Rehabilitologists joke that in their sphere there are sister words that always go together - this is scoliosis, gymnastics and exercises. This makes a deep sense, because without a special physical effect on the spine it is impossible to recover and correct the curvature. What to do when an unpleasant ailment nevertheless manifests itself?
Methods of influence on scoliotic posture
If the diagnosis of scoliosis is made, then it’s time to seriously take up the mind, because if you let the disease go by itself, the consequences can be most disappointing: from diseases of the internal organs caused by their displacement, which means their malfunction, to complete real estate, caused by paralysis, such an outcome is also possible.
Of all the methods available to every person, therapeutic exercises for scoliosis are exposure No. 1, along with lifestyle correction and analysis, which caused the asymmetry of the body. There are several types of rehabilitation exposure by the method of exercises:
- Well-known exercise therapy, which is prescribed by the attending physician or rehabilitation specialist.
- Yoga therapy is a leader in positive results in working with scoliosis of various degrees, and its methods are so multifaceted that changes will occur not only in posture.
- Swimming: for several decades now, experts have argued that this sport is a must for people with musculoskeletal problems of a wide variety of types.
- Equestrianism: the ability to control posture in the saddle includes small skeletal muscles, which form the correct position of the body in space. An additional factor: a person becomes kinder and more compassionate, communicating with animals, which means that he improves his emotional background.
What is important to pay attention to?
At the very first stage, it is important to understand what caused the bias, because only gymnastics with scoliosis will not help if the cause is not eliminated. It is foolish to eliminate the consequences without changing the cause - the result will be zero. What to do? Only comprehensively address the problem!
- If scoliosis is acquired during study or work, it is urgent to monitor the position of the body during hours spent at the table: the body may be in the wrong position and cause muscle spasm on one side of the body, causing the spine to bend. In this case, in addition to gymnastics - total self-control!
- Be sure to perform daily exercises from therapeutic exercises. With scoliosis, this is necessary, because it is not enough to know the cause, you still have to fight it. Down with laziness and a passive lifestyle, because medicine has repeatedly proved that people with scoliosis live ten years (on average) less than people with a healthy spine. Very challenging information, right?
- Be sure to monitor your emotional state, because often diseases (even the musculoskeletal system) have a psychosomatic basis.
Basic complex for prevention
The simplest gymnastics with scoliosis in the initial stage, when the angle of deviation from the center does not exceed 3-5 degrees, will help to remove muscle cramps that provoke the body to skew.
- Stand with your back to the wall and press the back of the heels, buttocks, shoulder blades, shoulder joints and back of the head to it. Close your eyes and try to feel the axis of the body - from the crown to the heels, building a straight line that stretches up. Balance the right and left sides. Bend your knees by 20 cm and tuck the pelvis, directing the pubic bone to the navel, while maintaining a flat back, press the lower back against the wall and try again to balance both sides. Hold the position for at least 30 seconds and then return to the starting position. Repeat at least three times, trying to increase the time.
- An option for the hands of a yoga posture is Gomukhasana, in which the hands or fingers are locked behind the back so that one elbow is pointing up and the other down, with the lower arm necessarily located with the back of the hand towards the back. Keep the position for at least 1.5 minutes, and then repeat on the other side, making sure that the impact is equal.
- Another yoga asana, more precisely, its dynamic interpretation: in the supine position, stretch the right arm forward, bend the right leg and grab it by the ankle with the left hand. In this case, the left leg is straight on the floor. Inhale, raise your right hand above the floor, stretching as far forward as you can, while trying to straighten the bent leg back while holding it with your hand. You should also try to raise the chest above the floor. With an exhale, return the body to its original position. Repeat at least 5-8 times on each side, eventually trying to fix the upper fixation point for a few seconds, while breathing naturally. An important aspect: to track the smallest changes in the position of the body, avoiding skewing to the side.
For scoliosis I degree
An expanded complex of therapeutic exercises for scoliosis, when the deviation angle is from 5 to 12 degrees. If you do not trace the changes in the body in time or ignore them consciously, the easily correctable form of scoliosis will turn into a problem, and then it will be more difficult to change something.
Some effective exercises for correction:
- While standing on all fours, stretch the right arm forward and the left leg back, trying to form a line with the torso and not bend in the lower back, activating the muscles of the paravertebral corset. Breathe through the nose freely, holding the position for about 30 seconds, and then swap to the other side.
- Lying on his stomach with his legs and pelvis firmly pressed to the floor, to clasp his fingers on the back of the head, but closer to the crown, and spread his elbows to the side, trying to form a line. With the help of back muscles, raise the upper body above the floor and fix it for a few seconds, eventually increasing the time to 30-40 seconds. Repeat 3-4 times.
- In the supine position, rest your elbows on the floor and raise the top of the body above the floor, followed by inspiration in turn, and eventually both raise the hips above the floor, trying to stretch them in length. Hold for 20 seconds and then relax your back while sitting on your heels, while putting your forehead on the floor.
Of the additional recommendations, it is worth highlighting the importance of deep breathing throughout the chest during the entire gymnastics, as well as a positive psychological attitude.
Exercise for scoliosis of the II degree
Gymnastics in this type of deformation is reduced to stretching the problem areas, as well as strengthening places that are in chronic tension due to the body’s constant attempt to compensate for the asymmetry. They need to be taught to contract and counteract the other side of the body.
Here you can recommend the variation of Triconasana with the upper arm grasping the thigh with a careful detuning of the plane, Vasishthasana (the Planck posture with one side on one arm) adjusted on the knee, as well as asymmetric traction in Shashankasan, when one arm is extended forward and the other to the side. It is important to carry out all these exercises under the guidance of a specialist who will correctly rebuild each position and give individual recommendations.
Best exercises
This video will clearly show on the example of gymnastics with left-sided scoliosis how to work with the body.
Julia Mozar is one of the “thinking” rehabilitologists who repeatedly studies the movement before giving it to the patient. If you follow the instructions on the video, problems with the spine will gradually disappear.
Treatment of scoliosis according to the method of Katarina Schrot
This woman, by personal example, proved that proper breathing exercises with scoliosis of the spine can significantly correct even severe cases. The technique is based on asymmetric breathing, as well as the use of isometric exercises with it in combination. If explained in simple words, it is necessary during a deep breath to consciously direct attention and the air flow stretching the muscles and tendons from the inside to a tight, fixed side. Often, mirrors are used to visually observe a process that tries to push apart the ribs and remove the muscle spasm that caused the deformation.
Yoga is the best helper!
To forget about problems with the spine, and indeed with the whole body, you should turn your eyes to yoga: a science that is so multifaceted that simple gymnastics with scoliosis or osteochondrosis, as well as any other problems with the spine and joints, simply fades. After several months of correct work with the body in yoga classes, every person notices an improvement not only in the muscles, but also in general well-being.
Moreover: this science of harmony provides answers to all the questions that arise in the process: “why this disease overcame me”, “why I can not be cured”, etc. A person learns to feel and help his body recover with natural exposure, which means without expensive drugs and operations.
The importance of working with a specialist
Gymnastics for scoliosis at home is effective and definitely necessary, but under the gaze of a competent specialist it will still be more correct to deal with, especially if the disease is firmly established in the body.
No effort and zeal will provide the result if the exercises are done incorrectly, which can only be judged by a look from the outside - that is, the instructor's observation of the process. Therefore, if scoliosis has acquired a deep form, do not save on yourself, do not delay until better times, but seek help.