Physical therapy exercises to treat kyphosis

• We will restore the normal position of the vertebrae;
• We normalize nutritional and metabolic processes;
• Let's prevent the development of the disease

Types of diseaseCauses of kyphosisStages of kyphosisTreatment of thoracic kyphosis

Kyphosis is the vertebral curvature following lordosis. Such an arch in its normal state forms a small S-shaped bend. However, if it is enlarged, a person may experience pain in the back, and this leads to the formation of Scheuermann-Mau disease.

Most often, difficulties begin in adolescents at the age of 12-13 with improper seating, and then develop, developing first into constant hunching, and then into a disease with elements of periodic aching pain.

Spinal kyphosis is divided into physiological and pathological. In a normal state, a person’s thoracic kyphosis is located at an angle of 30 degrees; if this value is exceeded, defectiveness develops.

The handicap is described as an unnatural stoop. Most often, it is the thoracic spine that is deformed, which is accompanied by unpleasant pain in the muscles of the upper limbs.

The presence of a large s-shaped protrusion in the thoracic region eliminates normal blood pressure and negatively affects the general condition of the brain.

How a patient training program is developed

Anti-kyphosis exercises are one of the simplest and most effective ways to align your spine.
Physical activity is aimed at strengthening the muscle corset, which, in turn, will help maintain the intervertebral discs in the anatomically correct position. For each type of pathology associated with deformation of the thoracic and cervical spine, its own exercises are selected to correct kyphosis. Also taken into account:

• general condition of the patient;
• age;
• level of physical fitness;
• the presence of other diseases in which physical activity may be limited;
• the reasons that led to the curvature of the spine.

Therapeutic gymnastics for kyphosis is performed under the supervision of a specialist; training can be both group and individual. This approach is fully justified, because during exercise it is necessary to strictly comply with a number of requirements, otherwise physical exercise can aggravate the situation and cause serious harm to health.

Children's gymnastics

The child’s musculoskeletal system is very flexible, so with regular and proper exercise, you can completely get rid of the disease.

Exercises:

1. Perform light head rotations and turns left and right.
2. Rotate your arms back and forth.
3. Take a gymnastic stick, pull it back with outstretched arms, and bend over.
4. Take a stick in your hands, lift it up, and bend to the sides.
5. Sit on your heels, put the stick in front of you, grab it by the edges. Reach forward, stretching your back.

It is advisable that the child perform all of the listed exercises under the supervision of parents or a doctor, so that all movements are correct and moderate.

General requirements for classes

Regardless of which part of the spine the exercises are performed on, patients must adhere to certain rules. Physical therapy for kyphosis should not take more than 40 minutes a day. It is ideal if classes are held no more than two or three times a week. All exercise therapy exercises for kyphosis are performed with the spine as straight and straight as possible.

Before each lesson, a short warm-up is required, the purpose of which is to warm up the muscles. If you don’t do this, you could end up with sprains or pinched nerve endings—then you’ll have to forget about exercises for spinal kyphosis for a while.

Physical activity increases gradually, from session to session. This is expressed not only in the number of approaches (repetition of each cycle of exercises), but also in the speed of their implementation. For trained patients with good physical data, the optimal training option is several approaches to each exercise, which are performed 20–25 times in a row. It is recommended to take a short break between approaches and restore strength with the help of breathing exercises.

Weighted kyphosis exercises using dumbbells are considered quite effective. However, there are limitations to lifting weights. Exercises for spinal kyphosis in adult men are performed with a weight of no more than 5 kg, in women - no more than 3 kg. It is not recommended for teenagers to use dumbbells during classes.

Diagnostic methods

The main method for diagnosing Scheuermann-Mau disease is x-ray examination. The pictures of the spine clearly show the angle of bending, the wedge-shaped shape of the thoracic vertebrae, and Schmorl's hernia. In case of significant deformations and damage to the nerve roots, the patient is prescribed CT or MRI, as more accurate methods for assessing the condition of bone tissue and paravertebral structures. To check the functional state of muscles and nerve fibers, electromyography is performed.

To accurately assess the condition of the spine, the patient is prescribed an MRI

If you want to learn in more detail how the MRI procedure of the spine is performed, and also consider when a magnetic resonance examination is indicated, you can read an article about this on our portal.

Additionally, examinations by other specialists, for example, a pulmonologist or cardiologist, or neurosurgeon, may be prescribed. It all depends on the scale of damage to organs and systems.

Thoracic kyphosis: features of physical therapy

For thoracic kyphosis, exercises can be divided into two groups - light and intense. The first option is suitable for those who are just starting to exercise or have a spinal deformity angle of 40–45⁰. The set of exercises usually includes squats, hanging on a bar, bending over with a stick, and sitting on a chair with the spine as straight as possible. That is, such exercises do not require special physical training and do not involve increased load. Their task is to maximally stretch and straighten the spinal column and restore the anatomical position of the intervertebral discs. The duration of a course of light gymnastics can take several months.

Intensive classes are aimed at developing a muscle corset that will keep the spine in the correct position. At this stage, simple but effective exercises such as scissors, arches, bicycles are performed, which allow you to pump up your back muscles.

One of the important elements of exercise therapy for spinal kyphosis is the development of correct posture. To do this, it is often practiced to walk barefoot on a gravel path or a special surface with a straight back. Pedestrian areas with obstacles are specially created for patients, which must be overcome without disturbing their posture. Such training is usually performed at the final stage of rehabilitation.

Exercises

The spine is divided into three separate zones: cervical, thoracic and lumbar. Each zone is characterized by its own natural angle of curvature and certain loads. Therefore, a set of exercises is selected separately for each of the sections.

Exercises for the cervical spine:

1. Take a gymnastic stick for exercises. Place it behind your back and press it against your shoulder blades. Do 10-15 shallow squats.
2. Standing on your toes, raise your arms up, stretch your whole body, lower your arms and slowly move to your heels.
3. Lie on your back, lift your chest without lifting other parts of your body from the floor.
4. Place your hand on your forehead, apply pressure, and resist with your hand. You should feel the muscles in your neck tense. The effort should be average, about ⅓ of your capabilities. Repeat with your hand on the temples and back of the head.

Exercises for kyphosis of the thoracic spine:

1. Take a stick, place it behind your back and wrap your hands around the edges. Move your arms straight back with the stick, feel how your chest bends.
2. Place the stick behind your back at the level of the lower edge of your shoulder blades and perform several squats.
3. Place your hands on your belt, pull your shoulders back, opening your chest as much as possible, bring your shoulders inward. Repeat several times.
4. As you inhale, raise your arms, and as you exhale, lower them to your sides.

Exercises for the lumbar region:

1. Stand up straight, pick up a stick and extend it in front of you. Bend to the sides, bending at the waist.
2. Stretching exercise. Gently lean forward, try to reach your shin with your hands, grab it, hold for a few seconds. If you were unable to bend low enough the first time, perform the exercise gradually and avoid strong jerks.
3. Lie on your back, arms along your body. Bend your knees and spread them apart, keeping your feet closed. Lie like this for 30-40 seconds.
4. Get on all fours, hands and feet shoulder-width apart. Arch your back without lifting your hands from the floor and sit on your heels. In this position, you should feel relaxation in your lower back and tension in the muscles along the entire length of your back.

All of the above exercises are performed slowly and smoothly. You should not endure severe pain if it is present. It is better to reduce the time or number of approaches and increase them gradually.

Features of exercise therapy for cervical kyphosis

The primary goal of gymnastics for kyphosis of the cervical spine is to relieve muscle tension. After all, it is the muscles that incorrectly fix the position of the vertebrae: in the neck area they seem to freeze.

The next stage is passive exercises with minimal load, which are usually performed using auxiliary objects. Their purpose is to straighten the cervical spine and reduce the angle of deformation as much as possible.

When the desired effect is achieved, the training moves into the active phase, the task of which is to strengthen the neck muscles and speed up blood circulation in the problem area.

In most cases, a few months of training are enough for the first improvements to appear not only in the patient’s well-being: the deformity of the spine in the neck area becomes less pronounced.

Symptoms of Scheuermann-Mau disease

The first signs of the disease usually appear with the onset of puberty. Outwardly, they are expressed by increased stoop and poor posture, while there are no complaints about deterioration in well-being. Changes in the vertebrae themselves are clearly visible on x-rays, so if parents noticed the deterioration in posture in time and consulted a doctor, the curvature can be easily eliminated. If early signs are ignored, the disease progresses and new symptoms appear, the severity of which only increases over time.

Modern diagnostic methods make it possible to detect the slightest changes in the spine and eliminate the disease at an early stage

Typical symptoms of Scheuermann-Mau disease include:

• discomfort in the shoulder blades;
• aching back pain, aggravated by physical activity and prolonged exposure to a static position;
• gradual deterioration in spinal mobility;
• acute pain attacks caused by pinched roots;
• fast fatiguability;
• weakness in the back muscles;
• sensitivity disorder.

The disease is manifested by pain in the back of a pulling and acute nature

The more the disease progresses, the stronger the external manifestations: the stoop increases, the head protrudes forward, a hump forms on the back, and the gait changes. With severe deformation, the organs of the chest are compressed, displaced, and cease to function properly, which is expressed by additional symptoms - shortness of breath, pain in the heart, problems with blood pressure. If there are multiple hernias and they compress the spinal cord, the patient experiences paresis of the limbs, severe dizziness, and disturbances in excretory functions.

In the advanced stage of the disease, spinal deformity affects the functioning of the chest organs, which often manifests itself as pain in the heart

How to enhance the effect of physical therapy

Specially selected exercises to eliminate kyphosis are only part of an integrated approach in the fight against pathology. Treatment is usually complemented by physiotherapy; for such curvature of the spine, massage is often prescribed.

Some patients supplement exercise therapy with sports, but you need to know that not all types of physical activity can be beneficial. For example, you should not go to the gym, jogging, or skiing. But ice skating can be beneficial and will strengthen your back muscles. Swimming, dancing, and Pilates have excellent healing and strengthening effects.

Classification of the disease

There are several types of kyphosis:

• compression;
• senile;
• genotypic;
• mobile;
• total (when the entire spine is curved, occurs in newborns);
• rachitic form;
• corner

According to the severity of the pathology, kyphosis is divided into three stages:

• The first, mild stage is when the spine is curved by 30 degrees;
• The second, moderate stage in which the curvature is 30-60 degrees;
• The third, severe stage is a curvature of 60 degrees or more.

The causes of kyphosis include hunching, all kinds of back injuries, and progressive osteochondrosis. Elderly people are also at risk.

Who is contraindicated for physical therapy?

There are few restrictions on attending exercise therapy classes for those who suffer from kyphosis. First of all, they are not prescribed to people with high blood pressure, since some exercises can provoke a hypertensive crisis. Also, physical therapy is contraindicated for people who suffer from thrombophlebitis and thromboembolism. Exercise therapy for kyphosis is not prescribed to patients with mental disorders, since increased stress can lead to an exacerbation of the condition and provoke the same attack of epilepsy.

If the patient has access to exercise therapy, he must monitor his well-being very carefully. If you have a high temperature and symptoms of a cold, headaches and tingling in the heart area, you should stop exercising. It is not recommended to perform exercises for those who suffer from infectious diseases, as physical activity can lead to their exacerbation.

Treatment

Conservative treatment

Stretching, lifestyle modification, NSAIDs, +\- physical therapy.

Indications:

• Asymptomatic course of the disease, kyphotic angle less than 60 degrees.

Application:

• Most patients fall into this category.
• Patients generally cope well with rehabilitation tasks. Long-term or significant complications usually do not occur.

Corset therapy

Indications

• Kyphosis 60-80 degrees, +/- presence of symptoms.

Application:

• Wearing a corset is recommended for a period of 12-24 months.
• The following types of corsets are recommended: Milwaukee corset, Kyphologic corset, Boston corset for the thoracolumbosacral region.
• Most effective for children whose skeleton has not yet fully formed.
• Typically, braces do not reduce the arch, but rather inhibit its progression.

Surgical treatment

Spinal fusion, which typically involves an anterior incision and arthrodesis.

Indications:

• Kyphotic curve greater than 75 degrees, causing severe deformity.
• Kyphotic curve greater than 75 degrees, pain.
• Neurological disorders/spinal cord compression.
• Severe pain that cannot be treated.

Application:

• Most patients note an improvement in symptoms, as well as correction of kyphotic deformity.
• Operative and postoperative complications must be taken into account.

Pull-ups

Pull-ups for back problems are very useful because they allow you to evenly strengthen and pump the latissimus muscle, triceps, and arms. But with kyphosis, they can only be done with a doctor’s prescription. They can be performed with either a narrow or wide grip so that the muscles are activated from different angles.

If it is difficult to do pull-ups, you can use a special simulator - a gravitron, where you can set a counterweight to your weight and make pull-ups easier due to this. At home, you can also use elastic bands to reduce the load.

Swimming may be helpful for kyphosis. But it must also be approved by a doctor, since not all styles can be allowed for a particular location and stage of pathology.