Scoliosis Center of La Crosse

Moderate Scoliosis carries a 68% chance of progression. Often patients notice symptoms such as pain or headaches and loss of balance. Clothes can hang unevenly and postural imbalances are noticed. Many patients struggle with poor body image, social anxiety, and depression.


Moderate Scoliosis: Break Free from the Brace!

  • Scoliosis curve of 25-40°
  • May have tilted head, uneven shoulders or hips.
  • Clothing may hang unevenly.
  • Often have one shoulder blade that is higher than the other and a "rib hump" appears.
  • May or may not be associated with pain.
  • May feel fatigued after physical activity
  • Often feel "clumsy"
  • May experience pain in spine, most commonly between shoulder blades and at the base of the rib cage. Headaches are common.
  • May become easily winded with physical activity
  • Often recommended for bracing

The Benefits of Moderate Stage Scoliosis Treatment

  • Easy to overcome when the curve is not severe
  • Increased lung capacity / more room for organs
  • More energy
  • Important to stop progression before the curve gets severe (60% risk of further progression)

Learn More About Moderate Scoliosis

Scoliosis can be a scary and confusing disease. Receiving that first diagnosis changes your life. We want you to know that you are not alone. At CLEAR™ Institute, we’re working to find answers and develop new treatments to benefit patients. CLEAR™ Institute has been thinking outside the box since 2000 to create scoliosis treatment options that make sense.

Due to ineffective screening methods, many cases of scoliosis go undetected in their early stages and are not diagnosed until they have progressed into moderate scoliosis, between 25-40 degrees. Even more disturbing, some patients actually received a diagnosis of mild scoliosis but were told to “watch and wait”, only to find that their curve has worsened. Statistically, once a scoliosis enters the moderate category it carries a 68% likelihood of progression.

To better understand the phase of rapid curve progression that is seen in moderate scoliosis, picture a rubber band twisted from top to bottom. First the spine buckles and then begins to “coil down”. The phenomenon is similar to the buckling created in a rubber band that has been twisted one too many times.

For moderate scoliosis curves, bracing is still the most common treatment method recommended. While many doctors in the US still recommend a soft or rigid brace to halt the curve progression, recent scientific studies question the effectiveness of this practice. In some cases, the forced correction of a brace actually causes an increase in patient’s rib deformity, commonly known as a rib hump. Even if a brace is successful and does not increase deformity, all benefit is lost once the brace is removed. Overall, a 2007 article for the journal, Spine, graded bracing as a “D” for ability to halt curve progression. Both patients and researchers agree that we need a better system.

At CLEAR™ Institute we have developed a safe, effective alternate to bracing. CLEAR™ Institute’s moderate scoliosis protocol is well tolerated by virtually all patients (regardless of age), and will not only stabilize the scoliosis (the very best a brace has to offer), but may even achieve considerable scoliosis reduction.

The use of rigid bracing for the treatment of moderate scoliosis may even make the permanent body disfigurement worse. The image below clearly shows a dramatic increase in the rib hump development and body disfigurement while the patient is in the brace than out of the brace.

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