Scoliosis is not just a teenage issue. Menopause can also play havoc with our spines. Caroline Freedman, a personal trainer and author of The Scoliosis Handbook says can be a common problem for women too.
Caroline has had three spinal fusion surgeries. Based on her extensive knowledge, she said the combination of load-bearing weight exercises together with yoga practice was ideal to manage the condition.
What is scoliosis?
Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine in an S-shaped form. It is a side to side curve of more than ten degrees. It can affect any age from before birth (congenital), in young children (early onset), teenagers (adolescent idiopathic) where the scoliosis has developed through puberty/growth and onto adulthood. The curve can change dramatically around the ages of 10 to 20 years old. Adolescent scoliosis comprises 80% of cases. We also see it in women going through menopause.
What links scoliosis and menopause?
The effects of menopause affect the quality, strength, and resistance of women’s bones and joints. According to endocrine.org, "Menopause significantly speeds bone loss and increases the risk of osteoporosis. Research indicates that up to 20% of bone loss can happen during these stages and approximately one in 10 women over the age of 60 are affected by osteoporosis worldwide."
With age the joints and discs in the spine start to collapse in the lumbar (lower part of the spine), discs can then protrude and eventually slip which can cause a scoliosis. Women in menopause can suffer from degenerative scoliosis in two ways. Menopause therefore, can either be a trigger to begin degenerative scoliosis from those who are diagnosed at an earlier age, or cause it to develop in later life.
Caroline said: “I have seen a number of new personal training clients and also friends complaining of backache where they have not had any previous issues. This is due to in many cases a lack of bone density causing osteoporosis.
"Physically the first thing they may notice is pain on one side of their bodies. This is due to the spine twisting and a pulling feeling which is the lateral muscles being pulled across the ribcage that over time, as the curve progresses, can lead to neckache, headaches and then central and lower back ache.
"Pain, as we know, causes tiredness and coupled with all our hormonal changes, just adds to the feeling of exhaustion. They may also notice that they do not look as symmetrical and one shoulder may protrude forward lifting the shoulder blade. This causes clothes to hang differently and often my clients and friends cannot work out why.”
Christine Jaureguiberry, a yoga teacher who runs Yogaberry and has moderate scoliosis herself, and specialises in yoga for scoliosis, added: “From my experience working with yoga students with scoliosis I can say that a big part of my clients that come to me with problems of pain due to their scoliosis are women that have recently gone through menopause.
"They usually fall into two categories: women who knew they had scoliosis for a long time and where the scoliosis got worse during menopause and women who never knew they had scoliosis and were recently diagnosed. We can of course not say for sure if they had scoliosis before (called Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis if it developed during teenage years) and it has never been detected or if they developed it later on which is called De Novo Scoliosis or Degenerative Scoliosis.”
Resistance training with weights or any load-bearing exercise is proven to increase bone density. Here are three of Caroline’s favourite exercises from The Scoliosis Handbook.
Upright row
The upright row works the traps – the triangular muscle at top of the spine that connects to the deltoids. It’s so important to keep the trapezius muscle toned. It helps to hold your head upright.
Clients have reported improved posture, reduced neck aches and headaches.
• Stand with legs hip-width apart, knees soft, slightly bent, shoulders relaxed.
• Start with arms down, relaxed, holding the bar with hands thumb-width apart. Leading with elbows, slowly raise the bar, hands brushing your body until at upper chest level and elbows are higher than hands, elevated above shoulders, making the shape of a V.
• Do not raise your shoulders
• Slowly return to start
• Introduce a weight slowly, starting with 0.5 kg.
Bent-arm pullover
This works your back, rear shoulder muscle, chest and triceps while supporting your back, neck and head
• On your back, feet a little wider than hip width, check leg alignment.
• Chin tucked in, relaxed.
• Suck in abs and push back into the floor with pelvis tilted upwards.
• Start by clasping hands together into a fist. Progress by adding weights up to a maximum 5kg.
• Elbows slightly bent. Start with arms at eyeline, over your chest, then extend them above your head, as far as is comfortable. Feel a slight stretch. Do not attempt to bring your arms further back to touch the floor behind you as this will make you arch your back.
• Start with five repetitions with no weight and increase to 5kg and 20 repetitions x three sets.
High plank and bear squats
This combination works your quad and glute muscles, as well as your lats and abs and arms so it's a great load bearing exercise to build up the muscles and bone density.
Get yourself into the High Plank position.
• Start on your hands and knees and with straight arms, shoulder-width apart. Lift your knees off the floor, pushing your toes into the floor.
• Tip: If you find standing on your hands in this position a strain on your wrists you can use small push-up hand bars for support. Your neck and head should continue along the same line as your spine so that your body is aligned. Lifting your head up will shorten your neck muscles; dropping your head will pull on your neck muscles, possibly resulting in neck strain and muscle pain.
• Make sure your pelvis and hips are elevated slightly (so not in a total straight line) to take the pressure off your lower spine. Do not dip your hips, nor arch your back. Do suck in your abs
• Bend knees and sit/squat horizontally, bringing your glutes back, gently stretching your arms. Keep your abs drawn in towards your navel, your back straight and your head in line with your body. Again, do not look down or upwards. Hold for a few seconds.
• Return to the High Plank position. Build up from six repetitions to 15 x three sets.
