IRB-APPROVED STUDY
JUVENILE LUMBAR SCOLIOSIS
10 – 45 DEGREES LUMBAR CURVE
8 – 12 years old
A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED CROSSOVER TRIAL
THE ENTIRE STUDY CAN BE DONE ONLINE
OR
AT OUR OFFICE IN NEW YORK CITY
We have been given a grant to study the effects of a single yoga pose on juvenile idiopathic scoliosis (JIS). The study is for young people 8-12 years of age and requires only one visit to our office in Manhattan, and can be done virtually from anywhere on this Earth. There is no cost for the study.
The study adds to the already proven value of yoga in reversing the curves of scoliosis which we have studied over the past 20 years. In those studies we have noticed that younger people get better faster, and straighten their spines more completely than older people. We believe this simple, painless method could save many yong people from braces and surgery, reducing their scoliosis below 5 degrees in most cases.
The most recent peer-reviewed study demonstrates the efficacy of practicing one yoga pose for 1-2 minutes daily in reversing lumbar curves in adolescents. It is backed up by two other, earlier peer-reviewed different-authored studies that come to the same conclusion. Essentially, yoga strengthens the muscles of the weaker side, the convex side of the lumbar curve. When these muscles are more or less equal in strength to the muscles on the concave side, the curve is gone. The treatment is then gradually tapered off.
At this writng we have seen over 300 patients, and more than 80% have been helped. In our last study the results were sufficiently remarkable that they published by the Swiss journal Muscles before the study was even finished. The full understanding of our methods and their success is available on line.
The study requires a maximum of three X-rays: one at the time we begin the treatment, one four months afterwards when the study is over. These can be done at a location near the patient’s home and we reimburse them $100 per X-ray. We recommend EOS X-rays, which have only 1/9 the regular X-rays’ radiation (already extremely low). In our last study adolescents improved an average of 12 degrees in 3 weeks, and 15 degrees in 3 months. In the history of treating scoliosis conservatively, this is noteworthy, even remarkable. Most conservative methods are intended only to stop progression of scoliosis, not to reverse it, and even the successful yoga treatments by themselves would give just 20 – 25% as much correction in that time frame. Only surgery, which is not done unless the curves exceed 45 degrees, gives results like this. The surgery works well, and is safe, but the young patients will have stiffer spines and additional limitations all their lives.
The study protocol has been reviewed and approved by the IRB (Institutional Review Board) relevant to this subject matter. These boards approve prospective studies only if they are deemed safe, scientifically cogent, with a reasonable likelihood of success. But the question arises: if the study is randomized and with controls, how can everyone be guaranteed to receive the proper yoga pose?
The answer is that this is a crossover study, so the control group receives the actual pose 4 months after study onset. The study has two groups:
Group I: Placebo yoga pose for 4 months, then the beneficial yoga pose for 4 months.
Group II The correct yoga pose for 4 months.
Patients and their families are warmly welcome to call or write us at any time, but only that first encounter and the X-rays are required. Patients are to do the yoga pose every day, and record their yoga activity in an online database every Sunday.
The (free) X-rays initially and in 4 months may be done either in Manhattan or near their homes. If an X-ray from the last 6 months is already available, it can serve as the initial X-ray.
Subsequent treatment will be determined by consultation between the physician and patient and family, any further treatment is necessary.
To apply to join the study or for more information, please call (646) 642-0700, or write loren@sciatica.org.
People over 12 years of age are also able to receive the this treatment, but they will not be part of the study.
Watch Dr. Fishman give a brief introduction to a previous study on Vimeo by clicking here.
Dr. Fishman’s Previously Published Papers and Book using Yoga for Scoliosis
1 .Fishman, Loren M. M.D., B.Phil. (oxon). Healing Yoga. Chapter 15. (New York: W.W. Norton, 2014).
- Fishman, Loren M. M.D., B.Phil. (oxon). “Isometric Yoga-Like Maneuvers Improve Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis—A Nonrandomized Control Trial.” Global Advances in Health and Medicine. February 24, 2021. DOI: 10.1177/2164956120988259
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2164956120988259
- Fishman, Loren M. M.D., B.Phil. (oxon). “Yoga and Botulinum Toxin Reduce Adolescent Idiopathic Lumbar Scoliosis – A Control, Randomized Study.” Global Journal of Medical Research, 2025(K3), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.34257/GJMRKVOL25IS3PG1
- Fishman, Loren M. M.D., B.Phil. (oxon); Groessl, Erik J. PhD, Sherman, Karen J. Ph.D., Mph. “Serial Case Reporting Yoga for Idiopathic and Degenerative Scoliosis.” Global Advances in Health and Medicine. September 1, 2014. DOI:10.7453/gahmj.2013.064
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.7453/gahmj.2013.064
- Fishman, Loren M. M.D., B.Phil. (oxon); Groessl, Erik J. PhD; Bernstein, Paul OMS II. Two Isometric Yoga Poses Reduce the Curves in Degenerative and Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. TGR 33(4):p.231-237, October/December 2017. DOI: 10.1097/TGR.0000000000000159 https://journals.lww.com/topicsingeriatricrehabilitation/abstract/2017/10000/two_isometric_yoga_poses_reduce_the_curves_in.3.aspx
- Fishman, Loren M. M.D., B.Phil. (oxon). Incobotulinumtoxin A and Yoga-like Isometric Exercise in Adolescent Idiopathic Lumbar Scoliosis—A Randomized Pilot Study. Muscles. 2024; 3(1): 28-39. DOI: 10.3390/muscles3010004
https://www.mdpi.com/2813-0413/3/1/4
- Fishman, LM. Incobotulinum expedites yoga’s reversal of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. HSOA J Altern Complement Integr Med 2026, 12: 687 DOI: 10.24966/ACIM-7562/100687 https://www.heraldopenaccess.us/article_pdf/9/incobotulinum-expedites-yoga-s-reversal-of-adolescent-idiopathic-scoliosis.pdf
FAQ
WHERE IS THE PROCEDURE DONE AND HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?
We teach the yoga pose and give the injection in our office in Manhattan’s East Side or over Zoom. It takes about half an hour.
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE STUDY?
Right now we have 4 people in the study. There have been no side-effects for them or the hundreds of people with whom we have used this yoga pose for scoliosis. We take temperature, weight, heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure before we start, although online this is more limited. T.
APART FROM THE STUDY, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU USED YOGA IN TREATING MEDICAL CONDITIONS?
I have used yoga well over a thousand times. I’ve used yoga for low back pain, rotator cuff syndrome, ostoporosis, restless leg syndrome insomnia, and other conditions.
WHAT ARE THE OVERALL RESULTS SO FAR?
On the average, patients’ curves are reduced 2.5% to 5.5% per month. Our most dramatic results exceed this quite a bit, and we have approximately 10% failures: people who do not improve.
WHAT ARE THE LONG-TERM RESULTS?
Most patients retain the initial benefit and build on it by continuing the yoga. Positive changes seem to occur in the muscles of the “weak” side which produce 2.5 to 5.5% improvement that continues as long as the yoga pose is done daily. So far this is true for patients older than the study age as well.
IF A PAPER IS PUBLISHED, WILL PATIENTS’ NAMES OR LIKENESSES APPEAR IN IT?
No, there will not be mention of any names or other identifiable characteristics in any resulting publications. This fact is stated in the IRB permission, and is actually against the law (HIPAA). It is also stated in the patient information document that patients and I, the treating physician, must sign before we begin any treatment.
Dr. Fishman is a physician with advanced Board in Rehabilitation Medicine, has been on the staff at Columbia University Medical School for 20 ears and is now retired from theDepartment of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine. He has over 100 publications including 12 books and many peer-reviewed research articles. He is past President of the New York Society of PMR and has a graduate degree in Philosophy from Oxford University in England. He also studied yoga extensively with B.K.S. Iyengar in India. For more about Dr. Fishman, click here.
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A New Resource: YIP.guru (Yoga Injury Prevention)
What are the major causes of yoga injuries, in which poses, and what are the major injuries?
A few years ago we did a 33,000 yoga teacher and student study.
https://sciatica.org/?page_id=769&preview=true
On the basis of this, and 40+ years devoted to medicine, teaching yoga, and using yoga for medicinal goals, we have constructed a website, YIP.guru (Yoga Injury Prevention), which physicians, therapists, teachers and practitioners of yoga can use to see which poses are contraindicated by common medical and orthopedic conditions, and also which poses will benefit people with a large variety of medical and orthopedic issues, including pregnancy. Click here to access YIP.guru
YIP.guru (Yoga Injury Prevention)
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Piriformis Syndrome Study Published
We have recently completed a double blinded randomized controlled study comparing botulinum injection to placebo in people for whom the electromyographic evidence favored piriformis syndrome.
The entire study was published in Muscle and Nerve: Click Here
Electrophysiologically identified piriformis syndrome is successfully treated with incobotulinum toxin A and physical therapy.” Fishman LM, Wilkins AN and Rosner B. Muscle and Nerve. 2017; Aug;56(2):258-263. doi: 10.1002/mus.25504. Epub 2017 Apr 2
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Rotator Cuff Syndrome Discovery
We stumbled upon a series of maneuvers which activates muscles that perform the actions of the torn supraspinatus muscle, and enable people to lift their affected arms with little or no pain. Teaching the technique requires one visit. Then a process akin to operant conditioning prompts the same muscles to be active whenever the torn muscle would be brought into play, perpetuating the substitution so that people may painlessly and powerfully lift the arm in ways that previously were prevented by the torn muscle.
https://sciatica.org/?page_id=795
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Our Earlier Research using Yoga Poses to Reverse Scoliosis
We have found a simple yoga pose which, done one time daily, reverses nearly every case of scoliosis we have encountered. We published a small series of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients’ and degenerative scoliosis patients’ successes with this simple method, and are currently studying more advanced methods with more complex curves. Additional details may be found here.
Emboldened by this early success, we conducted a larger study, and published the results in November 2017:
We published a third article in 2021:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7917413/
Surprising to some, the method works almost as well for adults with degenerative scoliosis as it does for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.
Therefore we are continuing to study the patients we are honored to treat with this non-invasive, do-it-yourself-at-home method that takes just minutes a day, and works for almost everyone.
Those interested should make an appointment at our office: (212)-472-0077, or write the office. For those unable to visit the office in-person, we have taught the method with equal success via Skype and Zoom.