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  • #31
    Originally posted by skevimc View Post
    I got popped a couple times by a stretched band while trying to figure all of this out. Kind of funny.
    It was funny too when I fell off the hanging bar. Yes, we all must personally test out our great ideas; crash test dummies we are, haha!
    Son 14 y/o diagnosed January 20th. 2011 with 110* Curve
    Halo Traction & 1st. surgery on March 22nd. 2011
    Spinal Fusion on April 19th. 2011

    Dr. Krajbich @ Shriners Childrens Hospital, Portland Oregon



    http://tinyurl.com/Elias-Before
    http://tinyurl.com/Elias-After

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    • #32
      Several years back, I worked with a PT who specialized in Pilates* and at some point she took a video of me walking, my normal walk. Then she encouraged me to walk and hold myself with a lifting and shifting to the right in the lumbar area. I have a double major, typical with right thoracic hump and left lumbar. At first I felt like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but the video showed a straighter posture. I'm thinking now that she had stumbled upon a form of side shifting. A couple questions: Is sideshifting a holding position, where I would try to hold myself in that posture as long as possible, or is it a pulsing exercise or a hold for 30 seconds- release- type of exercise? With double major, would I try to shift right in the lumbar area, shift left in thoracic? Sounds like a rhumba lesson...

      Another exercise I was taught recently by a Yoga for Scoliosis instructor was to assume a yoga "Downward Dog" pose, and while doing so to focus on the thoracic area, breathe into the concave side (on me- the left) to try to open up those crowded ribs, and at the same time to squeeze the ribs of the convex side. The instructor has me imagining a set of eyes in the thoracic with one eye squinting in the convex and one eye opening wide in the concave. I had never much thought of the ribs and the narrowing and widening aspect. This feels very good for my body. Maybe someone here will find it helpful.

      *Did anyone notice how artfully I knitted together the various subjects?
      Amy
      58 yrs old, diagnosed at 31, never braced
      Measured T-64, L-65 in 2009
      Measured T-57, L-56 in 2010, different doc
      2 lumbar levels spondylolisthesis
      Exercising to correct

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      • #33
        Ah, I just did my own homework and read the Min Mehta description, which calls for holding the sideshift position for 10 seconds, then releasing...and doing this all throughout the day.
        Amy
        58 yrs old, diagnosed at 31, never braced
        Measured T-64, L-65 in 2009
        Measured T-57, L-56 in 2010, different doc
        2 lumbar levels spondylolisthesis
        Exercising to correct

        Comment


        • #34
          Originally posted by foofer View Post
          Another exercise I was taught recently by a Yoga for Scoliosis instructor was to assume a yoga "Downward Dog" pose, and while doing so to focus on the thoracic area, breathe into the concave side (on me- the left) to try to open up those crowded ribs, and at the same time to squeeze the ribs of the convex side. The instructor has me imagining a set of eyes in the thoracic with one eye squinting in the convex and one eye opening wide in the concave. I had never much thought of the ribs and the narrowing and widening aspect. This feels very good for my body. Maybe someone here will find it helpful.
          This sounds like a variation on Schroth breathing. That's great that yoga instructors have picked up on that too! I've been to a few different yoga for scoliosis teachers and I don't remember them doing that. I wonder where your instructor learned it.
          1993, Age 13, 53* Right T Curve w/ Left L compensatory
          2010, Age 30, 63* or 68* (depending on the doc) Right T Curve w/ Left L compensatory

          http://livingtwisted.wordpress.com/

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          • #35
            helpful

            THis is ALL very informative & helpful!!! TY for sharing! Please let me know of any other stretches you are doing for this! I do the downward dog position and then also the cat stretch upwards position *not sure that is the formal name* but hey they seem to work. Stretching always loosens me up and makes me feel a little better. Less pain the next day. Where or How do you find Instructors specializing with scoliosis patients?

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            • #36
              Originally posted by kidbusiness2 View Post
              Where or How do you find Instructors specializing with scoliosis patients?
              Where do you live? I know of three for yoga (not sure if you meant yoga or pilates)...

              Alice Plato in Los Angeles
              Elise Miller in San Francisco (you can also get her DVD)
              I can't remember the third's name, but she's in New York and I could try to dig it up if it's helpful (saw her only once when she was teaching a seminar for other instructors in Boston -- my regular yoga instructor brought me as a subject).
              1993, Age 13, 53* Right T Curve w/ Left L compensatory
              2010, Age 30, 63* or 68* (depending on the doc) Right T Curve w/ Left L compensatory

              http://livingtwisted.wordpress.com/

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              • #37
                I went to the Yoga Union Center for Backcare and Scoliosis the last time I visited NYC (my dad lives there). I took a couple classes and then scheduled a private lesson with one of the instructors. It was well worth the time and money; we worked on a few moves and I practice them at home. I had gone to see Dr Boachie when I first arrived, and he gave me the go-ahead on yoga, although I've been practicing on and off for a long while. When I worked with the instructor, I learned halfway through the lesson that she had been fused from about t4 to L2 when she was a teenager. I would not have guessed. I wish I could have such a place where I live, but it's also nice to be able to work on it at home.

                Mehera, I don't know if this instructor was using Schroth breathing methods, but I would not be surprised. I was amazed by the students in that class. There were some very serious, extremely severe curves. Astounding. We were the Land of the Misfit Toys and I was hardly broken compared to most.
                Amy
                58 yrs old, diagnosed at 31, never braced
                Measured T-64, L-65 in 2009
                Measured T-57, L-56 in 2010, different doc
                2 lumbar levels spondylolisthesis
                Exercising to correct

                Comment


                • #38
                  Originally posted by foofer View Post
                  Ah, I just did my own homework and read the Min Mehta description, which calls for holding the sideshift position for 10 seconds, then releasing...and doing this all throughout the day.
                  Actually, that's for growing kids to use to stop progression during their growth. For adult use, it's easier:

                  The side-shift has the advantage over other methods that it can be used as maintenance therapy to prevent progression in adult life. Five girls who are now skeletally mature (Risser 5) are maintaining their curves constant by a brief period of 15-30 minutes of side-shift daily.

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                  • #39
                    Originally posted by kidbusiness2 View Post
                    Where or How do you find Instructors specializing with scoliosis patients?
                    I would look for Pilates instructors who deal with ballet dancers (who tend to have a high rate of scoliosis). Looks for the Pilates programs associated with your local professional ballet companies or major pre-professional ballet schools. You could just give the local ballet company a call and some may inform you of who they work with.

                    Some show on their websites, such as Pacific Northwest Ballet, and you could then just talk to the instructors to see who has the most training and experience with scoliosis. You can also search on the internet for local Pilates and dance conditioning, and the ballet-related Pilates instructors pop up. You would of course have to talk to them to find out their scoliosis experience. Ask lots of questions.

                    Examples:

                    http://www.pnb.org/PNBSchool/PNBCond...g/#Instructors

                    http://www.longbeachdance.com/lbdc20...lom-owner.html

                    You could probably call and talk to the people such as in the second link and she could probably refer people she knows or has trained. I'm guessing.
                    Last edited by Ballet Mom; 01-09-2011, 03:31 AM.

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                    • #40
                      Originally posted by Ballet Mom View Post
                      Actually, that's for growing kids to use to stop progression during their growth. For adult use, it's easier:
                      That's a really good point, Ballet Mom. The strong case for all of these exercise treatments, in my opinion, is during the period of slow progression - for small curves and for adults. It seems as if all of the focus of treatment is for holding curves during the growth spurt, but treatment is actually much more effective outside of that narrow window.

                      If you can hold a mature curve at 40 degrees, you could stop alot of pain and surgery in adults. I wish the researchers would get on that case.

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                      • #41
                        Does anyone know if doing Pilates while wearing a brace is harmful? My daughter takes a Pilates class once a week, but now that her back has progressed, we are trying to make sure she wears her brace as much as possible.

                        Thanks!!

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                        • #42
                          Originally posted by scolio1964 View Post
                          Does anyone know if doing Pilates while wearing a brace is harmful? My daughter takes a Pilates class once a week, but now that her back has progressed, we are trying to make sure she wears her brace as much as possible.

                          Thanks!!
                          Hi...

                          It's very doubtful that it's harmful, but there's no proof one way or another. It might, however, not be helpful other than in keeping your daughter's core strong, which is probably helpful, no matter what the long-term natural history of your daughter's scoliosis.

                          Regards,
                          Lnda
                          Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
                          ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
                          Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

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                          • #43
                            Linda, you were up late. I hope the noc wasn't a rough one. (sorry for hijack)
                            Fused T-3 to L-3, Aug 25
                            Hardware removal surgery, Nov 2, 2010
                            Fused T-10 to L-2, osteotomy, Feb 22, 2011

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