Schroth Method
At Advanced Holistic Center, located in New York City’s financial district, Dr. Elena Vaynshtok, DPT offers a safe, non-invasive, conservative, treatment for treating scoliosis in children and adults: the Schroth physical therapy method.
Schroth physical therapy for scoliosis teaches patients how to adopt an improved posture and how to develop strength and healthy habits to maintain that posture in their daily life. It involves cognitive, sensory-motor, and kinesthetic training to teach patients to improve their 3D posture and shape.
What Is Schroth Physical Therapy
for Scoliosis?
One of the first components of Schroth physical therapy for scoliosis involves educating patients and ensuring that they understand the precise 3D presentation of scoliosis in their bodies. Using the patient’s radiological findings and clinical presentations, the therapist teaches them where their curve is and explains which structures of the body are involved and how. Treatment and corrective exercises are customized to each patient based on their curve type.
Once patients understand precisely where their scoliosis is, our therapists follow general principles of correction to improve alignment. Schroth physical therapy exercises focus on elongation, expansion, and de-rotation to strengthen the spine and the muscles in the back.
How does the
Schroth Method Work?
We also educate patients on postural awareness. Practitioners use mirrors when teaching postural awareness, so patients more clearly understand their goals. We remind patients to check their posture many times per day in an effort to restore spinal alignment.
The general principles of scoliosis correction include four phases:
- Phase 1: The stable 3D postural correction technique teaches patients how to self-elongate and reach optimal 3D trunk and spinal alignment.
- Phase 2: The expansion technique reshapes the body by expanding collapsed areas through breathing mechanics.
- Phase 3: Expansion, tension, and pressure techniques enhance muscle activation.
- Phase 4: Integration techniques teach patients how to integrate what they learned into their activities of daily living.
Goals of Schroth physical therapy for scoliosis may include:
- Stop/decrease/partially correct curve progression
- Improve posture and movement
- Decrease pain
- Improve breathing capacity
- Improve brace effectiveness
- Prevent/delay surgery
- Improve psychological outlook and quality of life
For best results, patients must make a long-term commitment to Schroth physical therapy training. It takes time and repetition for conscious control to become an automatic habit. We work closely with orthopedists and orthotists to achieve best possible results.
Why Is Schroth Physical Therapy for Scoliosis Preferable?
An important benefit of Schroth physical therapy for scoliosis is that the exercises are tailored to each individual patient, thereby making the exercises prescribed that much more effective. Moreover, practicing Schroth physical therapy exercises can shorten the amount of time necessary to wear a brace for scoliosis and even eliminate the need for surgery.
Talk to the practitioners at Advanced Holistic Center in the financial district in New York today about how Dr. Elena Vaynshtok, DPT and Schroth physical therapy for scoliosis can help you or your child.
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