Stretches for Scoliosis: Ease Pain and Improve Posture

Stretches for scoliosis can help ease pain in a number of ways, and while no stretching or exercise alone can correct a scoliosis, scoliosis-specific exercises and stretches can increase spinal flexibility, potentially making the spine more responsive to treatment.

Posture and spinal health are closely linked, and regular stretching can have a number of therapeutic benefits from pain relief to postural improvement and improved muscle health. It is important, however, that all exercise is cleared by a scoliosis patient’s treatment provider.

Before getting to specific stretches for scoliosis, let’s talk generally about the therapeutic benefits of stretching for people with scoliosis.

Living with Scoliosis

Being diagnosed with scoliosis means an unhealthy spinal curvature that bends to the side and rotates has developed, and because it’s progressive, its nature is to increase in severity.

Living with scoliosis doesn’t mean a life of limitations, particularly with early detection and intervention.

While there are no treatment guarantees, the sooner scoliosis treatment is started, the better, and this is especially true with childhood scoliosis as progression is triggered by growth.

An important aspect of living with scoliosis is understanding that its effects can change over time, so even cases initially diagnosed as mild can progress to become moderate or severe scoliosis, and the more severe cases require more complex treatment plans.

Progression means the size of the unnatural spinal curve is increasing, and this makes the spine more rigid, effects more noticeable, pain more likely, and treatment needs more complex.

The goal of awareness is early detection; recognizing the early signs of scoliosis can lead to early intervention and more potential for nonsurgical treatment success.

Benefits of Stretching for Scoliosis Patients

As spinal rigidity increases alongside progression, often causing pain and discomfort, regular and therapeutic stretches can help ease pain by increasing spinal flexibility.

Particularly for adults with scoliosis, spinal rigidity can be an issue. Because scoliosis becomes compressive once growth stops, this means there is nowhere for the compressive force of the unnatural spinal curve to go, and this commonly causes muscle, back, and nerve pain.

Spinal Flexibility

Increasing spinal flexibility is a focus of nonsurgical treatment because it means the spine may be more responsive, provides pain relief, and helps maintain healthy posture.

A spine that’s flexible is also a spine that’s more capable of supporting healthy movement patterns.

Postural Restoration

Stretching can also help maintain a healthy posture, and as body position shapes the spine’s position and many movement patterns, it can also support the spine’s healthy alignment and mobility.

So stretching can help relieve pain related to spinal rigidity by increasing the spine’s flexibility, and it can also improve spinal health by supporting healthy posture and movement patterns.

Muscle Health

Stretching can also improve muscle health, and this is a focus of nonsurgical scoliosis treatment as the spine’s surrounding muscles are critical for supporting and stabilizing the spine.

The back and core muscles support the spine’s healthy alignment and balance, and a common effect of scoliosis is muscular imbalance, so stretching regularly can provide small gains of maintaining muscle strength and balance over time.

Before any stretching or exercise program is introduced, patients need to have it cleared by their treatment provider to ensure the movement is safe and won’t interfere with treatment.

Stretching recommendations are case-specific, but five common stretches known to benefit scoliosis patients include spinal decompression, pelvic tilts, side planking, chest stretches, and the cat camel stretch.

1) Stretching for Spinal Decompression

Decompression for scoliosis involves deep stretches and can provide short-term pain relief by counteracting compression.

Compression is uneven/excessive pressure, and once scoliosis becomes compressive in adulthood, it’s a main cause of scoliosis muscle, back, and nerve pain.

Relieving pressure on the spine can create space within the spine and increase spinal flexibility, and decompression can be achieved through hanging from a pull-up bar and/or the use of a computerized traction table.

Hanging uses the body’s own weight to stretch and elongate the spine.

Traction tables are used to gently stretch the spine, creating space, and relieving pressure and pain.

2) Posterior Pelvic Tilt

Pelvic tilts can help keep the pelvis and hips loose and mobile, strengthen the core and back muscles for increased spinal flexibility, and can improve postural alignment.

To perform a pelvic tilt:

• Lie on the floor with the knees bent and feel flat (toes should be pointing forward and hands at the sides with palms down)
• While mindfully engaging the core, flatten the lower back against the floor by tightening the abdominal and core muscles (don’t raise the hips)
• Hold the position with the lower back in contact with the floor for, release, and repeat

3) Side-Planking

Planking can offer core strengthening and stabilizing benefits for the spine. Side planking specifically targets the muscles on the convex side, and this can help keep the spine’s surrounding muscles strong and balanced.

To perform a side plank:

• Lie on one side with the legs straight
• Position the elbow directly under the shoulder with the legs and feet stacked for stability
• While engaging the core, lift the hips off the floor while maintaining a straight alignment from the head to the feet
• Be mindful not to dip the hips and hold the position
• Lip the top arm towards the ceiling, repeat, and switch sides

4) Chest Stretches

Chest stretches for scoliosis can help by opening up the chest area, and this is particularly helpful in case of thoracic scoliosis that develop in the middle/upper back (the most common spinal section affected).

The thoracic spine is the largest spinal section and is the only section attached to the rib cage, so when the spine’s unnatural curve and twist pulls on the rib cage, it can cause a loss of space within the chest cavity, potentially impacting the heart and lungs within.

The chest muscles can become sore and tight from the strain of supporting the spine’s unnatural bend and twist, and regularly performing chest stretches can help relieve sore muscles and pressure from compression.

To perform a pectoral stretch:

• Stand in the center of a doorway and place a forearm on the door frame
• Make sure the elbow is bent at a 90-degree angle and is in alignment with the shoulder
• Keep the body facing forward, and step forward with the inside leg
• Lean forward gently until a stretch is felt in the chest
• Hold the position for 30 seconds and repeat, then turn and repeat with the other side

5) Cat Camel Stretch

The cat-camel stretch can improve spinal mobility by moving the back between an arched cat-like position to camel-like spinal extension.

The spine can become rigid with progression, so regular stretching that focuses on maintaining a baseline level of flexibility can help with pain and treatment efficacy.

To perform a cat camel stretch:

• Start on all fours with the arms aligned with the shoulders and the knees aligned with the hips
• the back should be in a flat and neutral position and parallel to the floor
• Move into to cat position by tucking the chin into the chest and arching the spine towards the ceiling (engage the abdominal muscles)
• Then move into the camel position by lowering the stomach towards the floor,. arching the back, and raising the head towards the ceiling
• Continue to move slowly and deliberately into each position to increase the spine’s flexibility

Conclusion

While no exercise or stretching program alone can correct scoliosis, when performed regularly and combined with the potential of a proactive and customized nonsurgical treatment plan, stretching can help maintain healthy posture, spinal flexibility, alignment, muscle strength and balance.

Stretches for scoliosis need to be recommended by a scoliosis-specific chiropractor and/or physical therapist.

Here at the Scoliosis Center of Utah, a focus of scoliosis treatment is combining the power of scoliosis-specific exercise with scoliosis-specific chiropractic care and corrective bracing.