Physiotherapy

Only a professional physiotherapist can or should be allowed to design a tailor-made physio program for any Scoliosis patient. Every curve is different, every patient is different.

As a teenager, I saw the physiotherapist at UH (now more commonly known as UMMC) a few times so that she could update my physio-exercise regime. The odd thing though, back then, regular physio sessions weren't really the priority. If I recall correctly, I saw the physio once when we first discovered my scoliosis (at 12 years old). She gave me several exercises to do twice or three times a day (or more often if I could manage it) on my own at home. Then about 6 months later my Dad insisted we saw the physiotherapist again, so they gave us another session but with a different therapist. About a year later, Mum asked them if we needed to see the physiotherapist again, but they said there was no need.

To this day I do wonder if things could've been different if they put equal importance on both physio and bracing instead of just emphasizing on the importance of bracing to contain the curves because research now shows that in many cases bracing made no difference.

Now patients have more options and have more voice. We SHOULD remember that we have a voice and we have the right to ask questions and voice out our hesitations and doubts. If your doctors do not give your voice much attention, that is simply unacceptable.

A lot of young people with Scoliosis are going for regular physio and in some cases bracing isn't the main emphasis (depending on the individual cases and the doctors handling the case). So hopefully there are now more ways for us to live more comfortably with our curves and handle our pain better.

Okay back to physio.

Does physio help? I am not a trained professional, but I am a Scoliosis patient who's lived with it for 20 years. So yes, I believe physiotherapy helps.

In terms of whether it helps reduce the curves, I cannot say because I have no real knowledge, no personal experience or authority to say such things.

But in terms of pain management, physiotherapy exercises do help most patients manage their pain better, I believe.

Everyone is different and have different opinions, of course. What I felt was that although there might be some discomfort or pain when you're doing the exercises, the spine and back muscles do feel a whole lot better after you've done the exercises.

So in conclusion, if you have pain due to Scoliosis, looking into physiotherapy might help you manage your pain better.