Teenagers with scoliosis have seen improvement from a new regimen of specialized physical therapy exercises developed by researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
The researchers behind a new study are calling for exercise management to be added to the standard of care for patients in Canada after the results from a randomized trial show that six months of Schroth physiotherapy offered significant improvement for the majority of patients in the study.
“Currently patients diagnosed with scoliosis are either monitored for progression, treated with a brace, or, in severe cases, offered surgery,” Sanja Schreiber, a member of the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, said. “Our study showed that 88 per cent of patients who did the Schroth physiotherapeutic scoliosis-specific exercises showed improvements or prevented progression in their scoliosis curves over six months compared to 60 per cent in the group receiving only standard of care.”
The 30- to 45-minute daily home program, alongside weekly supervised sessions, was shown to have positive effects on pain, body image, and muscle endurance for teenage participants.
“These short term results are clinically significant and show that Schroth physiotherapy exercises could help many patients with scoliosis if this type of conservative management is added to the standard of care,” Eric Parent, associate professor of physical therapy in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, said. “The Schroth group showed improved muscle endurance by increasing the average holding time by 32.3 seconds after three months, while the controls increased by only 4.8 seconds.”
Source : Life Science Daily , 30th Jan 2017
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