The scoliosis condition has been recorded in ancient Greek medical writings and since pictures were painted on cave walls....Basically, human beings have recognized the scoliosis spine as significant problem for quite a while now. The first metal scoliosis brace was developed 464 years ago and the first scoliosis surgery was performed 147 years ago and we are still no closer for finding a "cure for scoliosis" than we were 5000 + years ago. It think its finally safe to say that scoliosis braces and scoliosis surgeries will never lead to a cure for scoliosis.

The bigger and better question may be, why has more of an effort been made to find a "scoliosis cure" rather than just more ways of treating the primary symptom of the scoliosis condition....the spinal curvature.

I have heard many arguements that a cure for scoliosis is "unnecessary" if it doesn't pose a "life threatening" issue for the patient, but multiple quality of life studies in regards to spinal curvature have shown definatively that scoliosis treatment has value far beyond "saving the patient's life"....Which has also been definatively shown to not be the case even in cases with spinal curvatures more than 140 degrees.

So why hasn't there been more of an effort to find a cure, rather than just treating the curve spine? The answer may be complex and entrenched in the uncertain cause of the condition, but I suspect it is probably more simple than that. The answer could simply come down to MONEY. Plain and simple. Generally speaking there rarely is an serious effort to find a solution when there is good money to be made by prolonging the problem. Sad, but true and I suspect it is not different in the treatment of scoliosis.

Think about it, what financial incentive would an orthopedic doctor have to find a cure for a condition that puts many $1,000's of dollars into his/her pocket when doing nothing (observation) or scoliosis braces fail to help the patient? Of course the answer to my rhetorical question is.....not much incentive at all....actually, probably none. Hense, no real effort or progress have been made in the area of finding a cure for scoliosis.

So, what do we do about it? Are we in a financial death spiral that simply won't allow the current scoliosis treatment status quo to move towards a cure for the scoliosis condition? Is THIS (scoliosis bracing and scoliosis surgery) as good as it is going to get for scoliosis patients?

Hopefully not, but it does appear the "follow the money" business model is going to be the only way we get the current "scoliosis experts" to shift gears and start moving towards a system of scoliosis treatment actually prevents or reverses the condition, not just the spinal curve. With government spending drying up and private investment feeling "skiddish" from now until the foreseeable future it will require consumer spending to provide the incentive for researchers and clinicians to break the current failed model of scoliosis treatment.

Believe you me, that if consumers (parents and patients) begin to reject the current status quo scoliosis treatment model of doing nothing, worthless scoliosis braces, and scoliosis spinal fusion surgeries that may be worse than the condition itself over the long-run and thus begin investing their scoliosis treatment dollars into scoliosis exercise based treaments, prognosistic tests, and early stage scoliosis intervention programs the current "scoliosis experts" will scramble to follow the money.

Similar Threads:

• The "Failed Back Surgery Syndrome" A Serious Public Health Concern
• LIVE Interview on "Scoliosis Awareness" with Dr. Clayton Stitzel. (3 min)
• Could shoe size provide a "heads up" well ahead of a growth spurt?
• Scoliosis brace treatment and the approximately 60% "success" rate?
• Is the "cure" for idiopathic scoliosis worse than the condition?

Congratulations to your 1000th post!

Yes, both parents and patients need to change their mindset; educate themselves about what effective alternatives there are, instead of just watching and waiting for the scoliosis to deteriorate until bracing and surgery are prescribed options.