Exercise for People with Scoliosis

Exercise for people with scoliosis should focus on the length tension imbalances in the spine.

Scoliosis is a lateral curvature of the spine with rotation of the vertebrae.

On the side with the convexity the muscles are long and weak because they are overstretched.

On the side of the concavity the muscles are short and tight.

See an example of a healthy spine and one with scoliosis by going here.

Scoliosis is more common in the upper back or thoracic spine where there is a "C" shaped and sometimes, in unusual cases an "S" shape, which actually pulls it somewhat back into shape.

Scoliosis Exercise and Treatments

This exercise for people with scoliosis can be done standing or sitting in a chair. If you hold a weight in the hand reaching to the floor the stretch will be more intense.

The stretch should be away from the side with the concavity to stretch the tight muscles where the "C" is hollowed out. It will feel very tight.

Several repetitions of this stretch should gradually allow the muscles to release.

Breathing Exercise and Scoliosis:

Breathing exercises are good for people with scoliosis due to the tightness in the muscles of the upper back.

A deep breath helps to stretch and open up the ribcage and vertebra.

You can find some ways to do deep breathing exercise in this article.

Or...Check out this 57-minute presentation of therapeutic breathing and strengthening exercises specially designed by a Physical Therapist using Pilates Method principles to help persons who have scoliosis.

Persons with scoliosis can benefit from increasing Core Stability and trunk strength, using the Pilates Method and other conditioning techniques demonstrated in this video.

Click here to buy The Scoliosis Series Part 2_Breathing Exercises

Back Exercise for people with Scoliosis

When doing scoliosis exercise it's important for you to align the pelvis or to find your neutral position. This may mean you need to pad the hips and shoulders when in certain positions.

For instance; if you are lying generally one of your scapula's or shoulderblades will be protruding more than the other side so you will need to place a pad under the other side to stabilize or neutralize your position.

When you are sitting up attempting the mermaid stretch the hip on the side of the concavity will need to be padded, once again to neutralize your position.

Strengthening Exercise for Scoliosis:

The best and most effective way to work on your length tension imbalances, I believe, is with Pilates exercises.

They effectively realign the spine by changing the length tension imbalances in the muscles.

Try some of the exercises in the Pilates ebook available here.

With functional scoliosis there are no changes in the vertebrae so changing the musculature surrounding the spine can be very effective at correcting the curvature.

Functional scoliosis often occurs due to bad posture, leg length discrepancy, or nerve root irritation.

With idiopathic or structural scoliosis (more common in girls at adolescence) we cannot change the shape of the bones, curves, and rotations, but the muscles and soft tissue surrounding the bony structure can be effectively stretched and strengthened.

Check out some of the articles related to Pilates back exercise for people with scoliosis and and pulling to stretch and strengthen.