Though our ScolioGold programme is made up of many different scoliosis treatment techniques from around the world, the Schroth method is still at the core of the therapy we provide here at Scoliosis SOS.
The Schroth method was developed in the early 20th century by Katharina Schroth, and today – 22 February 2019 – would have been her 125th birthday! To mark the occasion, we’d like to tell you a little bit more about Katharina Schroth and the treatment method to which she gave her name.
Who was Katharina Schroth?
Katharina Schroth was born on 22 February 1894 in Dresden, Germany. Though she initially worked as a teacher in a business school, she made the jump to physiotherapy when she decided to try and treat her own scoliosis.
She developed the Schroth method over the years that followed, and she eventually opened a clinic so that other people with scoliosis could benefit from her exercise-based treatment regimen.
In 1969, Schroth was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for her work. In the 1970s, she handed the clinic over to her daughter, Christa Lehnert-Schroth, who continued to develop the Schroth method after her mother had retired from treatment.
How does the Schroth method work?
The Schroth method uses a variety of exercises and stretches to work the muscles around the rib cage and in the upper trunk to help correct the spinal abnormalities caused by scoliosis.
- Using exercises, it restores muscular symmetry where there is a muscular imbalance around the scoliosis curve.
- It also teaches rotational angular breathing techniques, which contribute to the reshaping of the ribcage and surrounding soft tissue.
- Finally, it encourages patients to be aware of their posture as they go about their everyday lives, preventing them from sitting or standing in a way that will cause their scoliosis to become worse.
Here at the Scoliosis SOS Clinic, we combine the Schroth method with a range of other non-invasive, exercise-based treatments to deliver outstanding results for people with scoliosis and other spinal conditions. See our results here.
Thanks in part to Katharina Schroth’s life’s work, we are able to offer scoliosis patients a real alternative to surgery and help them to dramatically improve their quality of life. So happy birthday, Katharina!
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Susanne Henderson (a 69-year-old woman from Totnes, Devon) contacted the Scoliosis SOS Clinic in the hope that we’d be able to treat her hyperkyphosis. Read on to hear her story and how we were able to help her and reduce her spinal curve!
Susanne, unlike the majority of patients we treat here at the Scoliosis SOS Clinic, doesn’t have scoliosis. Rather, she has a condition known as hyperkyphosis, characterised by an excessive forward curvature of the thoracic (upper) spine.
Susanne was diagnosed with hyperkyphosis following a series of accidents that gave her back a rounded shape and left her experiencing mild to moderate pain in her spine. When the medical professionals Susanne consulted didn’t take her worries seriously enough, she decided to take it upon herself to find the treatment she needed.
Susanne contacted the Scoliosis SOS Clinic to enquire about our ScolioGold treatment programme. Although the corrective course is quite intensive, Susanne says that she has “coped very well”, and that she appreciated being allowed to perform exercises at her own pace while still being pushed. When asked what she would say to other individuals with hyperkyphosis, Susanne recommended: “start taking action yourself and treat it before it gets worse”.
As a result of the corrective exercises we have prescribed for Susanne, she says she’s started to feel more “liberated, empowered and confident”, and she is confident that she can carry on improving now that her ScolioGold course has come to an end.
To see a full account of Susanne’s story, watch the video below:
If you have any questions about the Scoliosis SOS Clinic, or if you would like to book an initial consultation with us, please get in touch today!
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Mia Aston from Bromley was diagnosed with scoliosis in March 2014. She sought medical advice and was prescribed a back brace by her local hospital to help prevent her spinal curve from progressing.
After some further research, however, Mia came across the Scoliosis SOS Clinic and decided to undertake a full 4-week treatment course to help correct and alleviate her scoliosis.
Mia found the course difficult at first, but soon became comfortable and grew accustomed to the exercises we were teaching her. Some time after the end of her 4-week course, Mia returned to the Scoliosis SOS Clinic for a refresher week, during which she sat down to let us know how she’d been getting on:
Mia explains that, with our help, her scoliosis improved from 24 degrees to 20 degrees. Subsequently, she was only required to wear her back brace at night – a great outcome!
During Mia’s refresher week at the Scoliosis SOS Clinic, we recommended some changes to her programme of exercises to reflect her reduced Cobb angle measurement and the fact that the exercises have become ‘more natural’ for her, helping her with ongoing pain relief.
If you have been diagnosed with scoliosis and think you could benefit from a scoliosis improvement course here at the clinic, please get in touch today!
Here at the Scoliosis SOS Clinic, we’ve been successfully treating scoliosis patients for well over a decade. Our comprehensive ScolioGold treatment programme combines a variety of well-known therapeutic techniques, and the exercises that we teach our patients allow them to manage their symptoms and prevent progression from the comfort of their own home.
One of the techniques we use to treat our patients is the Schroth method, in which our therapists our expertly trained.
What is the Schroth method?
The Schroth method is an exercise-based physiotherapy programme that is used to treat scoliosis without surgical intervention. This world-renowned treatment method has helped countless people to improve their posture and overcome the symptoms of scoliosis.
The Schroth method is named after Katharina Schroth, the German physiotherapist who devised it. Schroth herself had a curved spine, and after making great progress with her own condition, she decided to open up a clinic to treat other people with scoliosis.
Katharina Schroth passed away in 1985, but her daughter Christa Lehnert-Schroth continued her work and the Schroth method is now used as physical therapy for scoliosis patients all over the world.
How does the Schroth method help people with scoliosis?
The Schroth method uses stretches and exercises to develop the inner muscles of the rib cage in order to correct spinal abnormalities in all three planes of the body. This treatment method also places emphasis on the conscious correction of posture during day-to-day life.
The Schroth-based exercises that we use here at the Scoliosis SOS Clinic are customised to each patient’s unique spinal curvature, as well as their age and physical ability. Our use of the Schroth method has allowed 88% of our patients to avoid the need for spinal fusion surgery. We also:
- Use a specific rotational breathing technique to correct spinal rotation and increase the patient’s lung capacity
- Rebalance the patient’s spinal position using pelvic corrections and isometric contractions
- Make patients more aware of their posture on a daily basis, ensuring they have the correct equipment at home and at school/work to maintain their corrected position
If you seek these improvements for yourself or someone you love, consider receiving Schroth physical therapy as treatment for scoliosis.
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Examples of Schroth method exercises
Here are just a few of the stretches and exercises that make up the Schroth method:
1. Prone on stool
One of the core Schroth exercises, performed in a prone position facing towards the floor. Depending on the patient’s classification, condition, previous medical history and symptoms, this exercise has the potential to correct:
- A thoracic curve using shoulder traction, shoulder counter-traction and the de-rotation breathing technique
- A lumbar curve via activation of the iliopsoas muscle
With a different setup, it can also be used to help thoracolumbar curves.
This exercise requires quite a few pieces of equipment including tubes, stools, belts, straps, beanbags and wedges. Watch our patient Isobel perform this exercise during a check-up appointment at the Scoliosis SOS Clinic:
2. Semi-hanging
This primary Schroth exercise uses gravity to stretch out the spine and relieve pressure on vertebral joints. At the same time, the patient will be applying the rotational breathing technique to flatten the prominent areas of their back, activating their muscles on exhalation to train their body to remember the corrected position when they stop exercising.
This is often used as a preparation exercise at the beginning of a treatment session. A set of wall bars (or equivalent) is necessary to perform this exercise effectively.
Watch our patient Nicole, who travelled from Ghana to the UK for scoliosis treatment, practise this exercise with her therapist:
3. Iliopsoas on a ball
This is a very patient-specific Schroth exercise that is only suitable for someone with a lumbar or thoracolumbar curve. It works by utilising the activation of the iliopsoas muscle to help de-rotate the affected portion of the patient’s spine. This is one of the simpler Schroth method exercises, requiring only a gym ball and wall bars (or equivalent).
Here at the clinic, patients often receive assistance from the therapists using myofascial release techniques to ‘mobilise’ the spine and help the patient to achieve a straight posture in standing.
Watch our patient Molly from Suffolk perform this exercise:
The Schroth component of our ScolioGold therapy course places huge emphasis on conscious correction of posture throughout daily life, not just during exercise therapy. Education is paramount – throughout your 4-week course, our therapists will help you to learn about scoliosis and your body to ensure that you can recognise an abnormal posture and correct it accordingly.
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What is the Rigo-Schroth method?
The Rigo-Schroth method is a modification of the Schroth method. Devised in the 1980s by a Spanish practitioner named Dr Manuel Rigo, it is based on much the same regime of stretches as the Schroth method itself; however, the Rigo-Schroth method is structured differently, with significantly more emphasis on the role of the therapist.
Combining Schroth method exercises with other treatment techniques
Back when we first opened our clinic, our treatment courses were entirely based on the Schroth method. As years passed, however, we noticed that some aspects of scoliosis were not addressed by Schroth scoliosis treatment alone. So, to ensure that all aspects of each patient’s condition are fully treated, we’ve combined the Schroth and Rigo-Schroth methods with a number of other exercise-based / non-surgical treatment to help provide our patients with a fully comprehensive treatment package.
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This approach has yielded superb results: our treatment courses have proved capable of preventing progression, improving posture and cosmetic appearance, reducing pain, improving quality of life, and reducing the patient’s Cobb angle by up to 20 degrees.
To enrol on one of our Schroth-based scoliosis treatment courses, contact us online or give us a call on 0207 488 4428.
Further reading
It’s not uncommon for people with scoliosis to feel depressed from time to time. Scoliosis is a lifelong condition, and it can be hard to come to terms with this, but that doesn’t mean that scoliosis patients can’t live physically and emotionally fulfilling lives.
In this blog post, we’d like to discuss the connection between scoliosis and depression and what can be done about it.
Why might scoliosis lead to depression?
The link between scoliosis and depression is reasonably well-established; this population-based study, for example, concluded that “patients with scoliosis may have an increased risk of depression” and that “health care professionals should consider designing and planning effective psychological prevention and treatment for scoliosis patients”.
There are several possible explanations for this connection. The visible symptoms of scoliosis (e.g. leaning to one side, shoulders sitting at different heights) can result in low self-esteem and negative body image (especially in young people) and this can be compounded by the limited range of treatment options available in some territories. Braces can be uncomfortable and unflattering, and recovering from spinal fusion surgery can be physically and mentally draining and may make the patient feel isolated. Whether or not these factors can cause depression, they may well exacerbate it if it already exists.
Many people with scoliosis will feel depressed about their condition at some point, but the severity and persistence of that depression can vary drastically depending on the patient’s age, their recovery prospects, the size of their spinal curvature(s), and any number of other factors.
How can you tell if someone is depressed?
If you know someone with scoliosis, look out for the following symptoms of depression:
- Loss of interest in things they previously enjoyed
- Noticeably lower energy levels
- Unusual, out-of-character and/or reckless behaviour (e.g. drug use, excessive drinking)
- Expression of suicidal thoughts (even if they seem to be joking – talking about suicide in any manner can be a cry for help)
What should I do if I feel depressed?
IMPORTANT: If you are feeling suicidal, please consider calling a suicide crisis line. If you’re in the UK, you can call Samaritans now on 116 123. For other countries, see this list of suicide crisis lines.
- Talk to someone. Whether you are reaching out to a friend, a family member, or a professional counsellor, simply talking about your depression can be a large step towards overcoming it. If you are suffering because of your scoliosis, it may be beneficial to speak to other people with this condition, as they will be able to empathise with you in a way that others can’t. Look at our list of scoliosis support groups to see if there’s a group in your area.
- Visit your doctor. Your GP may be able to help you deal with your depression and can prescribe antidepressants / refer you for additional therapy if necessary.
- Treat your scoliosis. If you think that your depression is linked to your scoliosis, you may wish to look into different treatment methods that could help you to reduce the angle of your curvature and feel better both physically and mentally.
Here at the Scoliosis SOS Clinic, we use a combination of non-invasive treatment techniques to help people with scoliosis and other spinal conditions. If you’re interested in attending a consultation session to discuss treatment options, please click the button below to get in touch.
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