Live pain free with Scoliosis, Arthritis, integrative nutrition & Buteyko breathing retraining

We were made to move.

Born in Poland as young girl in her gym class, she was diagnosed with Scoliosis. At age 16 with a 48 curve she had surgery. Being curious about her own surgery, she convinced her orthopedic to let her observe a spinal fusion using Harrington rods.

Not living with any pain, pre & post surgery, life moved as it always had pain free. It wasn’t until she had her 2nd child that pain started to set in. Having a corporate job, wearing heals, life all took a toll. Not being able to support her Scoliosis, getting out of bed became painful. Cortisone shots weren’t a possibility because of her fusion. 

She worked with therapist for 4 years, she learned how use her body, firing her glutes, how to walk, building core strength. 

Living with Scoliosis & Arthritis pain free. Every day we open up, it’s like we’re blooming. Once we...

At age 13 Jaq was diagnosed with Scoliosis. When she was 16, the pain started. This lead her family into a deep dive of doing research to find out what the nexts would be. She would do physical therapy with no help of her curve decreasing & not being prescribed a brace.

It would be 10 years until she had surgery. She continued living her every day life playing sports & being active. In her senior year of high school, she stopped playing rugby because of the increased. She went to orthopedics, no one prescribing Schroth Method or bracing. “Here’s physical therapy, hopefully it doesn’t worsen.”

Surgery would be her next step. After many appointments & opinions, Jaq & her family found an orthopedic in West Slip, New York Dr. Sevarella.

She would have surgery that kept her in the ICU for a week.

Recovery was rough. I remember burning pain. I remember waking up crying happy that I woke up.

“You have to fight for your new spine.”

Growing up Dr. Gardner liked science. In college he majored in Chemistry.  "Medicine was a way to touch peoples lives.” Dr. Gardner was drawn to Orthopedic surgery, based on the magnitude & immediacy 

He trained at Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC, graduating in 2007. It was during this time, he was optimistic, viewing the future through rose colored glasses. When he started talking with patients he learned about the health care system is in the US. He started to feel disillusioned on how the system fails patients. 

It was then, he saw specifically how the Scoliosis journey had problematic components.

Dr. Gardner still believes that a lot of these surgeries are potentially avoidable with better systems in place.

Dr. Gardner partnered with Karena Thek founder of Scoliosis Pilates, bringing Kavon Saber (an adult living with Scoliosis) to help patients solve living  with Scoliosis.

Dr Gardner shares his thoughts on Harrington Rods &...

Emily, a friend,  a client with a spinal fusion

Emily's Scoliosis was diagnosed when they did the toe touch test In high school, Being a very active teenager playing field hockey and other sports, her back started to hurt. Her mother thought the pain might be associated to sports. At age 14, Emily had a growth spurt.

During this time, her curves increased. Though her curve increased, it was never recommended that she wear a brace.

She started to live with consistent pain, “turning off the emotional side.” I was a kid who wanted to keep living life.”

In 2007 Emily would have a spinal fusion. Having her mother, brother & friends group, she had continuous supported.

The day after surgery, they orthopedic team had her up & walking.

I asked Emily if she had an physical therapy? She went to a chiropractor pre surgery even before she was diagnosed. One of the memories that stays with her, she used was the arm bike.

When she got home, she noticed she had...

Crystal’s journey with Scoliosis started at age 2. At age 2, her mother noticed that Crystal was walking differently than her friends. Being concerned, her mother searched for answers. Remembering that a cousin had Scoliosis, she thought maybe Crystal has Scoliosis as too. 

They found the Princess Elizabeth Orthopedic treatment center in Trinidad. After having X-rays, it was confirmed Crystal had Scoliosis.  Every 6 months, Crystal would have her assessment. During one of her assessments, it was found she had a heart defect. The focus shifted from her Scoliosis to her heart. 

At ages 2-6 she was wore the Wilmington brace (a brace that is still used today in Trinidad) wearing it 23 hrs a day for the 1st year. The brace would rub against her chest. Because of an already existing heart problem, the brace affected her breathing.

This caused her to stop wearing the brace. At age 14 her curves increased to 70-80 degrees. At the doctors...

In middle school around age 13 Kerry noticed she started to have pain. After doing a few toe touch tests, nothing was noticed, though she had a significant curve. In high school, she was playing a lot of sports, during which she was given a brace & told “wait & see.” Not understanding what was happening, she & her friends would make a joke out of it. She wore her brace at night though she was told to wear it 24/7.

While in college her pain became so significant that surgery became her only choice, though she wanted to put it off. She decided that Christmas break would be the best time to have surgery, thinking it was no big deal. Break was over & she flew back to school & was carrying her books living her every day college life. 

She started to notice after being fused T1- T11, her pain patterns hadn’t changed. The continued when she was in grad school. The pains kept her frozen, including where she was fused. It was during this time...

Practicing for almost 4 decades as a Chiropractic Orthopedist and author of 'Healing The Human Machine.’

Dr. Hargis, a graduate from Palmer College, he wanted to specialize in Orthopedics because that was most germain to patient population he was seeing.

Once making the decision into Orthopedics, he went through an 3 1/2 year orthopedic program at NY chiropractic college.

Along the way, he started treating people with Scoliosis. During this time, he saw X-ray of patients, noticing leg length discrepancies. To his surprise, radiologists never commented on these.

Dr Hargis shares his a rational perspective. X-rays are taken from a standing position. This should be an easy observation to see as a leg length discrepancy. Dr. Hargis explains. The spine made up of 24 moveable vertebra sitting on a pelvis. If one leg is shorter, you’re going to have a pelvic tilt. In Dr. Hargis, opinion the leg length discrepancy is never discussed. If a lift were put in the show, while...

Kay has lived with various conditions since his teens. One of those is Ulcerative Colitis. He had been consistent going to the gym. Noticing the progress he had made. One day he noticed, he stopped. It had been a month, then 2. He was weak that he had to use crutches. Kay, went to the hospital. He had a 50% blood loss. He stayed in the hospital for 3 weeks. Slowly he gained his strength. He started to train while in the hospital.

Sara’s story starts around Christmas when she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Starting with Chemotherapy, they installed a port under her skin. This was the first operation she had since her fusion. Not having flash backs but remembering what it felt like to have surgery the emotions felt familiar. While this is going on, she was also getting certified in Steel mace flow.

It took a while to get used to training with her mace while having the port under her skin.

They share how the mace has helped with recovery.

Sara shares the emotional space is...