“One year ago, my ten year old daughter was diagnosed with scoliosis that was very aggressive. She had four curves, two of which were already threatening to pass the point where surgery becomes the only option. We spoke with an orthopedic surgeon, who told us that the “standard of care” for her was to put her into a Boston brace and, in essence, hope that her curves didn’t progress any further than they already had. The more we looked into the Boston brace, the more distressed we became. There is no evidence that the Boston brace does anything more than *probably* prevent curves from getting worse. There is no actual correction or improvement documented. The brace, which we got at the beginning, was thick and bulky. It was impossible to find clothes for her to wear that looked nice or that hid it at all. Even worse, she had a difficult time sitting and couldn’t even go to the bathroom by herself, as the straps with which the brace gets tightened are on the back, out of reach of the wearer. When we brought these concerns to both the surgeon and the manufacturer, they told us to have her ask a friend to help her in the bathroom if she had to go during school!
My wife and I both felt that something more HAD to be able to be done. Many websites, however, stated that there was no known cure for scoliosis. My wife is the one who came across Schroth therapy online. It starts with a better brace, but includes exercises, posturing, and body manipulations that can all be done at home once trained. While not recognized in the U.S., it is used in many other countries as part of regular treatment. The person regarded as the foremost expert is Dr. Weiss in Germany. Through looking at him, we found that Dr. Moramarco was his U.S. leader in Schroth, as Dr. Marc has both been trained by him personally and still consults him on many of cases. I’m not one to be easily swayed by online research (I work in the fitness equipment industry, where most of the brands you see advertised online are usually the worst), but still, the evidence and pictures were compelling, so we called and talked to Marc ourselves.
We are from Pittsburgh, so a trip to Boston, not covered at all by insurance, was daunting. Dr. Marc, however, was so kind as to talk with us on a conference call on a Sunday night from his own cell phone, describing what his program entailed, his own daughter’s fight with scoliosis, and how Schroth works. We decided to go, and what a great decision it was. Dr. Marc and his associate Amy deal with each case very personally. You don’t go in and get handed off to some trainee; they work with you start to finish. We all fell instantly in love with them all: the entire staff is always smiling and knows your name, and Marc and Amy are amazing. They truly are very personally invested in our daughter’s well being. They set aside extra time for questions and extra training. They LISTEN to your concerns and address them. They are not aloof when it comes to answering questions. You never get the feeling that they feel you shouldn’t question them, and you never feel rushed as they take the time to answer. The brace that Marc uses is called a Cheneau [Gensingen] brace. It is a more aggressive brace that encourages the body to use its muscles all the time to help contract the muscles in the back against the curves. As a bonus, the brace is also more sleek and easier to hide under clothing. Plus, the adjustment straps are in the front, allowing my daughter to go the restroom on her own, instead of having to face the humiliation of asking for help.
The best part is, the results are there! In her last X-Ray, my daughter showed improvement in all of her curves, especially the thoracic and lumbar ones, which were by far the biggest. She is no longer a candidate for surgery, which is the happiest news we’ve ever heard! Had we stuck with the traditional methods, I have no doubt that we would be in a very different place right now. You will not find either a man who cares more or that does a better job than Dr. Marc Moramarco.”
