florida mom
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| 06 Dec 2011 07:07 PM |
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| Have you tried any therapy yet before going ahead with surgery? I would encourage you to at least do a week or two of intensive treatment with a certified chiro before going ahead with such a permanent, radical option such as surgery. At this point, waiting another month or so before surgery is not likely to make things much worse, and meanwhile, you may find that your son responds to the therapy and doesn't end up needing the surgery! |
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madisonlaneapex@yahoo.com
Basic Member
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| 06 Dec 2011 04:03 PM |
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| Wow so great to hear a true after treatment candid explanation. I'm really looking for long term results to make a desicion about sugury or not. My son has 62 s curve with alot of rotation. We have a surgury scedualed? anyone with similar curve that is now fully grown that started treatment at 13-15yrs old that is now fully grown. this is the real test of succses to me if it is effective. please help if u have this information. Chris 303-883-3828 Thanks God bless |
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mel
Basic Member
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| 14 Oct 2011 06:14 AM |
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| After her second intensive treatment, the curve angle reduced by 13 degrees. I thank god everyday that she has no pain and is active as ever. She tires easily and more often-I do not know if that is related, and do not know who to ask or how to check. I have padded and made pretty covers for the chair (mainly to absorb the sound from vibration, partly to make it cozy). We put the chair in the family room in front of the tv .Whilst she sits on the chair, I do my pilates.The thing is she swears that since using the chair, her vision has been affected. I do not think it is due to the vibration per se, but I wonder if it could be a result of her straining her eyes to watch tv through squinted eyes (squinted from chin band pulling upwards for traction). Talking to you-someone who is still keeping up with this website and has interest in this therapy even though her child has stabilised, has given me renewed energy to push, force and beg my child to keep up her work. Thank you. |
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florida mom
Basic Member
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| 12 Oct 2011 11:41 AM |
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| I think you are where I was in 2007. I think it's normal for a mom to desire what's best for her child. The problem is you aren't sure what exactly "best" is. Yes, at age 11, I would definitely have her keep up her work. It is now when her bones are still flexible and positive results are more likely. After you did CLEAR, did her curve reduce? Is she in any regular pain? We also tried to make the chair not so dreaded. Usually, we let her watch a TV show of her choice (1/2 hour comedies like Hogan's Heroes were perfect) during that time, or sometimes we even had a makeshift "ledge" so that she could put the computer keyboard and mouse on it. Anything that passes the time in the chair is a welcomed event! The treatments will also make for great topics later when she has to write papers and give oral presentations! |
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mel
Basic Member
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| 12 Oct 2011 06:53 AM |
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| Florida Mum, thank you so much for your response. I am really happy for you and your daughter because you manage not to let scoliosis rule your lives. That is more than I can say for myself. Ever since March this year when my 11 year old was diagnosed with a 55 degree lumbar curve, I have been (and still am) on an endless quest to find the best way to stop progression and hopefully achieve some correction. Surgery is not an option, but at the back of my mind it lingers. She did the CLEAR and we have the chair. After 4 months she has given up as she just cannot take the twice daily home care. The vibration drives her crazy. I am at my wits end trying to persuade her to continue. Having read your positive 2 year experience, I will persevere and continue persuading her to do her CLEAR home care. I wish more people would post the long term status of their scoliosis after doing whatever therapy they do :confused: |
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florida mom
Basic Member
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| 10 Oct 2011 03:33 AM |
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My daughter, now 18, has not done any treatment for her scoliosis for almost two years. So, I do not have any numerical measurements to share with you. She is a fully active, well adjusted college student. She loves life, learning about almost anything, and has too many other interests to focus too much on her back. I, as her mom, sometimes wonder if I should push for her to start up her treatment again, and we do discuss it on a fairly regular basis. "How is your back lately? Does it hurt more or less than a few months ago? Are you sleeping well? Have you thought about starting treatment again?" Though she still occasionally asks us to do a certain exercise with her that relieves some pain she is experiencing, she doesn't seem to be bothered enough to continue any treatment. When she sits or stands up straight, you don't really notice her curve. When she bends forward, you definitely can see the rib hump. But unless you know personally that she has scoliosis, most people don't ever notice it.
I think the treatment stopped her curve from progressing any further, even reduced it, and that is SUCCESS! Though she seems content where she is now, I am very thankful that we did the chiro treatment when we did. It's hard to imagine where she'd be now had we done nothing at all. |
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mel
Basic Member
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| 10 Oct 2011 02:35 AM |
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| Dearest Florida mum, please, do tell us the latest measurement and condition, please. |
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tk88
Basic Member
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| 10 Jun 2011 11:23 AM |
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HEY,,I'm sooo excited,I'm 17 with S type scoliosis,I was diagnosed when I was10,my life has been a real HELL,so I realllyy want to fix my scoliosis,my scoliosis is less that 40(both curves),I'm realy happy for your daughter,I'm pretty active too,that's why I didn't want the surgery,is there any branch of this institute in california?if not where is it?
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future chiro
Basic Member
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| 18 May 2011 09:02 AM |
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just a correction in what you said.
"The medical community is making great strides in non-surgical options"
you mean the Chiropractic community is making great strides in non-surgical options.
nice story though. i hope your daughters spine is nice and straight now. |
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JWoggon
Moderator
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| 07 Feb 2011 04:31 PM |
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Hello, Mrs. Larkin;
You can find your closest CLEAR-certified treatment center by clicking on the "Locate a CLEAR Certified Doctor" link at the top-left of the page, and entering your zipcode. Please note that only Treatment-certified (Standard or Intensive Care) clinics are recommended by CLEAR Institute to provide treatment.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly!
Warmest Regards,
Josh Woggon DC
jwoggon@clear-institute.org
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florida mom
Basic Member
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| 07 Feb 2011 03:49 AM |
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| I think I would give them a call. Then the office staff can make sure Dr. Stitzel gets the message and responds promptly. Maybe his email has changed? I believe the phone number for his clinic is 717-627-3009. Dr. Stitzel a great doctor!! |
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pepperlarkin@juno.com
Basic Member
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| 07 Feb 2011 02:28 AM |
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Is there a clear certified doctor in Western Pennsylvania? Please answer asap as we may be facing surgery for our grandson. I have sent Dr. Stitzel in Lancaster an e-mail but he has not answered me.
Thanks
Mary Larkin |
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DinoGirl
Basic Member
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| 05 Sep 2009 06:31 PM |
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I love hearing success stories like this. I am currently undergoing the CLEAR treatment and have only been there about 10 times. Already I can breathe better. It's a rough treatment but, considering the alternative, I'd take the traction chair any day!
I'd like to thank all the people commenting, it's of you guys that I found the Clear page! I was googling all my options (they told me I NEEDED SURGERY ASAP!) and all these wonderful alternative methods came up! |
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florida mom
Basic Member
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| 02 Sep 2009 04:13 PM |
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At the time we went, it was the closest and we had heard great things about Dr. Stitzel. Now, there is Tony Nalda in St Cloud, FL who is a CLEAR certified chiropractor. My daughter has gone to him off and on since we found out about her scoliosis. He is a great man and really works with you to get the best results possible. You can google Nalda Family Chiropractic if you are interested.
May you have great results!! |
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Florida Dad
Basic Member
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| 02 Sep 2009 03:38 PM |
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Why did you go to PA for treatment? Was that the closest office for intensive tretament?
Thanks |
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Mary Lane
Basic Member
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| 08 Jun 2009 11:01 PM |
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Let's see...just looking at her bigger curve she had......
50(no therapy),42(reg. chiro.),22(CLEAR),53(no therapy),38(CLEAR).
Now the EXACT number isn't what is interesting...it is how that curve can MOVE...so much for surgery being the only thing that can move a curve!!!
WOW! I personally am amazed that the curve moves at all...there is no doubt CLEAR is on to something and I hope with time.. knowledge...technology and more heads working on this thing...More reduction and lasting results will continue.
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florida mom
Basic Member
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| 08 Jun 2009 03:04 PM |
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I have mixed results for you. I will be totally honest, so that you have the information you need to make the best decision for you.
First of all, the curve degrees that I quoted after we did the week of intensive treatment in PA were probably incorrect. We have some measurements done using the Cobb angle, the current standard for the medical community. Dr. Stitzel has a more accurate series of angle measurements, but you can't compare those to Cobb angles. I'm not sure what her Cobb angle was when we left Dr. Stitzel's. But she had definitely reduced the curves.
For the first six months after returning from PA, our local chiropractor did not have the necessary equipment to do all the procedures done in PA. My daughter did the scoliosis chair at home pretty regularly. After six months, she had pretty much maintained the curve where it was after PA.
She was discouraged because she was hoping she would reduce the curve even more. She lost her desire to do the exercises and I didn't force her to do them for a while.
After the first of this year, she started back up again going to the chiro, once every other week. She has had a hard time maintaining her improvements because she has ligament damage in her neck that will never fully heal and so it is hard to maintain her proper neck curve. She gradually got worse over time until we finally decided to do a one week intensive with our local chiropractor. He now has all the equipment and I believe is Clear certified.
She started last week with a 53o curve and went down to about 38o by the end of the week. We are thankful for the results. She is pretty tall (5'10") and it is common for someone that tall that goes untreated to go from 50o up to 80 or 90o pretty quickly. So we are glad that we have at the very least maintained her curve as well as get some reduction.
It has been a year of ups and downs, but I would still choose this any day over surgery. She still has full functionality and mobility in her back. She is going to persevere and we will continue to work with the chiropractor to get improvements. |
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KJP
Basic Member
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| 08 Jun 2009 06:49 AM |
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| It has been a year now since you took your daughter for intense treatment. How is she doing now? Have her curves improved, stayed the same, or worsened? |
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Allon
New Member
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| 16 Jun 2008 04:12 PM |
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Hello,
I glad to hear about your success story. I am a current scoliosis patient and I have been fortunate enough to find an advanced Clear practitioner. He recommended that I attend one of the intensive bootcamps which I plan on doing, however, I can not find any information on where to attend one of these sessions similar to your daughters. Will you provide some information where I can do this?
Thanks |
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Florida mom (guest)
Basic Member
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| 24 May 2008 10:27 AM |
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I wanted to share the results of my daughter's scoliosis treatment. We first discovered she had scoliosis in Feb 2007. She had a 500 thoracic curve and a 260 lumbar curve. We were told anything above 35 degrees was a candidate for surgery. Since her curve was a 50, were we told she should have the surgery. The doctor said he had an opening within a week!
We did lots of research online. I came across the Clear Institute's website and read all I could. We started going to a local chiropractor to see if he could reduce her curves before we decided on surgery. My daughter is very active and I did not want to see her lose any range of motion from back surgery. Plus, the potential surgical complications did not sound very desirable! We went for about a year and her curves reduced to 420 and 190.
In Jan 2008, I revisited different websites to re-read a lot of the literature on scoliosis treatments and options. I read all I could on the Clear Institute's website and decided to take my daughter for a two week intensive treatment. We went to Dr. Stitzel near Lancaster, PA in Feb 2008.
It was the BEST thing we could have done!! It was not easy because the treatments are intense. But after two weeks, her curves had gone down to a 220 thoracic curve and about a 100 lumbar curve! She was no longer even a candidate for surgery.
She has continued her treatment at home and we trust that on our follow up xrays, there will even be more improvement. I would encourage EVERYONE to seriously consider going to a Clear Institute certified doctor for scoliosis treatment. They understand how the spine works and they customize a treatment plan unique to your situation. Dr. Stitzel and ALL his staff were fantastic. During the time we were there, they made us feel like we were part of one big family. Each of them were personally interested in how my daughter was progressing and we all celebrated when she made such great improvement.
If any of those reading this are faced with scoliosis treatment decisions, make sure you do your research. The medical community is making great strides in non-surgical options and my family are certainly believers in the effectiveness of them! |
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