Difference Between Scheuermann Disease And Scoliosis

ABSTRACT

Diseases like scheuermann disease and scoliosis are spinal deformities leading to deviation in normal curvature of the vertebral column. Due to this patient’s physical appearance also gets altered. It leads to development of mental stress that might progress into depression and other psychological ailments. Thus it is very important to deal with these disorders as early as possible. Along with allopathic treatment we can start using herbal medicines as they will provide strength and stamina to the patient by doing detailed prakriti analysis (nature) of the deceased.

INTRODUCTION

Firstly let’s discuss in general about scoliosis and scheuermann’s disease:

Scoliosis – It is defined as a condition in which there is a slight deviation of spinal cord in the form of S or C shape to a sideward direction.

Scheuermann disease – It is a disorder of the skeletal system during childhood in which there is uneven growth of vertebral column so that they acquire “wedge shape” resembling kyphosis ( in this spinal cord moves in outward direction towards the back making it appear as a hump in the back)

• As per ayurveda we can correlate these two ailments with “vatav vyadhi”.
• Vata dosha is considered as one of the main energies in the body. It controls all the bodily movements. It has “ashrya ashrayi bhav” with asthi dhatu ( bone) that means whenever there is a decline in bone density(asthi dhatu), it will leads to rise in pacified vata dosha amount.
• Vata vyadhi are classified into numerous types. Scoliosis and scheuermann’s disease resembles with “asthigat vata”(dosha situated in bones and joints).

Difference between these two:

SCOLIOSIS	SCHEUERMANN
1. In this there is sideward bending of spinal cord.	1. In this there is presence of kyphosis(excessive forward bending of spine) or lordiosis(inward curvature of spine).
2. It is steady in appearance.	2. It usually worsen when a person bend forward and correct partially when he/she stand up straight (extension).
3. Injury to other organ is very rare.	3. Lung injury is quite common in this as it’s curvature put pressure on the lungs leading to breathing difficulty.
4. Is usually congenital deformity, so we need to use surgical procedure to correct this	4. Can be corrected with maintaining proper body posture in initial stages, by avoiding strenuous exercises.

CAUSES

According to ayurveda-

• Intake of ruksh(rough), sheetal( cold), alap( in less amount) food .
• Langhan( over fasting)
• Asatamya ahar( unhealthy dietary habits)
• Over consumption of katu(spicy), tikat (bitter), kashyay( astringent) food items.
• Strenuous physical exercises.
• Chinta(stress)
• Vegdharan( suppressing natural urges of the body)
• Ratri jagran( who doesn’t sleep at night)
• Krodh(anger)

Other causes

Scoliosis:

• In most of the cases the cause is idiopathic (not known).
• Congenital disorder.
• Neuromuscular involvement.

Scheuermann disease:

As per the research the cause is generally unknown in this disorder, but we can consider that there is involvement of multiple factors in this such as- congenital malformation

PATHOGENESIS (Samprapati):

It means how the disease is formed, the complete process that leads to formation of an ailment.

This shloka states that-

When a person indulge his/herself in vata vitiating aahar and vihar.

It leads to an increase in vata dosha and thus there is functional distortion of nerves conduction.It causes two main abnormality:

1. Either there is an abnormal increase in functioning of nerves.
2. abnormal decrease in the functioning of nerves.

Clinical features:

As explained by acharya charaka in charaka chikitsa sthana:

• Asthi bhed(Breaking ache in bones)
• Parav bhed(pain in the small joints)
• Sandhi shul( joint pain)
• Manas kshyay( loss of muscle mass)
• Bal kshyay( weakness)
• Anidra( insomnia)
• Astho shosh(osetoporosis)
• Asthi shul( ache in bones)
• Majja shosh( depletion of bone marrow)

DIAGNOSIS

1. Proper history taking.
2. Detailed physical examination of the patient by using:
   • Inspection
   • Palpation
   • Auscultation
   • Percussion
3. Radiological examination:
   • X ray of thoracic and lumbar spine or full spine in AP and lateral view.

According to ayurveda- The two most preferred diagnostic approach used by a physician are as follow:

Trividh pariksha( set of 3 examination)

• Darshan diagnosis is made by visual examination of the symptoms.
• Sparshan physician uses tactile examination to evaluate whether skin is cold/hot.
• Prashan physician ask direct questions from the patient, to evaluate the root cause of the disease i.e. history taking.

Asthavidh pariksha( set of 8 examination procedure)

• Nadi pariksha by palpating the pulse rate of the patient.
• Mutra pariksha by examining the urine of the patient.
• Mal pariksha by stool examination.
• Jivha pariksha by examining the tongue whether coated or not.
• Shabad pariksha by listening the natural sounds within the body like intestinal sound (peristalsis), sounds of moving body fluids.
• Sparsh pariksha by observing the patient skin texture whether it is cool, wet or dry.
• Drik pariksha when a physician inspects patient symptoms through his/her eyes.
• Akriti pariksha when a physician evaluates about the general appearance of patient whether he/she looking dull, lethargic or fatigued etc.

Trividh pariksha( set of 3 examination)

• Darshan diagnosis is made by visual examination of the symptoms.
• Sparshan physician uses tactile examination to evaluate whether skin is cold/hot.
• Prashan physician ask direct questions from the patient, to evaluate the root cause of the disease i.e. history taking.

MANAGEMENT

The line of treatment focuses according to the severity of the deformity present in this.

1. Primary focus is on pain removal for this – painkiller medications are mostly used.
2. For maintaining the normal posture- we guide patients about the proper posture to adapt while sitting, moving and sleeping.
3. Surgery- in advanced cases, it is the only choice of treatment; by surgical procedure we manipulate the deformed shape of the spinal cord into the normal shape.
   • The two most commonly used approach used by a surgeon are as follow:
   1. Anterior approach- incision is made through the anterior wall in the lateral side of the chest wall.
   2. Posterior approach- in this incision is made directly on the back and with the help of instruments correction is made on the deviated spine.

These surgical procedures are very invasive in action. They have various alongside complications such as:

• Formation of inflammation in the associated soft structures and tissues
• Impairment in breathing process
• Injury to surrounding nerves
• Sepsis

According to ayurveda-To treat “vata vyadhi” we need to do :

(A) Shodhan chikitsa( detoxification procedure):

1. Deepan – It means increasing the power of agni( digestive fire) within the body by using ayurvedic medicines.
2. Paachan – In this we do assimilation of undigested food present inside our digestive tract with the oral intake of herbal medicines.
3. Snehan (Oiling/Massaging) – In this massage of body is done with slightly warm oil/ ghrit to smoothen the raised toxins level (dosha)
4. Svedan (Steaming procedure) – where fumigation/steaming is done with herbally made kwath/solution to relax the channels and openings of the body.
5. Basti karam( enema) – in this liquid form of medicine( kwath/ oil) is put inside the body via anal canal with the help of specially made basti yantr(instrument)

(B) Shaman chikitsa( using herbal medicines orally)

Classical medicines explained by our acharya in “vata vyadhi” are as follow:

1. Rasa/bhasma/pishti-
   • Vatagajankush ras
   • Vatari ras
   • Rasraj ras
   • Vata chintamani ras

   Dosage: 125-250mg with honey

2. Churna
   • Shaddharana churna

   Dosage: 2-5 gram with lukewarm water or honey

3. Kwath
   • Maharasnadi kwath
   • Mashbaladi kwath

   Dosage: 20-40 ml with plain water after meals.

4. Arisht
   • Dashmool arishat- 10-20 ml with equal amount of water after meals.
5. Tail
   • Bala tail
   • Rason tail

   Dosage: 10-20 ml apply locally

6. Guggulu
   • Yograj guggulu
   • Kaishor guggulu
   • Sinhnad guggulu

   Dosage: 500mg with plain water after meal

• If you want to use herbal formulations, Planet ayurveda (it is a leading herbal company serving people worldwide with their herbal and authentic products) offers various herbal formulations for this and are as follow:

1. Bone support capsule
   • Ingredients: Hadjod (Cissus quadrangular), shudh laksha( laccifer jacca), arjun (Terminalia arjuna), praval pishti (Corallium rubrum), etc.
   • This capsule is a beautiful blend of ayurvedic herbs and herbomineral formulations that help in increasing bone density, herb ‘Hadjod’ is an excellent natural source that helps in bone injury healing , so this complete capsule act very efficiently in scoliosis and scheuermann’s disease.
   • Dosage: 1 capsule two times a day with plain water after meals.
2. Yograj guggul
   • Ingredients: Shuddha (Pure) Guggul. The other ingredients are musta, Chitraka, Amalaki, Haritaki, Bibhitaki etc.
   • It is herbal painkillers helps in preventing muscle cramps and is very effective in joint disorders. This medicine rejuvenates and strengthens the skeletal and neuro-muscular system which will help you in both scoliosis and scheuermann disease..
   • Dosage: 2 twice daily with plain water after the meals
3. Boswellia curcumin (2 bottle)
   • Ingredeints: It is an effective combination of Boswellia and Curcumin extracts, prepared by Planet Ayurveda.
   • It posses great anti inflammatory, antifungal property, very good for your skin functioning which keeps functioning of nervous system healthy & helps you to fight with scoliosis and scheuermann disease.
   • Dosage: 1-2 twice daily with normal water, after meals.
4. Ashwagandha capsule
   • Ingredients: Ashwagandha( Withania somnifera)
   • It is contains great anti-oxidant property that boosts the immune system and develop strong immunity power to combat disease like scoliosis and scheuermann disease..
   • Dosage: 1-2 capsules twice daily with plain water or milk after meals.
5. Moringa capsule
   • Ingredients: Shigru/ shibhanjan( Moringa oleifera)
   • Its leaves and seeds are enriched with anti-inflammatory action (help in reducing inflammatory processes associated with scoliosis and scheuermann’s disease).
   • It also poses antibacterial action so helps in wound healing if a patient of scoliosis and scheuermann’s disease undergoes surgery for betterment.
   • Dosage: 1-2 capsules once or twice daily with plain water after meal.

CONCLUSION:

Now we can conclude that in scoliosis and scheuermann’s disease our ancient acharya has already mentioned detailed treatment modalities that show wonderful result, as with ayurvedic herbs we can effectively manage their further growth. For ayurvedic treatment, you can consider consulting expert doctors of planet ayurveda we have been serving people for the last 20 years.You can directly visit us at our clinic at Mohali, Punjab | www.PlanetAyurveda.com or you can also send your doubts and queries on our official email id-www.herbalremedies@yahoo.com