Scoliosis and Exercise

[Scoliatic]

So I want to get strong. Not just so that I have muscles but to help with scoliosis. I am going to have final fusion this summer and wont be able to workout afterwards for sixish months. I want to build up my muscles to help with healing and back pain does anyone have any advice on what muscles to train or how?

[LindaRacine]

So I want to get strong. Not just so that I have muscles but to help with scoliosis. I am going to have final fusion this summer and wont be able to workout afterwards for sixish months. I want to build up my muscles to help with healing and back pain does anyone have any advice on what muscles to train or how?

I'm not sure that building muscles will really be all that helpful in terms of recovery. And, you'll almost certainly loss any built up muscle mass during your recovery. If it were me, I'd do something like yoga or pilates.

[Tina_R]

So I want to get strong. Not just so that I have muscles but to help with scoliosis. I am going to have final fusion this summer and wont be able to workout afterwards for sixish months. I want to build up my muscles to help with healing and back pain does anyone have any advice on what muscles to train or how?

This is a great idea. I wish I had done this.

I'm a heck of a lot older than you and am closer to having osteoporosis since having the surgery. I blame this on inactivity. It takes a long time to lose what benefits you have built up, so amassing pre-surgery muscle would have been good for me.

It hurts my upper back to lift anything heavy and I avoid it. I wish I had exercised my arms and upper back to make up for my current lack of activity. Don't use it and you lose it, but if you go into surgery out of shape, you'll lose more. It takes a long time to lose muscle.

I would build up everything, not only your core.

But wait, aren't you a student of ballet? You must be in shape already.

[Pooka1]

As far as I know, humans (and horses) start losing muscle after disuse at 10-14 days.

[Tina_R]

As far as I know, humans (and horses) start losing muscle after disuse at 10-14 days.

I went through periods of building myself up when I was younger and it took 6 months of neglect to fully lose what I had gained.

[Pooka1]

I went through periods of building myself up when I was younger and it took 6 months of neglect to fully lose what I had gained.

I broke my back a year ago and couldn't work out with my personal trainer. I lost much of my muscle in a month or so.

[Tina_R]

I broke my back a year ago and couldn't work out with my personal trainer. I lost much of my muscle in a month or so.

With a broken back were you completely inactive? In bed most of the time?

Age is probably a factor as well. I was in my early twenties, close to Scoliatic's age.

[Pooka1]

With a broken back were you completely inactive? In bed most of the time?

Age is probably a factor as well. I was in my early twenties, close to Scoliatic's age.

I was not bedridden but was very limited in mobility for weeks. After a few weeks i was able to go to the barn to watch my young horse being trained.

I was out of the saddle 12 weeks for that. I was out another month right after that for knee surgery.

[Tina_R]

I was not bedridden but was very limited in mobility for weeks. After a few weeks i was able to go to the barn to watch my young horse being trained.

I was out of the saddle 12 weeks for that. I was out another month right after that for knee surgery.

The knee surgery couldn't wait, I take it?

[Pooka1]

The knee surgery couldn't wait, I take it?

That was extremely poor planning on my part not overlapping the knee surgery with the broken back recovery.

I was in denial.

[Tina_R]

That was extremely poor planning on my part not overlapping the knee surgery with the broken back recovery.

I was in denial.

Are you saying you should have had the knee surgery earlier, while you were still early in recovery from the broken back sugery?

I thought it was risky to schedule surgeries close together, that any infection from the knee surgery could affect your back if you weren't fully healed yet. Or is that only a problem when you get steel rods?

[Pooka1]

Are you saying you should have had the knee surgery earlier, while you were still early in recovery from the broken back sugery?

I thought it was risky to schedule surgeries close together, that any infection from the knee surgery could affect your back if you weren't fully healed yet. Or is that only a problem when you get steel rods?

I did not need surgery. I had a compression fracture of L3. Just time.

[titaniumed]

So I want to get strong. Not just so that I have muscles but to help with scoliosis. I am going to have final fusion this summer and wont be able to workout afterwards for sixish months. I want to build up my muscles to help with healing and back pain does anyone have any advice on what muscles to train or how?

I didn't do any weight related muscle building exercises leading into my surgeries, but I was skiing in pain, broke my arm and shoulder up right before my scoliosis surgeries. So, I was exercising and getting out there on the hill. I thought that I might not ever ski again so had about 20 skiing partners that day and wouldn't you know, they all watched me crash hard.
Those thoughts were all wrong, and I started skiing 14 months after my surgeries. I have an old post here about it, but the photos probably do not work due to server updates. March or April 2009. Putting on ski boots was a challenge being fully fused, but I figured it out.

Over the years, I learned many scoliosis techniques and a lot of that involved stretching. Stretching for scoliosis and also stretching for skiing.

You will lose muscle mass after surgery but you will get it back. I would imagine your surgeon ordering scoliosis specific targeted exercises through physical therapists that work along with your surgeon for your needs. Walking pays a strong part in recovering from scoliosis surgery. It might seem like it's not much, but is highly effective. Later on, after you fuse up, you can work on building up muscles....

Ask your surgeon this question

I found a video you might enjoy.....This was done in San Francisco. It's an old song that many of us listened to a million times back when I was your age....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiH9...geHarrisonVEVO

Ed