In the past, exercises weren't recommended for scoliosis patients because the programs that were developed seemed to worsen the condition, reports Physiotherapy-Treatment.com. Specialists are now more informed about the complex nature of scoliosis and the type of exercises that can improve lives. Exercises for scoliosis must address both complementary and opposite muscles in ways that don't strengthen one muscle while worsening another. A 2010 study published in the "British Journal of Medicine" used muscle strength training to eliminate scoliosis in 47 children ages 10 to 16 without surgery. In some cases, scoliosis patients need the added support of shoe lifts and braces. Exercises for scoliosis are different for those who wear a Milwaukee, or full-torso, brace and those that do not.
Teaching Alignment
Many scoliosis patients don't understand what good posture and alignment feel like. Exercises that help them understand proper alignment are very useful. When the problem is a thoracic curve issue, scoliosis patients can reach upward and diagonally while sitting tall and slightly forward. This gives them a kinesthetic sense of what a straight spine feels like.
Oblique Muscle Strengthening
In right thoracic-left lumbar scoliosis, there is often weakness in the back portion of the right external oblique muscle and shortness in the upper portion of the left external oblique, reports Physiotherapy-Treatment.com. In one exercise, scoliosis patients lie on their backs, placing their right hand on the right side of their chest and their left hand on the left side of their pelvis. Patients then attempt to bring their hands closer together by using their abdominal muscles, without flexing their trunks. This exercise may also be done in reverse for left thoracic-right lumbar scoliosis.
Milwaukee Brace Exercises
The pelvic tilt can be done with knees bent and knees straight in scoliosis patients wearing a Milwaukee brace. To perform a pelvic tilt, lie on your back, tighten your buttocks and use your abdominal muscles to flatten your lower back to the floor. Hold this position for a count of 5 and do 10 repetitions once a day. Scoliosis patients can lie on their stomachs to extend their spines. Lying with their arms at their sides, patients tilt their pelvis and raise their arms, shoulders and head about 6 inches. Push-ups with a tilted pelvis are a good exercise for scoliosis patients with a brace. Try pushing your side toward the floor. Lie on one side with a pillow under your ribs and your top arm and leg straight and your bottom arm and leg bent. Tilt your pelvis and attempt to push your side toward the floor. The once-a-day standing pelvic tilt is done with relaxed knees. The patient pulls in his abdomen and tilts his pelvis and then attempts to walk while holding the tilt. Correcting thoracic lordosis and rib hump involves doing a standing pelvic tilt and then taking a deep breath while spreading your ribs and pressing the chest wall backward. Active curve correction also involves a standing pelvic tilt. Shift your body away from the rib pad in the brace, then away from the lumbar pad. Finally, attempt to shift away from both pads at the same time and stretch upward.
Exercises With Brace Off
These exercises should be held for a 5-count and the patient should do 10 repetitions once or twice a day. Practice the pelvic tilt while lying on the floor, knees bent and knees straight. Try coming to a sitting position while holding the pelvic tilt, do push-ups with a pelvic tilt and try the standing pelvic tilt without a Milwaukee brace. Stretches are also useful exercises for scoliosis. Scoliosis patients can do hamstring stretches by touching their toes with their legs out in front of them, stretching their backs by attempting to touch their heads to the floor while sitting cross-legged, and twisting from side to side with their hands behind their heads while sitting cross-legged. Patients should try to touch their elbows to their opposite knee. Stretch your sides by standing with one arm at your side and one arm overhead and bending to the side with the straight-hanging arm. Sit on your heels with your forehead near the floor and outstretched arms. Stretch out your arms and bend your trunk to one side and then the other. Scoliosis patients can strengthen their back muscles by sitting cross-legged with their backs against a wall. Hold a ball and stretch your arms straight overhead while keeping your elbows to the wall. Do spine extension with the brace off. Deep breathing exercises also benefit scoliosis patients.
Exercises for Abdominal Muscles and Back
Lie on the floor, lift your legs and mimic pedaling a bicycle to strengthen the trunk muscles. Or lie on your back with knees bent and rotate the knees from side to side. Sit on your heels with your hands behind your back, your abdomen on your thighs, and attempt to lift your head and shoulders. Or sit in a chair with your hands behind your head and your abdomen on your thighs to perform a back-strengthening exercise. Scoliosis patients also can lie on a table face-down with their waist at the table edge and try raising their trunk to table level. The hitch exercise can help correct lumbar curve and thoracolumbar curve problems. On the convex side of the curve, lift your heel while keeping your hips and knees straight and hold the position for 10 seconds. This lifts the pelvis and corrects the curve. Yoga exercises also can restore mobility to the spine and provide pain relief.
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