Healthwatch: Non-surgical cure found for Scoliosis

(WFRV) - Scoliosis is a potentially fatal condition for children. While it can be improved with surgeries and metal rods, some doctors say the answer may be much more simple.

"We got the x-rays and before we even got home, we had a phone call that we had a big problem," Cole Leggett's mother Jennifer says.

Cole had a severe form of Scoliosis with a spine curve of 45 degrees.   Experts said surgery could help, but he'd be disabled.

"It was probably the scariest moments of my life," Jennifer says.

They soon found doctor Jim Sanders.  He's using an old technique cast aside by experts decades earlier.

"They kind of threw the baby out with the bathwater almost literally here since it's really the babies who benefit from this." Dr. Sanders says.

These plaster body casts use pressure to reshape the spine. Kids get a new cast every two months and it keeps some from ever needing surgery. For others, it delays it until they're older.

Now, after using the cast for several months, Cole's fully mobile and has got big plans.

"I'm gonna go to space. Also, I'm gonna be a karate master."

The casting technique has helped cure about 25 percent of kids with Scoliosis and significantly delayed surgery for 70 percent of others.