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What We Treat

We provide comprehensive care designed to restore your mobility and improve your quality of life through evidence-based therapy.

What is scoliosis?

 

Scoliosis is a complex 3-D deformity of the spine and trunk which appears in healthy children and can progress in relation to multiple factors during any rapid period of growth or later in life. It presents as a sideways curvature of the spine that also rotates and leads to changes in posture and alignment. 

 

You may notice some or all of the following: uneven shoulders or hips, more space between your arm and body on one side, and a pronounced asymmetric ribcage when bending forward to touch your toes. Healthcare providers can confirm a diagnosis by identifying your Cobb angle (degree of curvature) on an X-ray and will also measure the Angle of Trunk Rotation (ATR) in person utilizing a tool called a scoliometer. 

a model of a spine
a woman hunched over looking at her phone

What else do we treat?

 

Beyond scoliosis, our physical therapists treat a wide range of postural and spinal alignment conditions. Conditions we treat include but are not limited to:

Hyperkyphosis

Other Postural Abnormalities

Spinal Stenosis

Spondylosis

Spondylolisthesis

Herniated Discs

Whether your posture concerns stem from a diagnosed spinal condition, years of desk work, athletic training, or simply not knowing how to correct years of habitual patterns, our individualized approach identifies the underlying cause and builds a treatment plan to address it — not just the symptoms.

How is physiotherapeutic scoliosis specific exercises (PSSE) different from standard physical therapy?

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PSSE is hands on, individualized, and curve specific.  The exercises are meant to work on alignment, elongation, derotation, and stabilization. Targeted breathing techniques work to expand the concavities of the spine and improve lung capacity.  We will use tools including wall bars, wedges, belts, and dowels to assist with positioning and elongation.  All sessions will be one on one with a Schroth certified physical therapist.

Back Pain

Neck Pain

Shoulder Pathology

Hip Pathology

Knee Pathology

Foot/Ankle Pathology

The Schroth Method

The Schroth method is a conservative specialized physical therapy approach for treating scoliosis, hyperkyphosis, and other postural abnormalities. Katharina Schroth developed the method in the 1920s in Germany. It involves 3-D postural corrections and orthopedic breathing to reshape the body.  This method was brought to the United States in 2005. It follows the following general principles of correction:

 

  1. 3-D postural corrections

  2. Expansion technique-involves self-control of the internal volumes supported by breathing mechanics

  3. Muscle activation maintaining a stable 3-D correction

  4. Integration

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These principles are used in every case but are applied differently for different curves/cases. The goals of the Schroth method:

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  1. Stop curve progression

  2. Improvement of cosmesis

  3. Improvement of general health

  4. To cope with the deformity and with treatment

  5. Diminish functional limitations (general health, vital capacity, rib cage mobility, control of pain)

  • a diagram of postural correction
  • a diagram of schroth expansion technique
  • a diagram of schroth four principles
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