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July and August are Scoliosis Screening months at Zager Chiropractic Services in Floresville Texas.
If you have a family history of scoliois, or if you are concerned that your child may have scoliois or is developing scoliosis, you can schedule a free scoliosis evaluation with Dr. Zager for your child. The appointment should take about 10 – 15 minutes. Dr. Zager will evaluate your child and see if there are any signs that your child is beginning to or has developed scoliosis.
She may also give you some simple exercises that will help strengthen your child’s musculature and reduce the scoliosis. If there are signs of scoliosis developing, Dr. Zager will also recomend a treatment strategy which may include: chiropractic adjusting, stretching and strengthening exercises, x-rays for further evaluation, and/or referrals.
If you live in the Floresville or south San Antonio area, you can call 830 393-6554 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Zager.
Scoliosis
Scoliosis is described as a lateral deviation of the spine - a curved spine. Viewed from the back, your spine should look straight, there shouldn’t be any curves off to one side or another.
Common symptoms from scoliosis include: back pain, neck pain, muscle spasms, leg pain, and headaches.
When should you look for scoliosis?
When should you start looking for scoliosis signs? Scoliosis really starts to show up in the pre-teens, because as a growth spurt starts the inequities in the spine begin to show up. A simple visual test of having the child bend over at the waist and inspecting their back to make sure it is straight is a good beginning. Look for shoulders being unleveled, hips at different heights, one shoulder blade winging, and their head not over their pelvis. If your child is beginning to complain of back pain, they should be evaluated by a chiropractor for scoliosis. If there is a family history of scoliosis, your children should all be checked by a chiropractor when they are pre-teens or even earlier.
How do you treat scoliosis?
Chiropractors will evaluate the scoliosis and the progression of the scoliosis. This may be done visually and with some simple orthopedic tests, and it may include x-rays. For young children, x-rays may not be recommended if the scoliosis appears to be mild and responds to treatment. Chiropractic treatment consists of gentle adjustments (moving the vertebrae) and then specific individual exercises to help strengthen the person’s muscles to help keep the vertebrae in place.
For more information and for the full text of the Scoliosis article, click the link below.
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Maintenance or Wellness Adjusting is when you come in periodically for a “tune up” to make sure that your vertebrae are staying in the correct alignment. Coming in for these periodic adjustments helps prevent the vertebrae from getting too far out of place and causing your original pain to return.
¨ Many people ask how often should I come in for a maintenance or wellness adjustment—and part of my answer is that it depends on the your age, your physical activities, and your underlying condition. Let me give some general guidelines. For someone who has had their initial problem corrected and wants to come in on a maintenance or wellness schedule—it ranges between every 2 weeks to once every 8 weeks.
- ¨ The older you are—the more frequently you should get adjusted—simply because your body has gone through a lot more and has more wear and tear on it.
- ¨ Someone who is sedentary all the time should come in a little more often than someone who is moderately active (who walks, swims, exercises).
- ¨ Someone who plays physical or contact sports or has high activity levels will come in more often—every 2—4 weeks, especially if you play football, soccer, cycling, lacrosse, horse back riding, rodeo, roping, etc.
- ¨ The same for people who have physically demanding jobs in construction, ranching, farming, and mechanics.
- ¨ People who don’t have any disc injuries, osteoarthritis, reversed neck and/or low back curves, or neck or back surgeries can usually go between 6—8 weeks for adjusting,
- ¨ People who do have any of those structural conditions have had their pain syndromes for awhile and should come in a little more frequently between 3—6 weeks.
The bottom line is, if you are not on a regular maintenance schedule and you start to feel stiff and sore for more than a couple of days, you should call and come in for an appointment, before things get too far out of adjustment. It is easier to correct something before it gets too acute.
 Scoliosis is described as a lateral deviation of the spine—a curved spine. Viewed from the back, your spine should look straight, there shouldn’t be any curves off to one side or another. Common symptoms from scoliosis include: back pain, muscle spasms, leg pain, neck pain, and headaches.
Scoliosis is rated by the degree of the curvature. The higher the degree, the more pronounced the scoliosis. Most scoliosis progress at a slow degree; however, there are some that progress fast – especially during growth spurts. Scoliosis tends to affect more girls/women than men, and many are genetically based. I have seen granddaughters, mothers, and grandmothers all with the same scoliosis – just at different degrees.
Without treatment, the scoliosis will become more pronounced with age. By the same token, the earlier you treat a scoliosis the less impact the scoliosis will have on your life.
When should you start looking for signs of scoliosis? Scoliosis really starts to show up in the pre-teens with growth spurts. If your child is beginning to complain of back pain, they should be evaluated by a chiropractor for scoliosis. If there is a family history of scoliosis, all your children should be checked by a chiropractor when they are pre-teens or even earlier.
A simple visual test of having your child bend over at the waist and inspecting their back to make sure it is straight is a good beginning. Look for shoulders being unlevel, hips at different heights, one shoulder blade winging, and/or their head in front of their shoulders.
How do you treat scoliosis? Chiropractors will evaluate the scoliosis and the progression of the scoliosis. This may be done visually and with some simple orthopedic tests, and it may include x-rays. For young children, x-rays may not be recommended if the scoliosis appears to be mild and responds to treatment. Chiropractic treatment consists of gentle adjustments (moving the vertebrae) back into their correct position. Dr. Zager also always gives her patients specific individual exercises to help strengthen the person’s muscles which help keep the vertebrae in place.
What if a scoliosis is left untreated? Most mild to moderate scoliosis are simply “watched” by physicians. However, if it is left untreated it will progress further over time. There are many people who if they had had their scoliosis treated early would not have had as much back or neck pain later on in life. It is much harder to treat and to completely resolve after the back has had years of being in the “wrong” position with uneven wear on the bones.
July and August are Scoliosis Screening months at Zager Chiropractic. Dr. Zager will perform courtesy scoliosis screenings for all school age children. Just contact our office to set up the screening—it takes about 15 minutes and is free of charge.
The First Annual Healthy Living Day be held on April 10th from 10 am until 2 pm at Zager Chiropractic Services at 2840 Business Loop 181 N, Floresville, TX. This mini-seminar day will provide information on a wide variety of common conditions such as low back pain and headache, as well as self help topics like how to do core exercises, nutritional tips, exercises for kids, correct lifting techniques, and relaxation techniques. It is free of charge and refreshments will be provided.
Click here to sign up for the class or Call (830) 393-6554
Why Do People Seek Chiropractic Treatment?
People come in for chiropractic treatment for a variety of reasons. People obviously come in for treatment because they are in pain (see box below), but many people also come in on a consistent basis after they are out of pain for general tune-ups or maintenance/wellness adjustments.
Chiropractic gets great results and has helped millions of people get relief from many painful conditions like low back pain, but it also helps many people who suffer from allergies, sinusitis, fibromyalgia, and headaches among other things.
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Newsletter 2010 January
 types of scoliosis Scoliosis is described as a lateral deviation of the spine. From the back, your spine should look straight. When the vertebrae begin to tilt and move off to the side at some point they must come back to center. Many times there are actually 2 different lateral curves (an S curve), the first to one side, and a second to the opposite side. There can also be rotation of the individual vertebrae further complicating the scoliosis.
Scoliosis is rated by the degree of the curvature. The higher the degree, the more pronounced the scoliosis. Most scoliosis progress at a slow degree; however, there are some that progress fast – especially during growth spurts. Scoliosis tends to affect more girls/women than men, and many are genetically based. I have seen granddaughters, mothers, and grandmothers all with the same scoliosis – just at different degrees. Without treatment, the scoliosis will become more pronounced with age. By the same token, the earlier you treat a scoliosis the less impact the scoliosis will have on your life.
When should you start looking for scoliosis signs?
Scoliosis really starts to show up in the pre-teens, because as a growth spurt starts the inequities in the spine begin to show up. A simple visual test of having the child bend over at the waist and inspecting their back to make sure it is straight is a good beginning. Look for shoulders being unleveled, hips at different heights, one shoulder blade winging, and their head not over their pelvis. If your child is beginning to complain of back pain, they should be evaluated by a chiropractor for scoliosis. If there is a family history of scoliosis, your children should all be checked by a chiropractor when they are pre-teens or even earlier.
How do you treat scoliosis?
Chiropractors will evaluate the scoliosis and the progression of the scoliosis. This may be done visually and with some simple orthopedic tests, and it may include x-rays. For young children, x-rays may not be recommended if the scoliosis appears to be mild and responds to treatment. Chiropractic treatment consists of gentle adjustments (moving the vertebrae) and then specific individual exercises to help strengthen the person’s muscles to help keep the vertebrae in place.
What if scoliosis is left untreated?
Most scoliosis is of mild to moderate degrees and if it is left untreated will slowly progress further. Common symptoms from scoliosis include: back pain, muscle spasms, leg pain, neck pain, and headaches. If there is a lot of twisting in the scoliosis, then some internal organs can be compressed or compromised. For severe or quickly progressing scoliosis after conservative chiropractic treatment has been tried, then a referral to an orthopedist who specializes in scoliosis may be needed. For young adolescents who have not reach growth maturity, bracing is one option. For adults some surgeries may be appropriate if there is internal organ compromise.
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