(quick recap.. my son was diagnosed with horrible scoliosis at age 14,
was recommended a full spinal fusion. We did bodywork, yoga and
Alexander Technique and the curve is lessening.)
Since my son's ortho took a look at me and discovered I had a mild
curve myself (prolly less than 10%, though we didn't bother to
measure), I've been very conscious of my own scoliosis. Paying a lot
of attention to symmetry, both observed and felt.
I've finally gotten him back to the gym (well, his girlfried did), and
we discovered many fascinating things. I've applied my own lessons
regarding things like the difference between when I think I'm
symmetrical and when I actually am, as well as some traction movements
and the results are pretty interesting.
The first thing I had him do was a simple hang from a chin-up bar.
With arms at full extension and feet touching the floor, I marked
where his pelvis was at. Then he lifted his legs and hung, and the
pelvis dropped an inch. I had him repeat this several times, noting
where his pelvis was, and seeing if he could keep it in the same
place. He told me he noticed some things he was doing to hold his back
in place when supported by his legs that resulted in the pelvis
remaining a half inch lower than at first (partly this has to do with
his Alexander Technique training, which has at least given him the
ability to notice his back).
In short, while shifting weight back to his legs, he was able to trace
tone returning to the legs, and then to a big array of areas in his
back. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to be the Erector Spinae, which
are under conscious control and can be managed with particular
exercises.
Next we did squats with the bar alone. He had difficulty maintaining
balance at the bottom. He literally couldn't squat without almost
falling over. We did 4 sets of 8 with no weight and he watched himself
in the mirror. Using the bar as a guide to a "straight" spine, he
improved his balance markedly by the end of the fourth set.
These last two exercises seem to underline the fact that at least part
of scoliosis has to do with a body-image issue. The spinal
proprioceptors report "I'm standing straight" when the eyes tell the
brain "hey, I'm kinda lopsided". The unanswered question is whether
the conscious brain can retrain the spinal proprioceptors.
He then did bench presses with dumbbells and again it was an exercise
in detecting which side wanted to do all the work. By arching his back
and trying to keep his pelvis and head far apart, he was able to up
the weight, and was noticeably taller when he stood up. We finished
off with Lat Pulldowns, Arnold DB presses and leg extensions, leg
curls and lateral back-raises.
Then he did 45 minutes on the elliptical, which given how overweight
he is is pretty damn amazing.
We measured him when we got home, and he was a half-inch taller.
He's 16 now, with genes from my wife's side that guarantee his
becoming enormously strong if he puts even modest effort in. So he's
stoked at the idea of lifting. We've added a new dimension to the
whole issue by coming up with some ideas for how the gym can help him
with his scoliosis.
I really believe that if we can keep him healthy and pain-free for
another 15 years, there will be major progress made in scoliosis
treatment, and perhaps he'll be able to avoid surgery altogether.
BLink