What is Scoliosis?

Scoliosis is a “C” or “S” shaped curvature of the spine, its name derived from the Greek “skol” which means twists. Pictures of people with scoliosis appear in Prehistoric cave paintings and the first recorded treatment of the condition with braces was in the fourth century BC by the Greek doctor Hippocrates.

The condition can have a known cause and is common in connective tissue disorders such as Marfan Syndrome, homocystinuria and Ehlers-Danlos for example, it can be a feature of rickets, when the bones become soft due to decalcification, or the result of an accident; the spinal curve developing after the ribcage, pelvis or shoulder girdle has been knocked out of alignment.

Scoliosis with no known cause is referred to as “idiopathic”, although some researchers say that this term is becoming outdated as studies are beginning to show a clear link between congenital scoliosis and low bone densities. My own scoliosis is “idiopathic” and both my mother and maternal grandmother suffer from osteoporosis, but I think that to try to find a singular genetic cause for "idiopathic" scoliosis is simplifying the problem. Bone density, for example is influenced by a wide variety of overlapping factors such as hormone levels, nutrition, exercise and medication. The causes of "idiopathic" scoliosis are still far from clear and is is illogical to presume that they are the result of a single gene factor alone.

The lateral curvature of the spine rotates not only from side to side but back on itself as well, rotating the affected vertebrae towards the concave side, twisting the ribcage and making the sides of the back uneven. The results of this can be seen clearly in the yoga asana Setu Bandhasana; once the back has lifted from the floor to its full extent in that particular person a direct line of sight down the middle of the front torso will clearly show one side of the ribcage (usually the convex side of the spinal curvature) is substantially higher than the other.

Not only does the scoliosis sufferer have spinal deformity and rib displacement, but the shoulders and hips can become twisted and the body’s centre of gravity shifted. While one of the most obvious symptoms is a cosmetic one, severe pain and heart and lung compression, due to compression on the thoracic cavity, are common as well. As the body maintains the upright posture it is comfortable with over the years, muscles will begin to tighten and painful masses of muscle tissue will develop in the ribcage, shoulders and neck.

Spinal curvature can take place anywhere in the spinal column. For unknown reasons 90 per cent of thoracic and double curves curve to the right, 80 per cent of thoraco-lumbar curves also curve to the right whilst 70 per cent of lumbar curves curve to the left. Seven times as many women as men have scoliosis, a statistic that brings us back to the question of bone density.

Conventional treatment of scoliosis has varied over the years. Braces and spinal fusion (an operation in which metal rods are inserted next to the spinal column, similar to the idea of a runny bean growing straight if tied to a beanpole!) were common 20 years ago to prevent the curvature worsening. Browning Miller, in her article Yoga and Scoliosis describes herself as feeling “appalled” (Yoga Journal November 1999) by the idea of such treatment and instead consulted an orthopaedic surgeon who advised “a regimen of exercise and stretching” (ibid). As a young graduate she turned to hatha yoga and noticed that when stretching in yoga asanas “the numbness on the right side of my back went away, and the pain started to dissolve” (ibid).

While the medical profession still tend to accept the premise that exercise does not have a place in scoliosis treatment, it is slowly becoming a more widespread belief that posture training and exercise are important for scoliosis prevention (when a scoliosis curve may occur due to the result of a misalignment after an accident) and treatment, as it had been prior to the popularity of surgery and bracing in the 1940s.

As part of my purpose for writing this blog/journal/book, whatever you would like to call it, I hope to put forward enough evidence of both my own personal journey and that of other people to prove that exercise, especially a subtle exercise like yoga, has every effect on the curvature of the spine, both physically, spritualy and emotionally. That by changing our attitudes towards our spine we can change our lives.