Scoliosis Seminar in Connecticut!
The Connecticut Chiropractic Association is working together with CLEAR Institute to share our knowledge about how to correct scoliosis without bracing & surgery with doctors across the northeastern states. This is the first-ever Scoliosis Seminar series held in this region, and the doctors who are present at this seminar will reap the rewards of being pioneers in a much-needed quest for hope & healing.
The purpose of our website is to provide education & information, to address & dispel common myths about scoliosis, and to connect patients with doctors who can provide personal assistance and care. Since CLEAR Institute first began teaching seminars in 2003, we have enlisted the support of over two-hundred Doctors of Chiropractic across the nation, and referred thousands of patients to them. Every month, www.clear-institute.com is visited by over seven-thousand individuals seeking alternatives to surgery & bracing, and honest answers to their questions. About half of these are doctors, and half are patients. Over one-thousand patients who visit our website each month are seeking a doctor for treatment.
If you or a doctor you know may be interested in attending this seminar and making a positive difference in the lives of people suffering from scoliosis, please register for this seminar today!
For more information or to register, contact the
Connecticut Chiropractic Association:
http://www.ctchiro.com/
2257 Silas Deane Highway
Rocky Hill, Connecticut 06067
Tel: (860) 257-0404
Toll Free: (800) 966-2225
FAX: (860) 257-0406
Email: Info@ctchiro.com
Doctors who register for the seminar before the end of December will receive a FREE CLEAR Institute QuikDrive (a $250 value!), containing over one-hundred megabytes of valuable literature, research, & PowerPoint presentations. Simply contact the CCA at the number above to register, and e-mail a copy of your confirmation to care@clear-institute.com, or fax it to (972) 296-8228. A QuikDrive will be mailed to you immediately!
A Fascinating & Insightful Revelation on the History of Scoliosis Treatment
Medical doctors did not always treat scoliosis with bracing & surgery. At the turn of the nineteenth centure, the method of scoliosis treatment that was in general use in America was, in fact, exercises, which were performed without any sort of equipment or apparatus. One doctor who had achieved significant success in correcting mild cases of structural scoliosis was Robert W. Lovett, M.D., who in 1916 published the book, "Lateral Curvature of the Spine and Round Shoulders: The History, Examination, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Scoliosis." A 2007 reprint of this historical work has provided us with a fascinating "time capsule" of scoliosis treatment.
In the picture above, the left photo shows a patient with a mild scoliosis; on the right is the same patient after undergoing a five-year exercise & stretching routine. At one time, orthopedic surgeons routinely recommended this method of treatment; however, over the last century, bracing & surgery have been increasingly put forth as the only options. However, Dr. Lovett - who was a member of the American Orthopedic Association, and was affiliated with many prestigious universities including Harvard Medical School and the Boston Children's Hospital - leaves no doubt in the minds of his readers as to his opinion on bracing's role in the treatment of scoliosis. On page 151, Dr. Lovett states, "Braces and corsets of themselves have no place in the corrective treatment of lateral curvature, and are only to be regarded as a means of retaining the gain secured by other methods.... The current practic of the instrument-makes of fitting corsets and braces to such patients and allowing the parents to hope for any considerable benefit is therefore to be condemned."
If you are interested in obtaining a copy of this book for yourself, physical copies are available at the following link for $27.95: http://www.acupunctureproducts.com/lovett_scoliosis.html.
You can also purchase it on CD-ROM for $17.95 at: http://www.dcfirst.com/lovett_scoliosis.html.
CLEAR Institute is in no way profiting from these links; we provide them merely as a service to those who may be interested.
Pain & Scoliosis: What is the Association?
CLEAR Institute advocates that scoliosis is a condition worthy of greater research, education, and treatment. It is our mission to increase understanding of scoliosis, especially in the chiropractic profession, so that those individuals living with scoliosis can find the help, and the hope, which they deserve. However, this mission is often questioned on a simple and subjective basis: namely, the presence or absence of pain. Do we have a right to provide treatment to a patient with scoliosis if that patient is not physically suffering from pain related to their condition?
To many people with scoliosis, the matter of physical pain is a minor issue. The young girl who forgoes her high school prom to avoid calling attention to how her back looks in a slim-fitting dress; the athlete who finds his lung capacity lacking in relation to his peers; the middle-aged woman whose heart fails fifteen years early due to the increased strain placed upon it: in all of these cases, the question of whether or not the patient is in physical pain seems redundant and a little blasé.
Pain is subjective. It is an experience, a sensation, that cannot be measured and can only be described by the one who goes through it. The ways in which is is measured oft seem open to interpretation and thus, misinterpretation. For example, classic studies attempting to define the link between pain and scoliosis in children have relied upon reviewing the case histories to see if pain was mentioned while a child was being treated for their spinal disorder, and then compared this to children without scoliosis, again to find out how if pain was mentioned as an initial, presenting factor, or developed during observation (Ramirez et al, 1997; Balague et al., 1988). In both cases, about one-third of children reported back pain; hence, there was no apparent difference between children with scoliosis and those without. However, some scientists have criticized this method because, although it is very useful with adults, children may explain their pain differently (Vitale et al, 2001). In one study, the examiner had children mark on a drawing to describe what they felt and where they felt it. In this case, 63% of children with scoliosis reported pain - a number almost twice as high as the number reported by those who did not have scoliosis (Brown, 2001).
Pain is controversial. Improvements in questionnaires and surveys have been made consistently over the past decade in an attempt to remove patient & doctor biases. The most recent surveys tend to focus on activities of daily living and how pain affects function - generally referred to as a Quality of Life index. One study compared the qualify of life in almost 1500 scoliosis patients to a non-scoliotic population of 1755 individuals. Those with scoliosis were consistently and significantly more limited in their ability to walk, sit, travel, and participate in social activities - regardless of the severity of the curvature (in other words, patients with a twenty degree curve had just as much reduction in function as those with more severe curvatures. The conclusion of the authors was that scoliosis is responsible for "a considerable amount of disability and handicap" (Mayo et al, 1994).
In another study, the mortality rate for untreated scoliosis patients was found to be 15% (Weinstein et al, 1981). Scoliosis patients, on average, have a life expectancy that is 14 years lower than what would be expected for a person who does not have scoliosis.
Whether or not a person living with scoliosis is in pain, the effect of their spinal disorder on their life is all-too-real. If you were living with cancer, you would want it gone whether or not it manifested in the form of pain; the avaricious nature of those cancerous cells will suck life from your years, and years from your life. With scientific evidence that scoliosis will reduce one's quality of life, and subtract an average of 14 years, is it ethical to limit the treatment of scoliosis to be concerned only with those who are in pain?
FREE Literature & Materials
If you would like to receive additional materials or information on CLEAR Institute's method of scoliosis correction, how our approach to spinal correction differs from most chiropractors, the science behind the vibration therapy used in our treatment protocols, or a detailed explanation of our protocols & the theories behind them, please e-mail care@clear-institute.com with the following keywords in the subject heading.
SCOLIOSIS INFO
"Introducing New Possibilities for the Reduction & Correction of Scoliosis" Educational Booklet:
Ideal for educating the layperson about scoliosis and the CLEAR method of scoliosis correction. Also includes a FAQ section.
SPINAL MODEL
This document explains the geometric beauty of our spines, the science of spinal biomechanics, and how the structure of your spine is essential to its function. The information in this article can be very helpful if you are trying to understand how scoliosis develops, and how restoring the front-to-back curves to the neck & low back can reduce the side-to-side curves in scoliosis .
VIBE INFO
Vibration therapy can accomplish incredible things - increase bone density, reduce pain & stress, improve ranges of motion - but only if it is used at the proper frequency and intensity. Please read this brochure if you would like to understand the research & science behind one of the most important pieces of equipment in the CLEAR Scoliosis Protocols - the VIBE Whole-Body Vibration platform.
More Doctors Join the Battle against Scoliosis!
The 2007 Scoliosis Correction Seminar series in Dallas, Texas, and Daytona Beach, Florida, have been concluded. The doctors listed below have completed all three parts of the 5-day, 32-hour seminar, and demonstrated their commitment & capability. Their full contact information is now listed on www.CLEAR-Institute.com. Please take a moment to review this list. If you would like to locate the doctor nearest to you, please go online to http://www.clear-institute.com/Plocate.cfm.
Doctors who are located in a state where we previously did not have any CLEAR-recommended doctors are listed in bold.
Dr. Hania Danko - Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Dr. Mary Alvarado - Tampa, Florida
Dr. Ron Carpenter - Coppell, Texas
Dr. Dancy Hinders - Canyon, Texas
Dr. Richard Hyde - Wheaton, Illinois
Dr. Lee Hilliard - Portales, New Mexico
Dr. Chris Akey - Farmington, Arkansas
Dr. Jason Ulsrud - Frisco, Texas
Dr. Kelly Henry - Carlsbad, New Mexico
Dr. Mark Morgan - Edmond, Oklahoma
Dr. Michael Jurgelewicz - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dr. Christopher Zaino - The Woodlands, Texas
Dr. Charles Clauss - Jena, Louisiana
Dr. David Brosz - Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Dr. Pete Wurdemann - North Branch, Minnesota
Dr. Mark Lindholm - Elkhart, Indiana
Dr. John DeSutter - Olive Branch, Mississippi
"Knowledge is the antidote to fear."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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