NY Chiropractor Family Chiropractic Care, Advanced Holistic Healthcare & Premium Holistic, Dr. Ray Omid Chiropractor, Garden City, Jericho NY

Holistic & Natural Chiropractic Care - Long Island, NY

Garden City, NY 516-742-5715

holistic services - scoliosis correction technique

Finding out that you or someone you love has scoliosis can be a scary and even life-changing diagnosis. We want you to know that you are not alone. Our office is dedicated to educating you on this condition and helping you find a program that works best for you.

The reason why regular medical treatment WON'T WORK:

The traditional recommendation for a mild scoliosis condition is to observe, or to ‘watch and wait.’ Unfortunately, the condition won’t stop on its own and absolutely won't reverse. The fact remains that all big curves have started off as small ones. The method of ‘watching and waiting’ delays precious time and wastes the opportunity to stop the curve from getting worse. The earlier scoliosis is detected and treated, the more manageable it can be. This is the time to be pro-active with the condition rather than re-active once it progressively gets worse.

For moderate scoliosis curves, bracing continues to be the most common medical treatment method recommended. While many doctors in the US still recommend a soft or rigid brace to halt the curve progression, recent scientific studies question the effectiveness of this practice. In some cases, the forced correction of a brace actually causes an increase in the patient’s rib deformity, commonly known as a rib hump. Even if a brace is successful and does not increase deformity, all benefit is lost once the brace is removed. A 2007 article from the journal Spine graded the method of bracing a “D” in its ability to halt curve progression.

Chiropractic Care is the solution!

Both patients and researchers agree that we need a better system. Our office follows the CLEAR™ Institute protocols designed not only to stabilize the scoliosis but to even attain considerable scoliosis reduction.

This is how it works:

Step 1: Before treatment can begin, a thorough case history, physical examination, and series of precision X-Rays must be taken in order to understand the bio-mechanical function of the individual’s spine. In total, seven precision X-Rays are taken to evaluate the condition. These X-Rays all together are equivalent to just one full spine shot (the X-Ray typically taken to evaluate scoliosis). This is because these seven precision x-rays are considered "spot shots." "Spot shots" are small pictures that zone into one area of the spine. By using this method, we use much less radiation to obtain the overall image of the patient's spine.

Step 2: Once your case has been reviewed, a specific treatment protocol will be utilized, called MIX, FIX, and SET. With scoliosis, the soft tissue of the spine (spinal discs, ligaments, muscles, etc.) slowly begin to adapt to the abnormal spinal position, essentially “locking” the scoliosis in place. This makes it necessary to “unlock” the abnormal spinal position from the mal-adapted soft tissue (MIX), so the spine can be re-positioned by specific adjustments (FIX), so that, finally, the soft tissue can be re-trained (SET) to hold the spine in the new straighter position.

The MIX, FIX, SET protocol is relatively painless, but you may experience some mild stretching discomfort during the initial onset of treatment as the body adapts and heals in its newly corrected position. It is similar to working out for the first time or playing a sport that you have not played in a while. Some patients have reported mild muscle soreness the day after treatment. It's extremely rare for a patient to be unable to complete treatment due to physical discomfort.

MIX (Warm Up):

At first, the patient needs to warm up the spine.

Numerous devices such as the Active Rehabilitation Chair (which sits upon a ball-and-socket joint and flexes in every direction to put the spine through a full range of motion), the Cervical Traction (which is used actively by the patient to achieve gentle, repetitive spinal traction), and the Vibrating Traction (which uses a slow, relaxing vibration which has been scientifically proven to relax the ligaments & soft tissues of the spine) are used. A special motorized table with belts that pull (not push!) the scoliotic curves out of the spine, called the Eckard Flexion/Distraction table, achieves the goal of re-structuring & re-modeling the ligaments after they have been relaxed.

If the MIX protocols are not followed, the inter-vertebral discs will be rigid and inflexible, and it will be difficult, if not impossible, to cause healthy structural changes to the spine.

FIX (Adjustments):

Once the spine has been warmed up, the spine is then put into proper alignment following the CLEAR guidelines.

Mechanical adjusting instruments and specialized drop pieces enhance the precision & effectiveness of the adjustment. Almost all adjustments are based on the findings of the X-rays. Follow up X-rays should confirm improvement and correction of these areas.

SET (Rehabilitation Stage):

Following the adjustments, the spine needs to be re-educated so that it learns how to hold and maintain the changes that were just made.

This involves spinal weighting protocols (typically on the head & hips), whole-body vibration therapy such as the Vibe and the Scoliosis Traction Chair, and gait therapy which re-trains patterns of moving & walking. In addition to the home exercise program, exercises should be done in the clinic on an exercise ball and on the whole-body vibration platform (which has been shown through research to increase the effectiveness of exercise by 2-3 times).

If the SET protocols are not followed, any corrections achieved in the spine will be temporary in nature.

Follow Up:

A series of post-treatment X-rays will be taken to validate the effectiveness of the treatment protocol. The exact re-examination visit will depend on the specific plan of care given. The average post-treatment X-rays are taken between the 12th and 36th visit.

The specific post-treatment X-rays which are necessary are limited as much as possible with respect to the patient's specific condition. For example, if the initial X-ray demonstrated that the patient's low back was in pretty good shape prior to beginning care, a sideways view of the low back from a post-treatment X-ray might not be necessary. It's important to keep in mind that not every patient will show a reduction in the severity of the scoliotic curve, as measured by Cobb angle, within this time frame. This is due to the fact that the Cobb angle is a measurement of only one dimension of the spine, and scoliosis is, in fact, a three-dimensional condition. Before the sideways curve can be reduced or corrected, the spine must be de-rotated and de-compressed in the other two dimensions.

Treating a complex spinal disorder such as scoliosis is a little like reversing the path of a runaway train. It takes time to first slow down the momentum, after which more time is needed to change the course of the disease.