Hi, I'm new to the forum and I urge anyone considering surgery to check out The Clear Institute's website: http://www.clear-institute.com  Here's why: My son has recently been diagnosed with scoliosis he's 17.  They found his curve to be 57°. The surgeon scheduled him to have surgery within a month. He also had surgery at birth on his heart so I was devastated that they wanted to perform a 6 hour surgery on an otherwise healthy active young man. I researched the surgery and found out that 40% of the people who have the rod surgery are considered disabled within 5 years. And then I found out that the surgery doesn't stop the curvature and that it gradually returns to what it was pre-surgery and that the rods bend or break at some point almost 100% of the time. The studies showed that the higher the curvature the more likely that pain would persist long term after surgery. I knew I couldn't let them do that to him. A friend of the family told us about an alternative to surgery that we hadn't heard of. We started treatment 6 weeks ago with Dr. Matt Schwab in Eau Claire, WI which consisted of 2 weeks of intensive treatment and rehab done at home. His curve has gone from 57° to 46° and he's taller, his shoulders and hips are more even and his rib hump is much less visible. We aren't done yet, he'll continue to monitor it and we expect the curve to continue to slowly decrease. They have practitioners in quite a few states and their treatment is constantly being researched and upgraded. These doctors are amazing! They are dedicated to providing an alternative to a life changing and sometimes disabling primitive surgery. Our surgeon refused to talk about any alternatives and in fact said there were none. There are people out there who are living proof that this works and my son is fortunate enough to be one of them. I wish you all the best in whatever you choose but please know you do have a choice!! If anyone wants more details or specifics I’m happy to share his success story!