

Find the cause

Posture and forward-bend screening, leg-length and pelvic assessment, and standing X-rays on site to measure the curve (the Cobb angle) so there's a baseline to compare against.

2

Treat it

Mobility-focused adjusting along the curve, soft-tissue work on the muscles that are overworking, and specific strengthening for the under-working side. Cold laser for pain on the compressed side in adults.

3

Keep watch

Re-measurement at appropriate intervals, especially during growth spurts. If a curve is progressing or crosses the threshold where bracing is considered, we refer to the appropriate specialist and share the films.

Services involved ChiropracticPhysiotherapy & rehabMassage therapyMLS cold laserFoot Levelers orthotics

Questions

What people ask about scoliosis.

Don't see yours? Call and ask. The front desk will get you an answer or put you through to a doctor.

Can you fix my child's scoliosis?
Structural scoliosis isn't 'fixed' by adjusting. We provide conservative care and monitoring, and we work with your pediatrician or orthopedist. If a curve needs bracing, we'll be the ones telling you so.
My curve is small. Do I need to do anything?
Often just periodic monitoring, particularly if you're still growing. Mild curves in adults that don't hurt may need nothing at all. We'll give you an honest answer after measuring it.
Does scoliosis always hurt?
No. Many people with mild curves have no pain. When pain does occur, it's usually from the joints and muscles compensating, and that part is treatable.
Is it from carrying a heavy backpack?
No. Backpacks can cause posture complaints and back pain, but they don't cause structural scoliosis.

Describe it. We'll figure out the rest.

Call and talk to Dawn at the front desk, or walk in Monday through Thursday. You'll leave your first visit knowing what's going on.

Call (715) 748-4433 Get directions