Is Kyphosis Permanent?

Is Kyphosis Permanent?

With chiropractic care, your kyphosis hump can usually be minimized and your posture corrected. However, the underlying issues that first caused your kyphosis may still be present.

If you need kyphosis treatment in the Lakeland Florida area, call New City Chiropractic. Let our kyphosis chiropractors design a treatment plan for you that will help correct your kyphosis and decrease your back pain. Call New City chiropractic or request an appointment today!

Kyphosis is an exaggerated curvature of the thoracic (middle) spine, often resulting in a noticeable “hump” that causes pain and discomfort. As people age, sufferers often develop a spinal hump in the upper shoulder region or just below the neck. The appearance of a small or more pronounced hump can result from a combination of a protruding curvature in the upper spine and forward head pronation.

In extreme cases, the curvature of the spine can become debilitating and negatively impact other aspects of your health and wellness. Fortunately, with proper chiropractic treatment, most patient can achieve kyphosis correction and long-term pain relief.

What Causes Kyphosis?

It’s important to understand that kyphosis is not necessarily a disorder. Rather, it describes an existing condition and curvature that can run the entire length of the spine. Unlike scoliosis, which creates a lateral or sideways spinal curvature, kyphosis curves the spine forward creating a hump or hunched posture. There are also a number of underlying causes that can result in kyphosis. These include the following.

  • Arthritis

  • Poor posture

  • Tissue Disorders

  • Tumors

  • Parkinson’s Disease

  • Muscular Dystrophy

  • Spina Bifida

In some cases, people are born with what is known as “congenial kyphosis” caused by the incomplete formation of the spine. In other instances, children can develop a type of structural kyphosis known as Scheuermann’s disease. This condition results when spine growth fails to keep pace with other areas. This generally impacts adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15 years old during growth spurts.

When kyphosis becomes extreme in youths, it can have a debilitating mental effect. The physical presence of the curvature sometimes creates emotional insecurity among teens during formative social years. These are reasons that early detection of spinal conditions is imperative to mental and physical health and well-being.

Dowager’s Hump

Though it can occur in both men and women, a Dowager’s Hump describes a type of rounded posture or hump that one typically sees in older women. The forward sections of vertebrae compress as a person leans forward. Overtime, this compression exaggerates the forward pronation, causing a person to further round their spine and draw their shoulders inward, resulting in a permanent hump. It is generally cause by bad posture and can be made worse by osteoporosis or arthritis.

Tech Neck

Tech Neck is a form of kyphosis brought on by repeatedly bending the neck and tucking the chin as you do when you look at your phone or low computer screen. As you look down, the weight of your head in the forward position causes your thoracic or middle back to bend forward as well. Over time, the front of your vertebrae and discs compress causing tightness and pain in the neck and back. Luckily, chiropractic treatment of tech neck kyphosis can successfully correct your posture and relive your pain.

Identifying Kyphosis Symptoms

This condition can be one of the simplest spinal conditions to identify once a hump has manifested. But there are warning signs that can improve outcomes through early detection. These include the following.

  • Ongoing back pain

  • Back pain caused by movement

  • Fatigue

  • Stiffness of the spine

  • Tenderness of the spine

  • Head in a forward position (forward head pronation)

  • Uneven shoulder height

  • Hamstring and thigh tightness

In extreme cases, a person suffering from kyphosis could experience shortness of breath or chest pains. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, it’s important to schedule a chiropractic examination.

Scoliosis Lakeland Florida

Can Kyphosis Be fixed?

Can Kyphosis be fixed?

In many cases, yes. With proper chiropractic care, many patients see the minimization of their back hump and in some cases, it completely disappears.

Does Kyphosis Require Surgery?

The goal of chiropractic kyphosis treatment is to relieve the pain and discomfort caused by the underlying condition and stop its progression. That being said, numerous factors go into making an informed decision about surgical or non-surgical treatment. Although medical professionals often view curvatures of more than 75 degrees as better candidates for a surgical procedure, factors such as age, health, and medical history also play a role in such recommendations.

Early detection also plays a vital role in avoiding surgical procedures. While extreme cases of kyphosis may require surgery, the vast majority can be managed effectively through non-surgical chiropractic treatment and care.

Can a Chiropractor Fix a Kyphosis Hump?

Chiropractic care is widely considered among the best non-surgical options to treat kyphosis. Depending on the severity and underlying cause of the kyphosis diagnosis, a chiropractic treatment plan will be tailored to your specific needs and long-term health goals. With proper chiropractic care and early intervention, many patients can see their kyphosis hump drastically minimized. These are common ways that a chiropractic treatment plan can improve your wellness.

  • Reduce inflammation

  • Reduce chronic kyphosis pain and discomfort

  • Decrease muscle spasms

  • Maintain spine health

  • Improve mobility and range of motion

  • Reduce the rate of spinal degeneration

Even in seemingly minor cases of spinal curvatures, chiropractic treatment and care provide a proactive path to improved quality of life. The process may include consultations about how to prevent your condition from escalating into a kyphosis diagnosis.

How Chiropractic Kyphosis Treatment Works

When treating kyphosis, it’s important to understand that every case will require treatment and care that meets a wide range of factors. These include managing the underlying cause, age, health, and severity of the curvature among others. Just as no two people are the same, each treatment and care program will also be unique. Chiropractic care can offer kyphosis pain treatment as well as kyphosis curve correction.

Chiropractic care involves non-surgical adjustments to the spine, stretching and light exercise regimens all designed to minimize the impact and escalation of the issue. These include a wide variety of specialized hands-on techniques that have been developed for kyphosis and other conditions. Some of these techniques are designed to help the chiropractor identify problem areas in the spine. These are techniques that may be used for kyphosis.

  • Kyphosis Adjustment: By applying gentle thrusting motions, a chiropractor can stretch tissue and help identify restricted joints or those that show abnormal movement. The process also stimulates the nervous system and helps improve mobility.

  • Kyphosis Exercises: In order to provide long-lasting pain relief, your chiropractor will devise strengthening exercises for the neck and mid back to support the spine and help you maintain optimum posture.

  • Kyphosis Posture Block: This instrument uses gravity to gently stretch the spine out of the kyphosis curve, alleviating stress on compresses vertebrae and correcting posture.

  • Flexion-Distraction Technique: This mild spinal manipulation is commonly used in kyphosis cases that have an underlying degenerative disc disorder. It involves a gentle, non-thrusting spinal manipulation that generally targets the mid-spine region.

  • Instrument-Assisted Manipulation: This technique also uses non-thrusting manipulation in conjunction with chiropractic devices designed to increase steady force under safe conditions.

Kyphosis treatment and care generally merge in-office therapies with a modest exercise regimen designed to stretch and strengthen impacted areas. This is accompanied by a consultation about ways to approach improved posture.

Schedule an Appointment with a Kyphosis Chiropractor

If you have noticed any symptoms of kyphosis you need to contact New City Chiropractic in Lakeland Florida. Early intervention improves the likelihood of complete kyphosis correction, so don’t delay. Call our Lakeland office or request an appointment online.