The CLEAR Scoliosis Treatment and Research Center (CLEAR STAR) will be opening at Parker College of Chiropractic in Dallas, Texas, on September 1st.  Although not formally affiliated with this prestigious university, CLEAR Institute will be working together with the Research Department, as well as the faculty & student body of Parker College, to shine new light on the mysteries of scoliosis.

 

The purpose of the CLEAR Scoliosis Center will be threefold; first, as a clinic where people living with scoliosis can receive cutting-edge, non-surgical treatment to improve their health & well-being; second, to train the doctors of today & tomorrow in how to recognize and effectively manage their own scoliosis patients, and achieve the same results for which CLEAR Institute has achieved international recognition; and third, to publish these results in scientific, peer-reviewed journals to demonstrate to the world that scoliosis can be corrected without resorting to bracing & surgery.

 

Please look for future announcements in our newsletters and on our website, as we begin recruiting a patient base for future research studies to be conducted at this new institution.  If you are a patient interested in seeking treatment or participating in a research study, or if you are a doctor or student who would be interested in visiting the CLEAR Scoliosis Center to learn more about non-surgical scoliosis correction, please contact care@clear-institute.com for more information.

 

You may have noticed a new addition to our website, www.clear-institute.com, entitled "Results."  This new section of our website can be accessed at the following link, and exhibits pre and post x-rays of patients treated at CLEAR-certified clinics across the world.  Over 60 sets of x-rays are featured, and many more will be added in the future.

 

 

But we're not done yet!  In the upcoming weeks, we will be adding to this Results section with personal testimonials & stories, written by patients who have received treatment from CLEAR doctors.  If you have received treatment in the past, or are currently under care at a clinic utilizing the CLEAR scoliosis treatment protocols, we would love to include your own comments on our website as well!  Your story may encourage others to take the first step in reducing and correcting their own scoliosis.  We may never know how far-reaching our own actions may be, or how instrumental our words of inspiration may be in positively affecting the course of another's life.  Please contact care@clear-institute.com if you feel called to share your experience; you have not only our gratitude, but the gratitude of countless others who may benefit from reading your story.

 

Although this may seem like a rather mundane topic, one might be surprised at the amount of research that has been conducted on the effect of heavy loads carried in a backpack by people with scoliosis.  While standard recommendations state that the amount of weight carried in a backpack should not exceed 10% of the person's body weight, the research concludes that this may not apply to students living with scoliosis.  Loads as small as 5% of the person's weight, less than half of the typical load limit, were found to have a significant, negative effect upon the compression of the spine, and also on the functions of the heart & lungs.  This occured even in patients with mild scoliosis (Cobb angles of 10-25 degrees).

 

This information should be particularly relevant to parents of students with scoliosis.  Schoolgoing patients treated by CLEAR-certified doctors are provided with a doctor's note that they provide to their school authorities, specifically stating that the patient must have two sets of books - one for use at studying at home, and one to be stored in their locker at school (the only other option, using a rolling suitcase, seems to be much more popular at airports than at educational institutions).

 

It isn't often that anyone, even a doctor, gets emotional over a research paper, but a very recent study published in the highly-prestigious & internationally recognized scientific journal Spine at the beginning of this month may very well stir the souls of those who understand the importance of what these incredible scientists & doctors have done.

 

The study, entitled, "Natural History of Progressive Adult Scoliosis," aims to establish a clear prognosis for individuals living with scoliosis.  Research on this topic up to this point has been discordant, even contradictory, leaving people living with scoliosis without a clear answer to the question, "Will my scoliosis get worse?"  This new study examined 51 patients over a span of 27 years, and introduced the ground-breaking new concept of different "types" of scoliosis.  The first type, Type A, developed an abnormal rotatory subluxation (misalignment) of the spine during the onset of scoliosis.  In the words of the authors, "Type A corresponds to adolescent scoliosis which continues to progress after skeletal maturity at a rate specific to each curve."  In the second type, Type B, the rotatory subluxation was found to develop prior to the onset of scoliosis, and the rate of progression was much higher in this incidence.  Type B was described by the authors as, "a degenerative scoliosis, which progresses late in adulthood: either a pre-existing stable adult scoliosis that progresses late or a de novo late-onset scoliosis."  (De novo is Latin, meaning "new.")  There was also a subgroup of Type B that was found to progress at menopause.  In all cases, however, the rate of progression was found to be linear - that is, it could be predicted on a graph in a straight line.

 

What is the relevance of this new information?  First, even if your scoliosis stabilized after adolescence, that is no guarantee that it will not begin to progress again in adulthood.  Second, the aforementioned rotatory subluxation appears to cause this late-progression in previously stable scoliosis cases, although menopause may also be a contributing factor in some regard.  Third, and perhaps most importantly, it is possible to establish an individual prognosis for each scoliosis case, and predict its progression, with much greater accuracy than was previously believed.

 

The graphs demonstrating the linear progression of scoliosis, as well as the complete text of this article, are available at:

 

 

Please note that you will need to register to access the article; registering with Medscape is free and takes only a few minutes.

 

The above article was particularly interesting to the doctors of CLEAR Institute, who have long observed that scoliosis is more than simply a lateral shift of the spine, but is indeed three-dimensional in its manifestation; in addition to the lateral (sideways) aspect, there is also a compression and a rotation occuring in the spine.  The question is, why does this occur, and how might it relate to scoliosis prognosis & treatment?

 

First, one must understand that rotation and lateral bending occur as a coupled motion in your spine.  When you bend to the left, the vertebrae of your spine rotate to the left, as shown on the left diagram in the picture above.  In scoliosis, however, this normal motion does not take place; in fact, the exact opposite is found: when the spine deviates off to the right (which would be the same as bending to the left side), the vertebrae will rotate to the left, as shown in the right diagram of the above picture.

 

CLEAR Institute teaches that the reason for this abnormal pattern is simple, and relates to the body's desire to protect the spinal cord and all the nerves that it contains.  When you bend to the left, a "hill" is formed by the body of the vertebra, over which the spinal cord must travel.  This places additional stress upon these nerves, but because the position is temporary, the tension is soon relieved when you straighten up.  In the scoliotic spine, however, this position is permanent, and so the body must adapt.  It develops this rotatory subluxation to take the pressure off of the spinal cord, by creating a "valley" for the nerves to travel though (the pink & red lines in the above picture demonstrate the spinal cord having to travel a great distance over the hill on the left, and a short distance through the valley on the right).

 

But how does this pertain to treatment & progression?  First, in regards to treatment, it shows that scoliosis must be addressed three-dimensionally in order to be corrected; simply correcting the lateral shift, whether through bracing, surgery, or other means, will leave the nerves of the spinal cord under continued strain.  Second, correlating with the previously mentioned article, this rotation must develop either before (Type B) or during (Type A) the onset of scoliosis - scoliosis cannot occur if this is not present! 

 

This information should help to convince you that scoliosis cannot be corrected without a complete & thorough understanding of the biomechanics of the spine - an understanding that most traditionally-trained surgeons & chiropractors possess only partially, if at all.  It is the goal of CLEAR Institute to provide this education, empowering doctors to become true spinal experts, able to successfully treat not only scoliosis, but every disease involving the spinal column.

 

 

 

-Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine

 

 

 

-Horace Traubel (1858-1919), writer