Appointments: 352-448-8421
Empowering the change you want to see in your life.
Specializing in the treatment of scoliosis and chronic pain conditions with one on one, whole body, compassionate care.
Our Team
Meet Dr. Sarah Rivard, PT, DPT, ACSM-CPT, Schroth Certified C1 and C2
- Sarah fell in love with the idea of becoming a physical therapist when she was 13 years old and volunteered at a clinic to confirm this was her life calling. She was a gymnast growing up which fueled a love of exercise and grew up in a household of healthcare where she knew helping people was a great profession; PT was the perfect merge. Sarah graduated with a Doctorate of Physical Therapy from the University of Florida in 2012 after getting her Bachelors of Health Science also from the University of Florida. She is nationally credentialed through the American College of Sports Medicine for additional study of exercise prescription. Sarah has been published in a Florida Physical Therapy Association newsletter in 2010 in regard to her collegiate research investigating the development of chronic pain. She is passionate about manual therapy, and in addition to working 9 years in a general orthopedic manual therapy clinic with a particular interest in treating chronic pain, she has taken numerous John Barnes Myofascial Release courses. She has traveled around the state for quarterly myofascial release study groups since 2013 to further craft this skill into an art. After years of experience treating orthopedic conditions she went on to further specialize in scoliosis and spinal deformity treatment where she hopes to prevent future chronic pain in children and better manage these conditions in adults to maximize quality of life. She is certified in the Schroth Method through the Schroth Barcelona Institute specializing in the 3D treatment of scoliosis; she completed the certification in 2017 and the advanced certification in 2019. Sarah has made it her life mission to find better answers for scoliosis than “idiopathic” (meaning we don’t know why) and the typical “wait and see” approach to scoliosis management in children. Instead, she believes in taking a proactive approach and her outcomes are showing a new belief in what is possible in the treatment of scoliosis patients. She also takes a particular interest in addressing the SI joint and has a certification in the Hersh Method for SI joint treatment. She believes patient care should be holistic, conservative, preventative and focused on the whole person. She believes care should focus on all the factors involved in feeling strong, where mental health matters, community support matters, and we make the whole person stronger, not just their hip or back, etc. She believes care should be compassionate and not rushed and that listening to the patient matters in their outcome.
What is the Schroth Method?
What is the Schroth Method for Scoliosis Treatment?
The Schroth Method was created in Germany and has been used for over 100 years. It has been in the United States with a certification program since 2009. The outcomes are peaking interest in the U.S., but have yet to become widespread so Schroth treatment is not available at most PT clinics. Thus, many doctors still do not know about it as an option in scoliosis treatment.
Scoliosis is a 3D spiral of the spine, not just a sidebend of the spine, however the sidebend is the plane we see mostly on the x-ray used to diagnose scoliosis. The Schroth method is an exercise technique aimed at addressing the scoliotic curvature from all 3 planes. The exercise is specifically tailored to your scoliotic curvature based on x-ray analysis as well as clinical aspects. The exercise starts with props to assist you in understanding the movement and progresses to more challenging positions. The goal is to strengthen you out of your curvature after teaching you how to get there. The method utilizes breathing techniques to help you achieve a position that is out of the curvature, this also helps to restore a normal breathing pattern rather than a compensatory one commonly seen with scoliosis.
How is this different from normal physical therapy?
Traditional physical therapy has not been shown to manage a scoliotic curvature. It is primarly attemping to manage symptoms such as pain. While strengthening the core is good, non-Schroth PT is strengthening you while you are in the scoliotic posture. The Schroth method is strengthening you from an improved posture and alignment which improves the recruitment of muscles and puts forces on bones to help them reshape to some extent. In this way the Schroth method has been shown to stop curve progression and has a better ability to manage symptoms at the level that they are caused which is more effective.
Is this technique supported by research?
Here are a couple research articles from PubMed that can be accessed for free.
The efficacy of three-dimensional Schroth exercises in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a randomised controlled clinical trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25780260/#ff
The effectiveness of Schroth exercises in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31206094/
Contact us if you would like more articles to read.
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