SEO Metadata Options

Title Tag Options (50-60 characters):

• Adult Degenerative Scoliosis Treatment | MN Scoliosis
• MN Scoliosis Care for Adults | Minneapolis Chiropractic Center
• Degenerative Scoliosis Relief | Minneapolis Chiropractic Center

Meta Description Options (150-160 characters):

• Struggling with adult degenerative scoliosis? Minneapolis Chiropractic Center offers specialized MN Scoliosis treatments like ScoliBalance and ScoliBrace.
• Adult scoliosis requires proactive care. Discover how the MN Scoliosis experts at Minneapolis Chiropractic Center relieve pain and restore spinal stability.
• Don’t let degenerative scoliosis limit your mobility. Get customized adult scoliosis treatment, including ScoliBrace, at Minneapolis Chiropractic Center.

Adult Degenerative Scoliosis: Causes, Symptoms, and Proactive Treatment in Minnesota

Scoliosis is most commonly diagnosed in adolescents but can affect patients of all ages, including older adults. In fact, the actual rate of scoliosis increases among the aging population due to the prevalence of degenerative scoliosis caused by age-related changes in the spine. Seniors who are recently diagnosed need to understand that progression is likely, and degenerative instability increases the critical need for fall prevention.

Adults over the age of 60 are most commonly diagnosed with degenerative de novo scoliosis. Because this form of scoliosis is driven by degenerative instability, most cases are progressive and painful. At Minnesota Scoliosis Treatment Center, our customized treatment plans focus on increasing the spine’s balance and stability to ensure fall prevention, pain relief, and sustainable improvements to your quality of life.

Disruptions to balance and stability can be dangerous for older adults. A diagnosis of adult scoliosis must be taken seriously and treated proactively.

Understanding Adult Scoliosis

Children are more frequently diagnosed with scoliosis, but adults are significantly affected as well. The two main types of adult scoliosis are:

1. Adolescent Scoliosis in Adults (ASA): Pre-existing cases from adolescence that persist into adulthood.
2. Degenerative De Novo Scoliosis (DDS): New-onset scoliosis diagnosed later in life, primarily affecting older adults (1).

The most prevalent type of scoliosis overall is adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), diagnosed at the onset of puberty. Consequently, adolescent scoliosis in adults remains the most common type of adult scoliosis (2, 3).

Because scoliosis is a progressive condition, treatment needs are ongoing. While growth is the main trigger for curve progression in youth, degenerative changes in the spine drive increased curve progression in adults. Once skeletal maturity is reached, scoliosis becomes compressive rather than elongating.

While the spine is growing, a constant lengthening motion counteracts the compressive force of the spine’s unnatural curve and twist. In adulthood, compression (uneven and/or excessive pressure on the spine) becomes a primary cause of pain. While children can experience back and muscle fatigue, sharp back and nerve pain is much more closely associated with adult scoliosis (4). Pain is the leading cause for adult diagnoses, whereas visible postural changes are the most noticeable symptoms of childhood scoliosis (2).

What is Degenerative Scoliosis?

Degenerative de novo scoliosis develops later in life with no prior history of spinal curves, most commonly affecting adults over the age of 45 (5). The first step in customizing an adult’s MN Scoliosis treatment plan is determining if the condition is pre-existing (ASA) or a new degenerative curve (DDS).

Degenerative scoliosis is more common in females than males, partially due to changes in bone density and hormone levels associated with menopause (5). While cases of adolescent scoliosis in adults can be either progressive or stable (3), most cases of degenerative scoliosis are highly progressive and painful (5).

Spinal degeneration is a natural part of aging, but the cumulative effect of certain lifestyle factors can significantly accelerate the process. Risk factors for accelerated degeneration include:

• Obesity
• Low physical activity levels
• Chronic poor posture
• Improper, repeated lifting of heavy objects
• Smoking
• Excessive alcohol consumption

The Role of Disc Degeneration

Most degenerative changes within the spine start with the intervertebral discs. These discs sit between adjacent vertebral bodies (the bones of the spine), and their health dictates overall spinal function (6). Disc degeneration is the root cause of many spinal conditions, mainly involving fluid loss and changes to the disc’s shape and mechanical function.

The discs consist of a soft inner nucleus and a tough, flexible outer annulus. Together, they preserve water and nutrients, maintaining their central position to facilitate shock absorption, flexibility, and structural integrity. Crucially, they prevent vertebrae from rubbing together and causing friction (6).

Over time, discs naturally lose fluid (desiccation). This excessive fluid loss causes the outer annulus to become brittle, compromising its shock-absorbing capabilities and causing the disc to thin out (6). When disc shape is impacted, the adjacent attaching vertebrae can shift, causing the spine to become misaligned and off-balance (5). An unbalanced spine is unstable and highly vulnerable to developing the unnatural curve of scoliosis.

Degenerative Scoliosis Symptoms to Watch For

Because degenerative scoliosis is caused by instability, it is virtually guaranteed to worsen without intervention. Increasing instability causes the curve to progress, and curve progression causes further instability—a destructive cycle that only proactive treatment can break (5, 6).

Common symptoms of degenerative scoliosis include:

• Lower Back and Leg Pain: The most common symptom, which frequently worsens as the curve progresses (5).
• Postural Shifts: A prominent forward hunch or a noticeable lean to one side (5).
• Loss of Height: As the spine curves and discs thin, patients often lose structural height (5).

Seniors should know that pain levels aren’t determined solely by curve severity (the size of the curve), but also by curve location. Most cases of degenerative scoliosis develop in the lumbar (lower) spine, placing heavy pressure on lower extremity nerves (4, 5). Postural shifts also dictate pain; adults whose posture shifts noticeably forward are more likely to experience severe pain than those whose posture shifts backward (4, 5).

Additional clinical factors that compound scoliosis symptoms include menopause, prior spinal surgeries, a family history of spinal conditions, and bone weakening diseases like osteoporosis or osteopenia.

Proactive Minnesota Scoliosis Treatment at Minneapolis Chiropractic Center

Once diagnosed, the most important decision is choosing how to actively treat the spine to preserve your quality of life. Because this condition involves increasing instability and pain, fall prevention and pain management are the primary focus of adult treatment (4, 5).

Restoring the spine’s balance is crucial. While significant curve reductions are the primary goal for childhood scoliosis, an adult’s spine is less flexible, which limits absolute corrective potential (5). However, even minor improvements to the spine’s balance and alignment can make a massive difference in stability, mobility, and pain relief (4, 5).

At Minneapolis Chiropractic Center, we utilize specialized, evidence-based protocols to manage and rehabilitate adult scoliosis.

ScoliBalance®

ScoliBalance® combines the best of scoliosis-specific chiropractic care with evidence-based rehabilitative exercise programs (incorporating elements of the Schroth Method, SEAS, and the Lyon Method) (7).

Intense, scoliosis-specific exercises improve core strength to provide better structural support for the aging spine. ScoliBalance® is a fully customized program shaped by the patient’s exact posture, physical ability, curve type, symptoms, and lifestyle goals (7). If an older adult’s spinal curve remains somewhat flexible, ScoliBalance® has the potential to dramatically improve pain, posture, appearance, and overall balance for fall prevention.

ScoliBrace®

For cases that are progressing rapidly and severely compromising stability, a customized 3-dimensional scoliosis brace is often required. Because ScoliBrace® is modern, asymmetrical, and corrective in its design, it works dynamically in conjunction with movement, making it the perfect complement to a ScoliBalance® program.

Customized 3D bracing helps:

• Re-align the spine into a straighter position.
• Improve and maintain a neutral, upright posture.
• Reduce pain by preventing excessive, unstable micro-movements within the spine.
• Improve overall spinal health and daily function (8).

Older adults with degenerative scoliosis are also highly vulnerable to developing a lateral listhesis—a condition where one vertebral body slips sideways in relation to the vertebra below it, causing severe pain and instability. In these cases, a ScoliBrace® can rapidly stabilize the spine to provide crucial short-term pain relief while long-term rehabilitation takes place.

It is never too late to work toward a better quality of life. While natural age-related spinal degeneration cannot be entirely stopped, the sooner treatment begins, the more potential there is to preserve function, slow the degenerative process, and eliminate pain. If you or a loved one are experiencing the signs of adult scoliosis, prompt evaluation is the first step toward relief.

References:

1. Schwab FJ, Smith VA, Biserni M, Gamez L, Farcy JP, Pagala M. Adult scoliosis: a quantitative radiographic and clinical analysis. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2002 Feb 15;27(4):387-92.
2. Weinstein SL. The Natural History of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. J Pediatr Orthop. 2019 Jul;39(Issue 6, Supplement 1 Suppl 1):S44-S46.
3. Ansari K, Singh M, McDermott JR, Gregorczyk JA, Balmaceno-Criss M, Daher M, McDonald CL, Diebo BG, Daniels AH. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in adulthood. EFORT Open Rev. 2024 Jul 1;9(7):676-684.
4. Zaina F, Marchese R, Donzelli S, Cordani C, Pulici C, McAviney J, Negrini S. Current Knowledge on the Different Characteristics of Back Pain in Adults with and without Scoliosis: A Systematic Review. J Clin Med. 2023 Aug 9;12(16):5182.
5. York PJ, Kim HJ. Degenerative Scoliosis. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2017 Dec;10(4):547-558.
6. Scarcia L, Pileggi M, Camilli A, Romi A, Bartolo A, Giubbolini F, Valente I, Garignano G, D’Argento F, Pedicelli A, Alexandre AM. Degenerative Disc Disease of the Spine: From Anatomy to Pathophysiology and Radiological Appearance, with Morphological and Functional Considerations. J Pers Med. 2022 Nov 1;12(11):1810.
7. Palazzo, C., Montigny, J. P., Barbot, F., Bussel, B., Vaugier, I., Fort, D., … & Marty-Poumarat, C. (2017). Effects of bracing in adult with scoliosis: a retrospective study. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 98(1), 187-190.
8. Oakley PA, Harrison DD, Harrison DE, Haas JW. Evidence-based protocol for structural rehabilitation of the spine and posture: review of clinical biomechanics of posture (CBP) publications. J Can Chiropr Assoc. 2005
9. Bayram F, Karatekin BD, Erhan B, Pasin O, Yumusakhuylu Y. Conservative Treatment in Adult Degenerative Scoliosis: a Prospective Cohort Study. Maedica (Bucur). 2024 Mar;19(1):23-29