Updates

It has been a while since we posted anything - busy life is to blame I guess.

We appreciate the occasional comments from people who stumble across our little blog and we hope that in some small way something here is helpful.

Some updates...

Schroth method - both girls are still doing their exercises...mostly...! We have appointments every few months to check in and they get re-inspired to do them regularly. Both girls are keeping steady with their curves it seems, both show improvements in lung capacity which can be negatively impacted by scoliosis, and both have improvements in various smaller areas (the uneven hips are more even, the smaller curve in the upper back is less pronounced, etc). Very encouraging!

Pain - back pain for Dancer Girl remains drastically reduced from her pre-brace, pre-Schroth days. It does pop up now & then but she is also pushing herself as a dancer so that is probably to be expected. Cello Girl rarely complains of back pain.

Dance - both girls continue to dance. A lot. It seems that the only real issues, particularly for Dancer Girl, are with any "acro" types of movements. Their Schroth specialist (who is also a dancer) has told both girls to avoid that style as much as possible - hyperextensions of the lower back, particularly if they are repetitive or last for extended periods of time, put too much stress on their biggest curves.

Both girls are en pointe now and show no particular difficulty with it related to their scoliosis. Sometimes there are some movements in modern dance or African jazz that put strain on Dancer Girl's lower back, but she is learning to anticipate those moments and adjust accordingly.

Brace - Dancer Girl remains brace-free and is not expected to need it again as she has officially stopped growing. Because her curve is at 28 degrees though, we will keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get worse as she gets older.

Cello Girl had a growth spurt but her curve seems to be holding steady. Her recent x-ray showed a slight improvement actually, although it is within the margin of error. Still, even if it's an error, it's in the right direction! So, no brace for her either!