Hey everyone, I’m sorry that this article is a few days late. I don’t quite have a set schedule for publishing posts, but I’ll try to be more consistent from now on. For today, I’m going to answer Fritz’s questions.
For starters, I didn’t just have physical therapy after surgery, I actually had it before, too. I tried a few different types while I was bracing. The first one began shortly after I got my Spinecor brace, and the therapy was based on the brace. We traveled two hours to University of Michigan hospital to work with a qualified Physical Therapist. This was about 8 or so years ago, so I can’t remember any of it. Personally, I was not a big fan of the Spinecor brace, but I’m not sure if that feeling was the same with the therapy.
After I switched to the Rigo Cheneau brace, I traveled to Wisconsin for a week long session of Schroth therapy at the Scoliosis Rehab. The therapists were worried that I was too young, and that the therapy would be too difficult. When I talked to my mom about this, she says that some of the techniques were pretty difficult for me. The one thing I remember is the reward system. I can’t remember if it was daily or after I completed an exercise, but it’s the thing that stands out the most. The reward was a fake tattoo. I remember being so excited to get one of those things, and I think that definitely helped motivate me. It turns out that those exercises were too hard for me, because I stopped doing them shortly after I got home.
Next came the ScoliSmart therapy. This is one that I kept doing until just before my surgery. There were things that I liked and didn’t like about this therapy, but overall it was pretty effective. It helped to slow the grow of my curve for as long as possible. One thing hat I didn’t like about this therapy was the adjustments. Every time we visited the office, the doctor would do some adjustments on our (my mom, brother, and I) backs. I’m not quite sure why I didn’t like these, and I don’t know how they work either. I just remember them being uncomfortable. This is my personal opinion, though. My mom loved the adjustments.
A few months before my surgery, I had two therapy sessions at University of Michigan, where I was given back strengthening exercises. At this point I was out of my brace, so the doctors were trying to strengthen my back and shoulder muscles before the big day. These were mostly stretching and involved a lot of exercises with bands. These didn’t bother me, and they probably helped me get over the discomfort I was feeling because of my newfound lack of support after being braced for so many years.
The only therapy that I’ve done after my surgery was during my four days in the hospital. For the therapy, I had to practice walking around the hospital and climbing stairs. I had a strong dislike for these. It was probably just because I was under the influence of a few different drugs, I just wanted to sleep, and walking made me nauseous. I don’t remember very much during my time at the hospital because I was taking a lot of medicine. To leave the hospital, I had to walk a certain distance and climb a few stairs. I completed these, but not without lots of complaining.
I think that a reward system might be good for certain kids doing physical therapy. This motivates, and helps them push past whatever discomfort they might be feeling. This was the case for me, at least. I hope I answered your question. Remember, if any of you have questions, make sure to leave a comment!
See you next week!
-Cindy
