Millions of Americans suffer from scoliosis as well as other neuromuscular disorders. Could there be a way to treat some of these debilitating conditions without a brace or without surgery? A New York yoga instructor claims that she achieved these results in just a matter of months. And when you look at these pictures, you’re thinking, wait, what? How? She claims she did it with specialized yoga. Is it even possible? Join us now to discuss is orthopedic spine surgeon Dr. Hooman Melamed. Welcome.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Your thoughts on yoga. And, and not just regular run-of-the-mill yoga, but this unique type of yoga to help people with scoliosis and these other back conditions. What are your thoughts?
I think what you just said, specific yoga. That’s like the critical term. It’s not just like, oh, I have scoliosis, I’m just going to go yoga. You have to pick a very, very specific person who understands what is going on with your posture and the scoliosis that can actually work with that. So, I think yoga, Pilates, somebody like that, and then just daily like plyometrics exercise absolutely can start improving your posture after
talking about a yoga instructor who is almost half yoga instructor, half physical therapist in the sense that they know the kind of movements to maybe undo some of the damage without causing further damage. Cuz the crazy thing about yoga, and I found this in my experience, is if you do it the wrong way, you can hurt yourself worse.
Absolutely. That’s the critical thing. Yes.
Not all cases of scoliosis are created equal, and not all cases of scoliosis will respond like, like those results to yoga alone.
Absolutely. I mean, you have to follow beyond their a provider, you know, choose a provider who understands the scoliosis, you know, work with them. So, if your, your curvature is not progressing, and you don’t have pain and you’re doing these modalities, you don’t need surgery. But, if your curve is progressing and you’re getting pain, that’s of course when you need surgery. But, that’s only a small percentage. It’s… Remember, what I’m saying is that you have to look at someone your 20 years old. You got to get started early on these exercises.
The younger patients with those results, I sort of get it, but that older woman who’s like
very important. I was surprised, too, but you have to understand, when you get older, you get more stiff. You have more osteoporosis. So, you as you get more stiff, you become more painful. So, your joints become less lubricant. So, if you have with somebody who’s working, who can slowly work and start basically lubricating your joints.
the rust out.
Exactly. You’re getting it more fluidity and mobility is when you can basically can, you know, because it’s painful all of a sudden stand up straight. But, if slowly get on that, you can achieve that.
Here’s been my experience. I had a functional problem and a mechanical problem. And I looked in the mirror and this is what my… When I bent over, this is what it looked like. This is how offset I was. And then after a couple of years of all these moves, now when I, it, it’s all been balanced out. And I never thought that was going to be possible. But, if you stick to it with the right person, I personally believe you can do this. So, I’m a big fan.
can you tell if you have really found the right person? Cuz anybody can kind of say, “Oh, I’ll take your money.” And they say, “I’m a yoga instructor.” Are there certain questions you can ask? Kind of certain red flags or anything?
that’s a very… That’s a very good point and that’s very tough. It’s like, how do you know somebody’s a good dentist or a good chiropractor? You know, I think it’s a lot of word of mouth, reviews online, you know, read about things. And, and you know, trying it with them. If you after one or two sessions, if you’re not seeing results, that’s obviously not a good thing.
The problem with a yoga class is if you’re not getting one-on-one directions, you’re going to potentially hurt yourself. You have to go see a therapist who can guide you with the kind of movements that are going to be safe for you.
That’s right. If you have a problem, one-on-one, because I can tell you all four of us sitting here right now, we can’t do the same yoga poses together. We need somebody showing us basically because our body habitus is different.
I, I love how open-minded you are about all this stuff.
you. Yes.
Thanks, sir.
