Josh Tam World

My Scoliosis Treatment

 
I started showing signs of scoliosis when I was 13. It got even worse when I was 20. The doctor said I could go for surgery but it was too costly and I could not afford it. But I found a treatment that is cost-effective and that works...

My Scoliosis Treatment

For those of you who are not sure what scoliosis, is you can check it out on Google or something. But in a nutshell, it is a type of bone-deformation. My spine slants to the right. And my right shoulder drops lower than my left, and my head is also tilted to the right. And if left untreated, it would get worse and worse. Here's the story:

Medical Bone Doctor
First of all, I went to see a bone doctor. The traditional one. He measured my back bone... around 10-20 degrees curve. He said surgery is the only way to fix it, with putting in the rod. Very expensive. Tens of thousands of dollars. And then he said, probably I should just leave it alone... if I cannot afford the surgery. And there is no way to twist the bone back.

Chinese Chiropractor and Bone Adjuster
I went to have my hair cut at a different barbers' shop and the barber noticed my scoliosis: neck slanting to the right, right shoulder drooping down and spine curving. He easily noticed it because I have like less than 10% fat and my being underweight. So he recommended me to a taiwanese martial artist + physician + doctor of some kind, called Dr. Chen. Dr. Chen is a professional "bone adjuster" or chiropractor, so to speak. Like if you've ever seen some movies when some guys get into a fight and they get their joints dislocated and then another guy pulls his arm, giving it a snap and he screams in pain, and then says the arm is healed.

OK, so Dr. Chen is also well-known for fixing spinal problems, and scoliosis is one of them. According to him, there are certain treatments for scoliosis of my type but most are not beneficial:
1. Leaving it alone - will cause serious problems later
2. Surgery to rearrange the bones - expensive
3. Getting a metal rod - the rod will force the spine straight but will not actually cure it. It will also make the spine stiff, leading to poor blood circulation, and is not recommended.

His treatment is a lot different from the 3. I don't know how to call it... I had my 1st treatment back in March. In the first session, he had me lie on a jamblock. That's what they call it. It's a bit like the benchpress without the barbell. Then I had to grip the top part and my hips are tied to the machine. Then my body was pulled hard, like being on the medieval pulling torture bed. And Dr. Chen told me to sway my hips from side to side. It sounds painful and was a bit painful at first, but after a while, when the bones loosened up, the pain was gone. This session went on for about 5 minutes.

Next! He told me to lie facedown and it was basically the same treatment, pulling my body. This went on for about 5 minutes too, but occassionally, he would massage my back whilst my body was being pulled. Now that was the painful part.

The 3rd session involved the actual adjustments. Now that my backbone was loose from the pulling, he could easily do the necessary adjustments. The adjustments he gave me during my first sessions were mild crackings. But during my second session, he gave me various adjustments that resembled wrestling submission holds. The most painful one being the abdominal stretch. According to him, it was needed to straighten the bent part of my backbone.

Dr. Chen said I had to do lots of sessions with him: one session a day. He said treatment for scoliosis is unlike the ordinary treatment where the bones are out of place and just need some adjustments. He said the adjustments for my spine had to be done over a longer span of time, about several months. Each session costs me about US$17. So, 30 days of treatment is just $510. Sure beats surgery or metal rods. Before I got to know Dr. Chen, I asked about how much I need to pay for scoliosis surgery and the doc said tens of thousands...

Below are before-and-after pics of the treatment. Pretty amazing. I will be continuing treatment until my back is completely straight.

Scoliosis Treatment Josh Tam

Update 2011 Feb 7:
Now my bones are almost straight and I just got myself frequent follow-up maintenance sessions with Dr. Chen's colleague Dr. Lai in Kuching.

Moving on to Posture Correction Shoes
IMPORTANT Update 2011 September 22:
I have been asked many times whether there are any side effects during and after the treatment? Eg, headache,breathing problems, etc?
Of course there are. I cannot lie about this. The treatments really work to correct the spine and make it straighter but frankly that is all they do. But my body consists of not only my spine but also my internal organs, nerves, blood vessels and many other stuff that are connected to the spine. When the spine is straightened using this method, the internal organs and nerves are disregarded and they need to adjust to follow the new straightened spine immediately and this is not good. The spine should be straightened gradually and not immediately or else the body cannot cope. This is what is happening to me now. Thankfully I found another alternative treatment that is even better than Doctor Chen's, and even cheaper and even less painful and does not impact the internal organs and nerves at all, using Posture Correction Shoes. What do the shoes do? And how is the treatment implemented? Well, it is like this. By wearing the shoes, the bones in my body are aligned to a healthy state and when I walk about with the shoes on, the scoliosis heals slowly... bit by bit, since I am walking with the correct alignment already...

Update 2011 Oct 4:
It's been 38 days since wearing the shoes. But there is some good news! A few days back, I took off my shirt to take a bath. My mom saw my back bone. She said some of the bones started protruding out. This means that the part that is twisted inwards is starting to twist back to its original state, slowly! And the backbone below my head (spinal cord area) is straighter than 2 months ago before I wore the shoes. This past Sunday, I was taking a walk. And I saw my reflection somewhere. My shoulders looked pretty straight and I had to take a closer look to notice a slight slant. 2 months ago, just looking in the mirror would reveal that my shoulders are slanted. And when they were slanted, my parents would always say "Oh no, your bones backbone is progressing back to the old state. You will need to visit Dr. Lai or Dr. Chen to get some treatment." But those Doctors are often away, back in their hometown. Good thing I got the shoes... now my bones will grow straighter and straighter without getting painful chiropractic-style forcing treatment. I will post new updates from time to time.

Update 2011 Nov 19
On November 16, I got my shoes realigned. Realignment is needed in order to make the shoes fit the position of my bones of the current state as the treatment progresses. The realignment is free. Then different effects appear. I felt weakness in my limbs and legs and also some sharp pain around my right kidney. But after 2 days, the pain is less. This is part of the treatment process as the bones slowly heal and the scoliosis decrease...

To find out more about the shoes -> Posture Correction Shoes
If you want to find out more about my scoliosis experiences, please feel free to contact me: +6 0168076523 or email me: josh@joshtam.net

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Views : 8936
Date Created : 2009-05-26 19:33:37
Date Modified : 2012-04-10 03:34:18
 
 
 

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