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New York City Ballet principal Wendy Whelan and Scoliosis

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  • New York City Ballet principal Wendy Whelan and Scoliosis

    I thought I'd post articles about scoliosis and ballet in case it helps anyone with non-surgical treatments. Scoliosis is quite prevalent in ballet and rhythmic gymnastics, my belief is because of the inherited hyperextension of joints that is a sought-after trait in these activities because of the beautiful line they make in the knees and legs. My daughters joints are all hyperextended (double-jointed) and I believe people in ballet believe that scoliosis goes hand-in-hand with these types of joints, although most cases are mild.

    Anyhow, here's a story about Wendy Whelan, who is a principal dancer at NYCB. (By the way, I am not making any recommendations about the brace that is thrown in as part of the article, I don't think it would have worked in my daughter's case).

    Health and fitness: thrown a curve: on conquering scoliosis
    Dance Magazine , Oct, 2006 by Kim Okumura


    When New York City Ballet principal Wendy Whelan learned from her orthopedist that she had a fairly severe case of scoliosis, the news came as a complete surprise. She was 12 years old and had been complaining of a hamstring pull. "I had no idea what it meant," she says now of file diagnosis. "I thought I had a disease." Many young dancers, in fact, don't know they have scoliosis--a curvature and rotation of the spine that causes weakness and imbalance and affects two to three percent of the population, most commonly young girls--and discover their condition purely by accident. The good news is, as Ms. Whelan has so successfully demonstrated, that it need not be a hindrance to a long and fruitful dance career

    "I don't look at scoliosis as a problem," says Marika Molnar, founder of New York's Westside Dance Physical Therapy and NYCB's longtime director of physical therapy. "I know too many professional dancers who have it."
    So, say you know you have scoliosis--what then? Students diagnosed in their early teens with years of ballet school under their collective belts actually seem to have a distinct advantage. Time spent training to pull up, stand straight, and be in balance helps to create a longer, stronger back.

    "Somehow," Molnar explains, "within the neuromotive programming of each individual body, these dancers find a way to reprogram themselves so they can be more centered even in their 'uncenteredness' or asymmetry. Do you notice that the head is off to the right or left? No, it looks like it's in the middle. They've been able to compensate."

    San Francisco Ballet physical therapist Michael Leslie agrees with the theory that classical training is one of the best things you can do to help back muscles support curvatures in the spine. "The hope is that a daily barre is enough," he says. "There really isn't one miracle exercise program that beats being in class every day, if you know where your weak spots are."

    Whelan, who endured what she calls "the medieval torture chamber" style of treatment when she was a young student (stretching machines and plaster body casts), later relied on a specific ballet regimen and a rigid plastic brace to deal with her scoliosis. Now more than 20 years after the 4 she spent in the brace--which she removed only for ballet class--she relies predominantly on massage, acupuncture, and hot baths to manage her condition. With one side of her back strong on the top, and the other side strong on the bottom, acupuncture in particular helps to relax the muscles that pull on her spine.

    From Molnar's perspective, it's good to start from the inside. She teaches her young patients simple deep breathing exercises to get their diaphragms moving up and down, expanding their rib cages with a full inhale through the nose. This helps the spine to find center, she says.

    Breathing for scoliosis? "It becomes second nature," says Moluar. "You wake up every morning, brush your teeth, wash your face, and do your breathing exercises. I'm talking about a 10-15-minute session a day." She also recommends seeing a doctor annually to determine if the scoliosis has progressed.

    Young dancers may also take solace in the fact that a new soft brace, developed by two pediatric surgeons in Montreal, is currently being marketed in the United States as an alternative to the rigid plastic models commonly prescribed in certain cases. The soft brace, according to Atlanta chiropractor Brian Ouellette, a certified distributor, encourages the patient's own musculature to help correct spinal curvature and rotation, and can be worn under a patient's clothing and kept on during ballet class.

    Of course, having a spine shaped like an "S" also necessitates an acute body awareness and a good eye to correct problems that arise in the quest for finely honed technique. About her own body, Whelan says, "I definitely have certain strengths on certain sides that to me are very clear because of my scoliosis. I'm always having to pull my right shoulder back, for example, especially when I'm turning. It curves to the front and I have to really open it up."

    And then there's the positive attitude. As a young student at the School of American Ballet, Whelan was told to look to then-NYCB principal Heather Watts, a fellow scoliosis patient, as an example of curvature-as-success story. For Whelan, discovering her own body's eccentricities in motion is not something that bothers her. "I think my scoliosis gives me character--it adds something to the way I move. And even when I do feel the crookedness in my spine at my age, I don't let it bother me--it's just part of who I am." Good advice for anyone.

    Kim Okumura is a Los Angeles writer who danced with San Francisco Ballet.

    http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_n27004839/

  • #2
    "Wendy Whelan learned from her orthopedist that she had a fairly severe case of scoliosis". I notice they don't give any numbers on the curvature. I would like to know what severe is in this context.
    45L/40T
    Surgery 25/1/2010
    Australia

    Knowthyself

    Scoliosis Corrected 25/1/2010 by Dr Angus Gray, Prince of Wales Private Hospital, Sydney. Fused T3-L4.

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    • #3
      [QUOTE=Ballet Mom;77380]Whelan...later relied on a specific ballet regimen...to deal with her scoliosis. Now ...she relies predominantly on massage, acupuncture, and hot baths to manage her condition. With one side of her back strong on the top, and the other side strong on the bottom, acupuncture in particular helps to relax the muscles that pull on her spine.

      BALLET MOM: I've just been directed to your threads by another poster. I started a thread on my daughter's condition a few weeks back. She's now hooked on ballet so we're eager for input from anyone like yourself with experience of kids tackling scoliosis with ballet, among other things. I won't belabour here my daughter's talents and determination--all posted on the specific thread. To summarise though, Tamzin will be performing ballet for many, many years to come...when she starts something, she will not stop until she's reached her own personal peak.
      07/11: (10yrs) T40, L39, pelvic tilt, rotation T15 & L11
      11/11: Chiari 1 & syrinx, T35, L27, pelvis 0
      05/12: (11yrs) stopped brace, assessed T&L 25 - 30...>14lbs , >8 cm
      12/12: < 25 LC & TC, >14 cms, >20 lbs, neuro symptoms abated, but are there
      05/13: (12yrs) <25, >22cms height, puberty a year ago

      Avoid 'faith' in 'experts'. “In consequence of this error many persons pass for normal, and indeed for highly valuable members of society, who are incurably mad...”

      Comment


      • #4
        [QUOTE=TAMZTOM;129533]
        Originally posted by Ballet Mom View Post
        Whelan...later relied on a specific ballet regimen...to deal with her scoliosis. Now ...she relies predominantly on massage, acupuncture, and hot baths to manage her condition. With one side of her back strong on the top, and the other side strong on the bottom, acupuncture in particular helps to relax the muscles that pull on her spine.

        BALLET MOM: I've just been directed to your threads by another poster. I started a thread on my daughter's condition a few weeks back. She's now hooked on ballet so we're eager for input from anyone like yourself with experience of kids tackling scoliosis with ballet, among other things. I won't belabour here my daughter's talents and determination--all posted on the specific thread. To summarise though, Tamzin will be performing ballet for many, many years to come...when she starts something, she will not stop until she's reached her own personal peak.
        Hi TAMZTOM,

        My daughter has not performed any specific exercises for scoliosis. She has done ballet since she was four years old and has been doing it almost daily for years. I can't tell you what the exercises are that some scoliotic professional ballet people use as I have never been able to find out myself. I suspect they are given the exercises either from their physicians or from the ballet orthopedic specialist for their ballet companies, or from their Pilates specialists for their companies. One professional sounded like she might use Schroth exercises because an article stated she did additional exercises for a half hour each day. I simply do not know.

        All my daughter's orthopedists all thought ballet was a very good thing for her to be doing. Even at summer intensives which are very intense, all day long ballet schools that occur in the summer. I actually took her out of those during her peak years of growth if they weren't local because I wouldn't be able to watch and make sure she would actually wear her brace during the weeks/months away and the chaperones wouldn't be responsible for it at night.

        You might watch your daughter and make sure she isn't have trouble doing her turns across the floor because with the larger curves it can make it hard as they aren't completely centered i.e. plumb. I wouldn't force her to do ballet if she ends up not enjoying it due to not being able to do everything comfortably. It might be easier for her if she has a double major curve that somewhat corrects for being a bit off-center.

        I haven't read all your posts, but if your daughter has Chiari, I would definitely not do anything without her doctor's approval. I don't know anything about the limits of other forms of scoliosis.

        I am also of the opinion that the flexible brace will not hold a curve in most kids during their growth spurt which your daughter is probably in or entering into. Even the orthopedists at the last POSNA conference were making comments about parents who choose that brace and inevitably come back with a much larger curve for surgery.

        Oh, of any exercises that might help, either sideshift exercises as can be found on this site, or torso rotation exercises seem to have some validity to helping to stop a curve if used consistently. Sideshift required it to be done repetively throughout the day, torso rotation requires you to have the right equipment or access to it. You can search for them in the archives.

        Good luck to you and your daughter.
        Last edited by Ballet Mom; 11-28-2011, 02:01 PM.

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        • #5
          Much appreciated reply Ballet Mom, thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge and experience.

          You might watch your daughter and make sure she isn't have trouble doing her turns across the floor because with the larger curves it can make it hard as they aren't completely centered i.e. plumb.
          I'll (I already do) scrutinise every move, thanks for alerting me in advance.

          I wouldn't force her to do ballet if she ends up not enjoying it due to not being able to do everything comfortably.
          Wise caution, but fear not, I could not and would not ever make Tamzin do anything she didn't want to do. I've seen too many parents at other pursuits (e.g., ballet--my sisters, gymnastics, tennis, athletics) where the kids have elite talent but no desire or the desire is quashed by overzealous parents .

          It might be easier for her if she has a double major curve that somewhat corrects for being a bit off-center.
          Excellent point. Tamzin may be just such a kid: her balance is uncanny, core exceptionally strong, able to completely relax during strenuous activity (e.g., running track, playing catch on a wobble board, doing ballet moves); her proprioception has already staggered our latest spine surgeon.

          I am also of the opinion that the flexible brace will not hold a curve in most kids during their growth spurt which your daughter is probably in or entering into. Even the orthopedists at the last POSNA conference were making comments about parents who choose that brace and inevitably come back with a much larger curve for surgery.
          I've read the same about all braces, many competing interests out there. Thanks for your opinion though, it is valuable given your superior experience. Possibly a relevant difference here is that we're not looking for any brace to "hold the curve"...we're looking for a brace that doesn't restrict growth, breathing, movement, that does correct, and will ASSIST the correction we look to continue achieving (e.g., with exercise, proprioception, health, etc.).

          ...either sideshift exercises...or torso rotation exercises seem to have some validity to helping to stop a curve if used consistently.
          Thanks for the reminder on side-shift--it's on the list! I've scratched the surface of torso-rotation. I believe it has been and will be an eclectic mix of activity that has/will optimise correction.

          Good luck to you and your daughter.
          Reciprocated. Thanks again.
          Last edited by TAMZTOM; 11-28-2011, 03:49 PM.
          07/11: (10yrs) T40, L39, pelvic tilt, rotation T15 & L11
          11/11: Chiari 1 & syrinx, T35, L27, pelvis 0
          05/12: (11yrs) stopped brace, assessed T&L 25 - 30...>14lbs , >8 cm
          12/12: < 25 LC & TC, >14 cms, >20 lbs, neuro symptoms abated, but are there
          05/13: (12yrs) <25, >22cms height, puberty a year ago

          Avoid 'faith' in 'experts'. “In consequence of this error many persons pass for normal, and indeed for highly valuable members of society, who are incurably mad...”

          Comment

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