Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: A 71 Cases Study Ascertaining that Straightening Is Possible, and a New Etiological Hypothesis

STUDY DESIGN: Seventy-one children (23 boys and 48 girls, aged 6 to 18 year-old) with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) between 11° and 62°, without braces, have been treated manually, only at the level of the neck. PURPOSE: To ascertain that non-surgical straightening of AIS is possible (without brace). OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: So far no disease modifying treatment for AIS existed. Braces can only slow down worsening (and this can only be achieved if they are worn 23 hours a day). Surgery is not without important risks. METHODS: All patients have been treated exclusively with a manual therapy called Brachy-Myotherapy. This method treats spasmed (contractured) muscles by placing them in a shortening position according to a specific protocol. RESULTS: An average straightening of 8° of AIS was observed, with a maximum of 25°. 94% of cases improved, 67 out of 71. The worst prognosis was, the better results. The more advanced AIS was, the better the results. CONCLUSIONS: A simple and reliable treatment of AIS is possible. AIS seems to be a compensation mechanism of the body, with the aim of keeping the ears, and thus the labyrinths, at a horizontal level for correct equilibrium. When lasting post-traumatic neck muscle contractures causing a permanent side-bending of the skull have been treated, this compensation mechanism becomes irrelevant and scoliosis tends to subside.