Physiotherapeutic Scoliosis Specific Exercises As Treatment for Adult Degenerative Scoliosis

Adult scoliosis with chronic back pain is a very complex condition. Chronic back pain remains
one of our country's most costly conditions to manage and treat. Many of these patients have
difficulty with activities of daily living (ADL), household and community ambulation, and
maintaining their professional career. The intervention options for this population remain
limited, with surgery being the only one that has shown improvements in health related
quality of life and an overall decrease in the complaints of pain. However, the costs of
surgery and additional complications are limitations to this treatment option.There has been
increased attention and interest in the medical community looking at the effects of
Physiotherapeutic Scoliosis Specific Exercises (PSSE) on curve progression, improvements in
health related quality of life, and pain. The investigators hypothesize that PSSE can
directly affect radiological parameters, such as the sagittal vertical axis (SVA), as well as
showing improvements in health related quality of life using subjective patient specific
outcome measures.

Inclusion Criteria:

- 50+ years old

- Diagnosis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis or adult idiopathic scoliosis; either
with a Cobb angle ranging from 20-100 degrees

- Complaint of back pain that has lasted longer than 6 weeks

Exclusion Criteria:

- Any patient who has completed PSSE in the past

- Previous spinal surgery, trauma, or presence of neoplasms

- Diagnosis of congenital or neuromuscular scoliosis

- Subjects who are involved in concurrent interventions other than conventional physical
therapy (PT)