Rotation what are our options

[gardenjen]

I wouldn't watch and wait and I wouldn't think about surgery at 30 degrees. If there isn't a Schroth P.T. in your state (they do rotator strengthening with therabands tied to stall bars, kind of like having your own exercise machine) maybe there's a P.T. who is trained to do osteopathic-based exercises called 'muscle energy techniques'. They are techniques that derotate (anywhere along the spine or at the S.I. joints) and are usually followed by segment-specific strengthening exercises to try to hold the new position. Fairly common here in Michigan - perhaps near you in a large university town that has a D.O. school. The exercises are not meant for scoliosis, especially a condition that's still changing quickly, but they have similar goals (to Schroth). I've used those for people with what the osteopaths call "pelvic torsions", "rib dysfunctions", "vertebral rotations", etc.

[asccbodypro]

It's an interesting question if they will operate on a subsurgical angle in order to stop the rotation.

Why do you think gymnastics has any connection with either the angle or rotation? Is there any evidence whatsoever for that connection?

Good luck.

When I was diagnosed as a kid I was a gymnast and they wouldn't let me continue with it...broke my heart! I was also in brace which is probably why. I had to wear it 23 hours a day.

[Beckymk]

I find the gymnastics sidebar discussion interesting.

My DD was a gymnast from the age of about 5 through just this last season on HS level (Freshman). Out of all the people we know on the team and there are a lot with various levels (some level 9-10 gymnasts), she is the only one with scoliosis.
She was also allowed to continue it even with the brace (her doctor OK'd taking it off for the practice/competitions but she was only prescribed 16-18 hours/day also).

In her case, since her dad has scoliosis, her grandfather (his dad) has scoliosis, her great-grandfather has scoliosis, etc... I can pretty much 99.9% say it wouldn't matter what she did, she was going to end up with it via hereditary.
Now on the flip side, every other person we meet either has scoliosis themselves or knows someone who has it. I have just decided there is something in the water near Chicago.

[txmarinemom]

Beckymk,

You illustrated exactly what I was trying to say: As with any slice of the population, you may find several who have scoliosis in a group - or none who have it.

Six gymnasts with scoliosis who train together is pretty odd, but it does NOT prove the activity *causes* scoliosis. There is no documented link they're remotely related. Period.

You could just as oddly have 6 kids in one classroom with scoliosis (and claim the teacher caused it), 6 in a single Boy Scout troop (sleeping on the ground caused it), or 6 on a softball team with curves (throwing caused it).

cburger, there was nothing "snotty" (unnecessarily or otherwise) about my reference to "cat juggling": I'm not sure why you found it so. I simply used that silly example to state gymnasts are no more likely than any other group - dancers, ball players, etc. - to have scoliosis.

6 is a FLUKE, and there is no data that supports otherwise.

Regards,
Pam

Regards,
Pam

[Pooka1]

Actually, six may not be a fluke if all six of these scoliosis cases resulted from a fractured vertebrae from incorrect training.

[leahdragonfly]

Spondylolisthesis and gymnastics

Hi all,

I was a very competitive gymnast starting lessons at age 5 and competing until age 13. I was diagnosed at age 13 with a severe spondylolisthesis at L5 as well as a double major scoliosis of 33 lumbar and 32 thoracic. I was successfully (but not happily) braced for several years, then had lumbar fusion for the spondylolisthesis. I was the only one in the gym with any back problems.

I did well for many years, and last year, at age 40, developed significant back pain with tingling in my legs. I now have a second spondy. at L4 along with lots of degenerative changes in my lumbar spine. I consulted two SRS surgeons last year and both told me that spondy. is thought to be a congenital weakness in the neural arch of the lower lumbar vertebrae maybe due to an inadequate blood supply. They did not really think the gymnastics was directly to blame, since many many gymnasts do not develop spondylolisthesis. And the associated scoliosis seems to come with the vertebral instability of the spondy. So while I do not think gymnastics is good for anyone's back necessarily, I truly don't think it causes scoliosis or even spondylolisthesis unless an individual is predisposed to having a weakness in the neural arch.

[txmarinemom]

Actually, six may not be a fluke if all six of these scoliosis cases resulted from a fractured vertebrae from incorrect training.

That's a whole 'nuther can of worms, eh?

Leah, thanks for chiming in on the spondylolisthesis (and, geez ... you know you've been around here too long when that word just flows off your tongue, AND you can spell it without checking!): I had no idea whether there was a connection between spondy and gymnastics, only the lack of evidence the activity related to scoliosis.

Interestingly, plenty of kids (who aren't gymnasts) that have spinal fractures (poorly healed or not) *don't* develop scoliosis.

Could it be (gasp!) a gene related thing? Certainly not! That would go along with everything current research says is true.

Pam

[Writer]

Apparently there is a correlation between rhythmic gymnastics and scoliosis which is common enough to have been noticed and studied by scientifically. One study states: "A 10-fold higher incidence of scoliosis was found in rhythmic gymnastic trainees (12%) than in their normal coevals (1.1%)." See:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16895527?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez. Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.P ubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=2&log$=relatedarticles& logdbfrom=pubmed

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10828918?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez. Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.P ubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=2&log$=relatedarticles& logdbfrom=pubmed

[txmarinemom]

Apparently there is a correlation between rhythmic gymnastics and scoliosis which is common enough to have been noticed and studied by scientifically. One study states: "A 10-fold higher incidence of scoliosis was found in rhythmic gymnastic trainees (12%) than in their normal coevals (1.1%)." See:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16895527?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez. Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.P ubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=2&log$=relatedarticles& logdbfrom=pubmed

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10828918?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez. Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.P ubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=2&log$=relatedarticles& logdbfrom=pubmed

Oh, Writer ... you're scraping the bottom of the barrel plugging abstracts titled "Why do idiopathic scoliosis patients participate more in gymnastics?" and "CONCLUSIONS: This study identified a separate scoliotic entity associated with rhythmic gymnastics. The results strongly suggest the important etiologic role of a "dangerous triad": generalized joint laxity, delayed maturity, and asymmetric spinal loading."

Joint laxity is the only common factor, and even the researchers don't say gymnastics CAUSE anything ...


I really, REALLY hope no one is listening to your idiocy.