Scoliosis Blog

Wow, time has flown.  Its already October. I have been meaning to put something down in the blog but have been so incredibly busy its been hard to find the time. August flew by with the Medtronic spinal surgery conference. Its the same group as last year but this time the focus was on adult spinal deformity. Many of the surgeons treated kids as well. I am thankful to Medtronic for extending an invitation to Mr Helmut Diers from Germany. Helmut is the founder and owner of the company that built the new formetric machine we have. He flew into to Sydney to test the machine (to make sure we assembled it correctly) and to conduct some training. I think it was also good for him to see the direction that that the surgeons are  heading in. We fortunately or unfortunately did not have any discussion on the efficacy of conservative managemet in spinal deformity.

I received the decision regarding my research submission to the Australian Physiotherapy Assoc conference. REJECTED!! I will have to continue with the research and resubmit next year. I have also been having some interesting discussions with Sydney University so hopefully will be able to formalise a more thorough project. 

The clinical treatments continue though.. I had the pleasure working with a special young man referred to my his amazing physiotherapist (Millie Shield) in Tasmania. He came to Sydney to visit with a spinal surgeon. He had already had a fusion a few years ago and the surgeon was reluctant to operate again. This was Millie's reply and she's heading over to Barcelona next year to complete Dr Rigo's course.

"Thank you for your invaluable work with XXX. I've seen him a few times since and he now remembers all the exercises without using the notes. We have been working on releasing right cervical tightness and his ability to correct his asymmetries is nothing short of astounding. XXX hasn't had pain since Sydney and has worked full time hours - he was previously using a day of sick leave every fortnight or so. A terrific result."

l had a another case last week where a mother brought in her young (12 year old) daughter. The daughter had been diagnosed with a 20 degree curve at aged 10 and told to leave it. the mother was worried that her daughter had progressed and came into our clinic. I arranged for another scan and unfortunately the mother's suspicion was correct and her daughter's curve had progressed well into surgical range.  This was one of those cases where I think that Schroth therapy is not indicated at this stage. This young girl needs to see and surgeon and a good bracing specialist and to determine which the better option is. If she is braced then Schroth would definately be necessary.

Last week an ex-physiotherapy student of mine was in Sydney. Gary Arenson has designed an ergonomic chair and asked me to help him launch it into the Australian market. The chair is manufactured in South Africa and it is especially supportive of the saggital posture of the spine. This ties in well with what we are doing.