Anyone have a child with a curved upper back?

[Barbara]

My dd (12 in May) was recently diagnosed with Scheuermann's kyphosis (an abnormal curvature of her upper back/spine)....anyone have a child with this?

 

Basically, our pediatric orthopedic surgeon said that we should do nothing right now other than come back in 6 months for monitoring.

 

Just curious if anyone has had success with wearing a brace or any type of expercise, etc.? Our doctor thought that neither of those would be helpful to my daughter at this point. It saddens me to think of my lovely daughter with a humped back at such a young age. Well, it saddens me to see this on anyone, but I've never encountered this with a family member or known anyone with this condition.

 

Thanks.

[Jean in Wisc]

I've noticed my ds had an abnormal curve in his upper spine for years--since he was a baby. I could not get any doctor to pay attention to me though. In December an allergist took one look at my son and referred him to an orthopedist. He too has Scheuermann's Juvenile Kyphosis.

 

My son has been in physical therapy, and I am amazed at how good this has been in just these few short weeks. He was to meet with the PT and then do his exercises at home, returning a couple of times to be certain he is doing the exercises correctly. This has been GREAT, and I'd suggest you ask your Dr. for a PT referral.

 

DS has only 2 years (more or less) of growth left according to his growth plates. They said that he would not need to go back unless he has pain or other problems for another year--seemed like a long time to me.

 

I have found that different types of shirts cover up the curve more than others--the tailored ones are much better than the t-shirts. I'm sure, with a girl, you will have different issues. Although, I'm told that when the girl begins to mature physically, she will not seem to be as "sunken" in the chest than the boy will be, which is to her advantage.

 

I am grateful that we now know what we are dealing with--I knew it was there; I just didn't have a name for it.

 

Blessings--

[Melinda in VT]

I was diagnosed at 12 (not a good year for me--braces, glasses, curved spine, a weird bronchial infection that lasted for months). I had two visits with a PT and got instructions on exercises, which I never did.

 

I sure wish I had.

 

If I could do it over again, I would do as much as I could to strengthen my core muscles (abs and lower back) and I would take yoga or do exercises to open up my chest and shoulder muscles. This is pretty much what I'm doing now, but it took me until my 30s before I made it a priority.

[Harriet Vane]

May I just urge you, from the bottom of my heart, to please aggressively pursue some hard-core physical therapy?

 

It's a different issue, but I believe my experience can still help you. When I was diagnosed with scoliosis during middle school, I was told the curvature didn't warrant intervention.

 

Now, as a 36yo adult who has arthritis and bone spurs that have resulted in loss of mobility in my head/neck and arms, as well as loss of feeling (my hands frequently fall asleep) I have learned the value of physical therapy. How I wish my doctors had recognized the common sense in this--I believe I would have less pain and less problems today if I had had intervention.

 

There is absolutely NOTHING that helps more with mobility of the joints, slowing the rate of the problem, and preventing pain than exercise.

 

There is absolutely NOTHING that will help your daughter more than exercise. I beg you to seek someone who can prescribe an exercise regimen building her upper body and core strength. Then, keep. her. to. it. no. matter. what. You must think of it as her medicine--if she were diabetic, you would monitor her insulin closely. As someone with a bone/joint disease, exercise is her medicine, and she will need to exercise every day for the rest of her life.

 

I have also benefited from chiropractic care, though I have found it is limited unless I am also sticking very closely to my exercise regimen. The adjustments just don't "stick" long unless my muscles are strong enough to hold steady.

 

I hope you are able to find help for her. Just please, please do NOT "just monitor it." Exercise really can help.

[Valerie in MI]

Strider or Jean,

 

Can you describe some of the exercises you've learned about from the therapists so we can start using them at home now? I'm worried about my daughter's poor posture but haven't been to a doctor yet to get a PT referral (except an orthopedist who has us watching and waiting for it to get worse).

 

Valerie

[Harriet Vane]

Please still see a PT--your dd's condition may require something different. I have found, for example, that certain exercises actually aggravate my condition. For example, rowing exercises aggravate one of my bone spurs. So please see a PT asap.

 

Following is a word document I copied and pasted. Formatting is kind of weird due to the transfer from word.

 

Scoliosis exercises, specifically targeting upper back and neck area:

 

1) Range of motion stretches—Do these to the fullest range possible. Do NOT push past the point of pain. Do not hunch shoulders. Keep hands loosely clasped behind back.

 Look side to side several times, not too fast. Do this with chin slightly tucked and back straight.

 Look up and down several times slowly.

 Rest ear on shoulder, then slowly shift head up, then down to rest opposite ear on/near opposite shoulder several times.

 Rotate head in full circle. Start by laying one ear against/near shoulder. Drop head forward slowly to shift around to eventually rest opposite ear on/near opposite shoulder. Continue rotating head back, looking up as you shift back to the original shoulder. Next, rotate head opposite direction, starting with the ear resting on/near the shoulder, continuing around to opposite shoulder and dropping head forward to circle around the front. Do this slowly, several times.

 Sit with hands gently clasped behind back. Drop head forward and slightly towards one knee. Keep chin tucked—do not jut head forward. Feel the gentle stretch and hold 15 seconds. Return head to neutral position and repeat with opposite side.

 

2) Neck tucks.

 Roll shoulders back once and tuck pelvis comfortably forward to straighten and square body/posture. Tuck chin and pull head straight back. It will feel like an extreme chin tuck. You will feel the stretch through the back of the neck and possibly in the very upper back. Do this 10-20 times.

 Tuck chin as described above. Holding chin tightly tucked, keeping eyes level and posture/shoulders straight, turn head and look first over one shoulder, then the opposite shoulder. Do this 10-20 times.

 

3) Push-ups—These should be done a variety of ways—against a wall, against the floor from the waist or knees, against an exercise ball from the knees, balancing on the knees on the exercise ball (quite challenging!!!), and backwards with hands behind grasping chair arms and lowering body to sitting position. Keep elbows straight, not jutting out, and make sure neck is straight and relaxed, not straining forward.

 

***The combination of neck tucks and push-ups is effective to correct a head that is jutting forward.***

 

4) Cat stretches—Place hands shoulder-width apart on an exercise ball or low stool or even the floor. Keep head/neck comfortably neutral—do not strain head forward. Arch back to fullest extent, feeling the stretch as shoulder blades separate. Next, squeeze shoulder blades together to reverse the arch. Squeeze aggressively, specifically using muscles along spine to pull shoulders towards center, dropping mid-section down and hips up. Do this 20-30 times.

 

5) Ball wall rolls—Place a ball against a wall, holding it with both hands at about shoulder height. Using both hands, roll the ball up as far as you can reach, and then back down again. Do this 10-20 times.

 

6) Arm lifts—Lay face down. Put a rolled towel under your forehead so that you can remain face down. Lay with arms extended straight up over head, resting lightly on bed or table palms down. Lift arms up ten times. This should be fairly challenging—arms will lift only a couple inches. After doing that, shift arms to extend straight out to the sides, perpendicular to the body, palms down. Lift arms up ten times. Again, this will be fairly challenging—arms will lift only a couple inches. Finally, lay with arms resting down at sides, palms up towards ceiling. Lift arms ten times. This is the easiest of the arm lifts—arms should rise quite a bit higher than for the other two positions.

 

7) Shoulder squeeze—To do this you will need a resistance band—a stretchy, rubbery strip to be attached to a pole or wall at three heights. These can be gotten inexpensively at a sporting goods store. To do the exercise, stand holding the ends of the band at full length from the pole, without stretching the band. Arms should be extended in front of you grasping ends of the band in fists facing each other (not the floor). Keeping elbows tucked close to body, pull fists to waist, stretching the band. Pull using the shoulder blades, standing straight and squeezing shoulder blades aggressively together. Do this ten to fifteen times at each height—high (pulling down towards waist), neutral (pulling straight towards waist), and low (pulling up towards waist).

 

8) Head lifts—Lay on stomach on a bed, table, or other raised flat surface. Head should be hanging off the bed. Raise head to neutral, straight position and drop. (Do not raise higher. If necessary, put a rule in your shirt extending over head to help know where the “straight†position is.) Do this twenty times.

 

9) Pectoral stretch—Standing in a doorway, place hands comfortably just below shoulder height on either side of door frame. Lunge with one foot, feeling shoulder blades squeeze together and stretch across upper pectorals. Repeat with other foot. Ideally this stretch is done both during and after push-ups.

 

10) Arm strength—Choose weights that will allow you to do 10-20 repetitions. The last few repetitions should be challenging without causing you to strain by hunching shoulders or jutting neck. Keep shoulders neutral and relaxed.

 Hold appropriate weights in fists with hands facing forward. Lift, bending arm and bringing fist up to shoulder height and dropping back down. Do this ten to twenty times on one side, then the other, then both arms together.

 Hold weights in fists at shoulder height, arms bent. Hands should be facing forward. Drop hands to extend arms down at sides, keeping hands facing forwards, and doing this at a controlled speed. Lift back to shoulder height. Do this ten to twenty times on one side, then the other, then both arms together.

 

Other recommendations:

 

 Emphasize upper body strength. Play basketball or even just shoot a ball routinely. If you play basketball, work to train the non-dominant side as well as the dominant one so that muscle build-up is balanced. Other sports to consider are volleyball or swimming or gymnastics. Either way, if scoliosis is a concern, there should be a lifelong commitment to upper-body and trunk strength.

 Consider buying an arm bike—the aerobic action of peddling with the hands both builds strength but also eases up muscle tension. I have used large ones at a gym, but have seen smaller versions for as little as $100 (though I have not personally used one.) An elliptical may have a similar effect.

 With scoliosis and/or any arthritic condition, it is important to keep the joint moving. If there is not time in a day to do the full regimen, at least do range of motion exercises and stretches for optimum joint mobility.

 Because joint mobility is key, when building muscle mass it is wiser to do many repetitions at a lower weight, rather than fewer with a heavier weight. I was told that this would help muscle mass build in a leaner fashion rather than bulky. Bulky, knotted muscle mass often decreases flexibility—therefore the goal is to build strength as described here WITH stretching to keep the joints as mobile as possible.

[Barbara]

This is my third or fourth attempt to post...I'm losing track! Everytime I try to post, my session times out and it says I'm not logged in.

 

I will try to make this brief. First of all, thank you so much for your responses!! I feel confident to take action now. My doctor certainly hasn't given us any positive steps to take.

 

I spoke with the nurse again on Friday, and it seems the biggest issue is my dd's growth. Because my dd had her first period in May, the doctor thinks she is basically through growing in height. I find that hard to believe since my dd is 5'3" and all the rest of my family (extended family included) are taller than that. Maybe that's true, but it still seems like exercise would help...which everyone is confirming that. I'm going to call first thing Monday for a referral to the PT.

 

Also, the other problem I'm dealing with is my dd is somewhat of a tomboy and could care less about her appearance! The doctor patted her on the back and said "Just be yourself...."...those were the last words out of his mouth!! So, you can imagine how my dd has latched onto that bit of information and feels it's fine to "just be" at this point. : (

 

Thanks a million! I'm going to follow this through!

[Melinda in VT]

About "Just be yourself."

 

Really, that's what you want her to be too. You just want her to be the strongest, healthiest her she can be.;)

[Melinda in VT]

I feel the need to elaborate.

 

I resented my mom always telling me to sit up straight and pull my shoulders back because it was uncomfortable and I thought it was all about appearances. I didn't care about how it looked enough to be uncomfortable. :o

 

I think I would have been much more responsive to the argument that my bad posture was encouraging my muscles to be weak and that weak muscles would eventually cause discomfort and problems of their own. It's not about looks. It's about strength and long-term health.

[Jean in Wisc]

When my son's back was x-rayed, they took a look at his growth plates and estimated from that how much longer they expected him to continue to grow. They showed us the x-ray and explained how they determine approximate remaining time for growing. I wonder if your doctor looked at that.

 

I need to sit down and write a better summary of the exercise the PT gave my son last week. When I do that, I can try and send a copy to you--it may explain it completely, but it might help.

[Barbara]

today and she did say according to the x-rays my dd is in her major growth spurt or about to hit in right now, so that's good news to me. I just couldn't see how she would be 5'3" when I'm 5'6", my dh is 6', my son is 6'1" , etc..

 

Anyway, the nurse also mentioned that they still don't think PT will help. She said because it's structual...she used the analogy of painting a bent piece of wood...it would still be bent; just painted now. As you might imagine, I'm already planning to get a second opinion somewhere. The doctor there just doesn't have my dd's best interest at heart. You know, they didn't even go over the xrays with me and dd.

 

I definely understand what you're saying, Melinda. That's my initial reasoning for seeking out a doctor. I wanted to make sure I wasn't asking my dd to do something (stand up straight) if she physically couldn't do it. So, I'm trying really, really hard not to overdo the nagging (it's soooo difficult!). I do think my dd understands now that it is something that could affect her in the future though.

 

Thanks so much, again, everyone. I so appreciate your help!!

[LG Gone Wild]

I have scioliosis and didn't wear my brace properly. I have almost exactly the same modern ailments as you. I am trying to wean myself off of Flexeril and Aleve with yoga. What excercise are you doing? I really want to know.

 

 

uote=strider;18745]May I just urge you, from the bottom of my heart, to please aggressively pursue some hard-core physical therapy?

 

It's a different issue, but I believe my experience can still help you. When I was diagnosed with scoliosis during middle school, I was told the curvature didn't warrant intervention.

 

Now, as a 36yo adult who has arthritis and bone spurs that have resulted in loss of mobility in my head/neck and arms, as well as loss of feeling (my hands frequently fall asleep) I have learned the value of physical therapy. How I wish my doctors had recognized the common sense in this--I believe I would have less pain and less problems today if I had had intervention.

 

There is absolutely NOTHING that helps more with mobility of the joints, slowing the rate of the problem, and preventing pain than exercise.

 

There is absolutely NOTHING that will help your daughter more than exercise. I beg you to seek someone who can prescribe an exercise regimen building her upper body and core strength. Then, keep. her. to. it. no. matter. what. You must think of it as her medicine--if she were diabetic, you would monitor her insulin closely. As someone with a bone/joint disease, exercise is her medicine, and she will need to exercise every day for the rest of her life.

 

I have also benefited from chiropractic care, though I have found it is limited unless I am also sticking very closely to my exercise regimen. The adjustments just don't "stick" long unless my muscles are strong enough to hold steady.

 

I hope you are able to find help for her. Just please, please do NOT "just monitor it." Exercise really can help.

[Harriet Vane]

LG Gone Wild--

 

Earlier in this thread I posted strength exercises that really, really help. My curvature is in my upper spine, between my shoulder blades, and my bone spurs are in the upper spine and neck, so my exercises are focused more in that area and less on trunk strength.

 

I am not as disciplined about exercising as I should be. BUT when things are going well, I do the strength exercises I mentioned and alternate them with general exercising: T-Tapp, walking, jogging on the trampoline. I jog on the trampoline specifically because the bouncy surface absorbs a lot of impact and it is much, much easier on my joints.

 

I have also used both an arm bike and an elliptical with wonderful effect. The repetitive aerobic activity seems to stretch and relax the muscle spasms effectively.

 

I find that bike riding is really hard on my neck because of the posture--hunched forward with head up. It aggravates one of my bone spurs pretty badly. I do well on a recumbent bike (nothing to do with the scoliosis--just for exercise in general) and my dh would like to get me a bike with higher, longer handlebars so that my posture is better.

 

Hope that helps. I really do find that exercise is EXTREMELY effective to keep the system relaxed.

 

When I have a flare-up I do a combination of heat, naproxen or ibuprofen, chiropractic adjustment and/or massage, and sleep. Usually one big blast of several of these options knocks the problem out--then the next day I focus on stretching and exercising gently.