Spinal Curvature Dysfunctions

Our spine has a natural curve to it, but there are times when these curves become more prominent than they should be or become curved in the wrong direction. This can happen because of muscular imbalances to birth defects.

When someone has a healthy spine, their cervical spine (neck) has a slight forward curve; thoracic spine (the area where the ribs connect to the spine) has a backward curve; and the lumbar spine (lower back) has another forward curve. When looking at the spine from a side view, it makes it look like an ‘S’.

There are a few types of Spinal Curvature Dysfunctions, and each of them looks a bit different. These include:

Scoliosis

This condition is where, instead of the spine having a nice curvature moving front to back, instead it forces the spine to curve from side to side. There are 2 different types of scoliosis, functional, and structural. Functional scoliosis, makes the spine look like it is in a ‘C’ shape. This is generally caused by muscular imbalances and can be treated with manual therapies as it is because one side of the spine is tighter than the other, causing the muscles to pull the spine to the one side. Structural scoliosis makes the spine look like an ‘S’ shape. When this type of scoliosis happens, the person is born with it, and manual therapies will not be able to correct this curvature. Instead, other medical interventions may be used, depending on how severe the curvature is. This could include body casts or metal rods along the spine.

Hyperlordosis

This is where there is an exaggeration of the lumbar (lower back) curve. This means that both sides of the pelvis are tilted forward, making it look like the buttocks is being pushed backward. This condition does respond to massage very well but does depend on the client’s commitment to at-home exercises, depending on the reason why they have the hyperlordosis in the first place. It can be caused by other conditions, such as pregnancy, obesity, weak abdominal muscles, poor posture, prolonged standing, IT band contracture, or Pes Planus. If pregnancy is the cause for the hyperlordosis, most of the treatment will be to help with decreasing pain and having to wait till the baby is born before more extensive treatment and exercises can be started.

Hyperkyphosis

This is where the upper thoracic curve is exaggerated, along with having the shoulders curled forward and the head hanging forward. This is also commonly called having a hunchback. For this condition, it can be either functional or structural. When the condition is functional, it mainly affects the muscles, and with the use of stretching manual therapies, such as Massage and Physiotherapy, and being careful of your posture, it can be fixed. As for structural hyperkyphosis, this is where the vertebrae are wedging or fusing, and massage isn’t able to fix this condition, rather it can only help with decreasing pain and trying to gain back some range of motion that was previously lost.

Treatment

The treatment of these spinal curvature dysfunctions will greatly depend on if the condition is functional or structural. If it is functional, then the curvatures can be fixed with treatment. However, the moment that it is a structural condition, the curvature isn’t able to be corrected with manual therapies, as it is the bone structure that can include fusion of the vertebrae.

If the condition is structural, the treatment will be based on a relaxation massage to help with managing the pain. Then if it is tolerated, trigger points and secondary conditions may be treated to further help with pain management. If the condition is functional, the treatment will start as being a relaxation massage to help with managing the pain, then go into more treatment-oriented. This will be where trigger points, fascial restrictions, and tight muscles will be worked on first. Then if you can do more, as sometimes doing this type of treatment can fatigue the body, joint play, range of motion and exercises may also be incorporated.

For both of these situations, you will have to come for multiple sessions to be able to get the results that you are looking for. Though the goals are very different, it will still take time to be able to reach them.