Active male with scoliosis: Painful sitting

[Sammywammy]

I'm a 28-year old male who has had scoliosis since my late teens.
Traditional physio (non-Schroth) for a number of years seemed to stabilise the scoliosis to a L1-L5 curve of about 20-25 degrees although I have been told that the rotation is fairly large relative to the mild curve. I kept a fairly active lifestyle and did not shy away from any sports/physical activity. I've also tried the Scroth method with a couple of physios in Germany in the last year although I have not seen any obvious improvement other than possibly being more "aware" of being twisted especially in the pelvis.

Despite the scoliosis, I'm a national-level competitive rower in Holland and have been rowing since I was a junior, although I had a break of a couple of years at the end of my university years. Since getting back into the sport, about 2 years ago I started to feel less discomfort in my actual back, probably thanks to quite intensive core strength training but in the past couple of years have also experienced pain in the sitting bones and the top of my hamstrings.

An osteopath seemed to suggest that the pain in the leg was possibly the start of sciatica (as I have some slight degeneration of the lower lumbar discs although that's probably not surprising considering how active I have been) but the discomfort definitely seems to be the actual contact of the sitting bones/hamstrings against the seat.

As the scoliosis comes from a hiked right hip which is also rotated anteriorly (which is what my physio exercises focus at fixing), I am actually quite aware of the twist when I'm sitting. I try to make sure I don't let my right knee go more forward than my left knee when sitting and possibly put more weight on the right side than I would have done previously but it's actually quite hard to remember how I used to sit...

Is it possible that the Schroth exercises are making me more aware of the twist and so in the past year, I have been sitting in a position that my body does not like? Is this type of discomfort common for Schroth (or any other method) patients?

I am quite unsure about whether I should still be training competitively (of course, stopping would be very difficult for me to do), whether the Schroth method is right for someone like me (until then, Yoga had seemed like the best pain relief for me, especially as a lot of my stress/tension seems to go into my back but according to the Schroth method, Yoga is a big no-no).

[Pooka1]

I'm a 28-year old male who has had scoliosis since my late teens.
Traditional physio (non-Schroth) for a number of years seemed to stabilise the scoliosis to a L1-L5 curve of about 20-25 degrees although I have been told that the rotation is fairly large relative to the mild curve.

Hi and welcome. Have you have an orthopedic surgeon check for progression in your curve recently?

An osteopath seemed to suggest

The only people qualified to advise you on scoliosis are orthopedic spines.

As the scoliosis comes from a hiked right hip which is also rotated anteriorly

Why do you think the scoliosis is caused by the hiked hip as opposed to the hiked hip is a response to the scoliosis? The hiked hip must certainly be as a result of the scoliosis and not the other way around. What would hike your hip such that it pulled a curve into your lower back?

but according to the Schroth method, Yoga is a big no-no).

That's only because they don't want to lose the revenue to yoga, not due to an actual medical concern. Ask them if they have any evidence whatsoever that yoga is no good for scoliosis. There is a woman who credits yoga with reducing her curve and keeping it smaller for years. I wonder what Schroth would say to her? I'd pay to see that exchange. LOL.

Good luck.

[Sammywammy]

Hi and welcome. Have you have an orthopedic surgeon check for progression in your curve recently?



The only people qualified to advise you on scoliosis are orthopedic spines.



Why do you think the scoliosis is caused by the hiked hip as opposed to the hiked hip is a response to the scoliosis? The hiked hip must certainly be as a result of the scoliosis and not the other way around. What would hike your hip such that it pulled a curve into your lower back?



That's only because they don't want to lose the revenue to yoga, not due to an actual medical concern. Ask them if they have any evidence whatsoever that yoga is no good for scoliosis. There is a woman who credits yoga with reducing her curve and keeping it smaller for years. I wonder what Schroth would say to her? I'd pay to see that exchange. LOL.

Good luck.

The osteopath was not commenting on the scoliosis but on the discomfort I was feeling in my high hamstrings and my sitting bones whilst sitting.

Regarding the curve, I had an MRI and an X-ray done about 3 years ago and the back surgeon had even suggested that I didn't have scoliosis or at least, nothing worth looking into. I had a look at the images and could still see a slight curve but indeed it didn't look too bad. It is surprising that he is possibly the most renowned back surgeon in my country yet took no interest in the scoliosis and just discussed with me the degeneration that was slightly more pronounced than he would like to see in someone in their 20s. I guess he must have seen far more severe cases of scoliosis.

I wasn't necessarily trying to establish a relationship of cause-effect between my hip and my scoliosis. Just that the Schroth physios seem to focus on fixing the pelvis position first.

Indeed, I am somewhat suspicious of the Schroth method but I do still believe that if you follow a method, you have to follow it, rather than attempting to follow 3-4 methods at the same time which might not be compatible.

Considering that the discomfort has got worse in the past year, I guess it is a valid question to ask whether the curve has progressed.

I compete at a fairly high level with training several hours a day, every day so I guess I'm not a very good typical example of a scoliotic patient. Most likely, because of training so much, I probably experience more pain than others despite having a mild/moderate scoliosis, but possibly reap certain benefits, because I keep my spine active.

I've probably gone about my specific case a bit too long but wanted to hear from other Schroth/non-Schroth patients and whether they had/have this discomfort when sitting? Basically, my back feels quite strong and symmetrical but my sitting bones/hamstrings often feel uncomfortable while sitting.
It is possible that I have simply torn my hamstrings and by having a less-than-healthy back, am prone to damaging them so have unusual symptoms that most scoliosis patients don't have.

[rohrer01]

Welcome!
Since you are so active, I'm going to assume that you do the proper stretching before and after you exercise, right? It is possible that you have strained or sprained your hamstrings. Is it on one side or both? I wouldn't necessarily attribute this type of pain to scoliosis, although I could be totally wrong. I would think that if the pain is radicular in nature and consistent with certain movements or constant, then it may be related to a pinched nerve in your low back. Rowing is particularly hard on the low back and I'm wondering if that's why you have unusual wear and tear on your spine for your age. Exercise is very good, but some very strenuous repetitive motions can be hard on your joints. For example, tennis elbow in tennis players, shin splints in runners, etc.

You may have hereditary short hamstrings. I do, and I battle that all of the time. I can barely touch my toes with feet together while sitting. I stretch every day. I am hypermobile in all of my other joints. But, like my father, have very short hamstrings. I make sure to stretch them frequently, but can only attain a certain level of stretch no matter how much I stretch. My father could never touch his toes. In fact, his hamstring problem was so bad that he couldn't straighten his legs completely while standing upright. I'm also guessing that your legs are constantly in a slightly bent position with a lot of isometric strain on them while rowing. Am I right?

I only mention this to emphasize the importance of stretching out those hammies. If you have sustained a sports injury, it should have been sudden in onset. If you are irritating your muscles and tendons by your activities, I'd imagine that it would be more chronic. My recommendation, and I'm not a doctor for sure, would be to see an orthopedic doctor specializing in sports medicine AFTER getting your back checked out for progression and degeneration by a spine doctor.

I wish you the very best and hope you can find out what is causing your problem so that you can continue with your passion of competitive rowing.

Sincerely,
Rohrer01