Scoliosis: This is an abnormal curvature of the spine, more common in females than males.  It usually begins in early puberty.  The cause is unknown.  It can range from mild to disabling.  It can also be the result of a leg length discrepancy (one leg shorter than the other.)  If this happens our body automatically adapts to the short leg by allowing the spine to curve to keep your head level. 

History:   “It just happened.”  Most individuals with scoliosis were diagnosed in middle school.  These runners have very unique pain patterns.  Every runner is different.  Some have morning pain and others do not have pain until later in the day.  You can be sore on the upper back or lower back.

Self-Exam:  Here are some things you can look for in yourself. 

1)      Most individuals with scoliosis were first diagnosed in middle school or their teenage years.

2)      Stand in front of a mirror and look at your shoulders.  One will appear higher than the other.  AND one hip bone may be higher than the other. PH 

3)      When you stand and bend forward to touch your toes you may twist to one side or the other.  VID

Treatment:

1)      Manage the pain:

a.      NSAIDS will help. 

b.      Kinesiology taping your back can help.  If you have someone to help apply the tape, you can place the tape differently on the right and left sides of your back to help stimulate the muscles..  LIN

c.       Ice or heat can relieve your pain.

                                                              i.      Ice right after you get done running

                                                            ii.      Heat on non-running days

d.      Continue running but avoid aggressive speed work and hill repeats, especially downhill running.

2)      Restore full motion:

a.      The stretching exercises for scoliosis are unusual.  You have to stretch the tight muscles on one side in the upper back and then the opposite muscles in the lower part of your spine.

                                                              i.      The crazy part is that your body has been bending the wrong way for years and will bend the wrong way unless you have someone to help.

3)      Begin low intensity non-weightbearing exercises.  Unless you have some professional help with bending the correct way, we want you to keep your exercises symmetrical. 

                                                              i.      With to symmetrical exercises where your right side is doing the same thing as the left sie.  VID

b.      For a scoliosis patient, I recommend that you only have to do these exercises as long as you want to walk.  In other words, FOREVER.  You have a wonkerjawed spine, you need to stay strong as long as you want to walk.

4)      Begin weight-bearing exercises with emphasis on control versus strength and power.

a.      Apply the kinesiology tape to your back before you start your weight-bearing exercises.

b.      These are done slowly, with a short range of motion, and STOP BEFORE IT HURTS.

c.       Wall-slides, sit-to-stand, static lunges, lateral step-ups, etc.  LIN

5)      Correct running mechanics.

a.      Gradually return to your previous running.  Start on relatively flat ground or even on a treadmill.  The best part of returning to running with a treadmill is that you can actually hear your footsteps.  Also, a lot of treadmills are in front of a mirror so you can see your hands move and your feet move.  If your arms or legs swing weird, you may want to have a physical therapist complete an evaluation before you return to full running.  Listen and ‘feel’ how you run.  Is one leg hitting the ground harder than the other?  Does one arm swing differently than the other?  Until you can run without pain and with fairly symmetrical running mechanics, you are still at risk of reproducing your old injury or creating a whole new injury to another part of your body.

b.      As soon as you can run without pain and without a limp you can return to your normal running routine.

6)      Return to running speedwork and hills.  After you have been able to run on flat ground for a week with your with your normal training and have not had any pain, you can begin to add speed and hill training to your program.

7)      My favorite step, get back to full running!  Have fun.  Eventually you will bust something else and be back to the website to fix that. 

8)      If you follow the steps on the website for 2-6 weeks (depending on how badly you hurt yourself the first time and on how long you tried to ‘run through the pain’) and your problem does not resolve, then call our clinic for an appointment and we can do something Dr. Google cannot do.  We can complete a hands-on evaluation, in-person evaluation to determine the cause of your pain.