Scoliosis and the Alexander Technique:
quick relief or lasting solution?
Is Your Kinaesthesia Reliable?
There may be various reasons why a spine curves to one side (scoliosis). Probably the most common pattern is where muscles are shorter on one side of the spine than the other.
This is often a matter of what feels right when doing ordinary things, like walking and sitting.
Scoliosis sufferers, when placed in a straighter alignment, almost always feel crooked. They then correct this sense of crookedness by pulling themselves back into the mis-aligned shape they are used to.
This is what Alexander Technique teachers call a “debauched kinaesthesia”. To understand this type of scoliosis, you need to know more about kinaesthesia and why it is unreliable — so unreliable that we call it “debauched”. Please follow this link.
(When you have finished there, please return here).
[ Back from “The Problem of Unreliable Kinaesthesia” ]
Well! that takes a bit of getting your head around!
But what has it got to do with scoliosis? Remember, in scoliosis (at least the more common type of scoliosis I am talking about), the muscles on one side of the body are not pulling down as hard as those on the other side. So the spine bends to that other side.
Then remember that, if there weren’t the habitual wrong movement that goes with a debauched kinaesthesia, there would be no “pull down” at all. With no pull down, neither side can lose out: no scoliosis.
So, the sideways bend of scoliosis is just the particular way in which that spine has buckled under the strain. In slightly different circumstances the spine might buckle differently.
Building up the muscles that are losing out would be no solution.
You need to learn to stop pulling down.
You need to re-educate your kinaesthesia.
Alternative Solutions
I already mentioned one common attempt at a solution: a programme of exercises to strengthen the opposing muscles and straighten the spine. It rarely works very well. Even when the spine does straighten a little, this is at the cost of even more pulling down. (Before, one side was pulling down harder than the other: after, both sides are pulling down equally hard).
Another solution is surgically to fuse a row of joints in the spine so that it can’t bend. When the physical problem is muscular, this creates extra strain on the joints above and below the fused section, increasing the likelihood of further problems in the future. With both these solutions, any down-pulling tension continues to play havoc with the ribs and breathing, and the use of the arms and legs. (In other circumstances, such as an abnormality of the bone structure, this may be a good option).
Often nothing is done in the hope that it will just not get too bad. Ostrich tactics? Actually, usually the best of the three!
Other Causes of Scoliosis
Unequal leg length
True inequality of leg length clearly needs some building up of the shorter leg by whatever means are appropriate (such as a raised shoe). A pelvic tilt that started in this way, however, won’t just go away when the leg length problem has been corrected. The faulty kinaesthesia ensures that the habitual pull-down continues — unless the kinaesthesia itself is re-educated.
A spinal injury
If the injury is simply the result of a recent accident, then it clearly needs a chance to heal. Sometimes surgical repair will be essential. If, afterwards, a chronic scoliosis develops, all the above considerations apply. (Unfortunately, such surgical repair may, in extreme cases, leave the back in so delicate a state that even an Alexander teacher’s gentle touch may be a little risky).
Often the injury itself is the result of excess habitual strain as described above. In such cases, the event that causes a slipped disc or muscle sprain may be no more than the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. (It could be as innocuous a movement as bending over to pick up a pin).
An abnormality in the bones of the spine
If the bones of the spine are mis-shapen so that they cannot stack up properly, this work will not correct that. However, it is likely that this problem will be exacerbated by the kinaesthetic considerations I am dealing with here. In that case, Alexander lessons would surely be a useful adjunct to whatever is being done to improve, or mend, the actual spinal structure.
Summing Up
The maintaining cause of scoliosis is usually a debauched kinaesthesia. Even when there is another primary cause, the problem of a debauched kinaesthesia continues even when the primary cause has been corrected.
This article is included under the following categories:‒
Personal Coaching by Philip Pawley
If you want to get the best kind of help, come to me for an introductory lesson in Liverpool.
If you’re too far away, then the next best thing is to get personal lessons and advice from me online at Repoise.com, my on-line school. (Both far-away and local pupils use Repoise).
In more detail:–
If you’re in Liverpool (or can get to Liverpool)
- There’s nothing better than individual lessons. My practice is at 37 Hope Street, Liverpool L1. Ring me on 0151 708 6172 to book an initial consultation and first lesson. (Leave your number so I can get back to you).
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If you’re short of funds, you can still have first class training from me — though it will require a little more work on your part.
The thing to do is have an individual, in-person lesson just once a month. That will entitle you to also get regular on-line lessons from me through Repoise. That way, you have the best of both worlds: in-person lessons and very regular, even daily, on-line Personal Coaching by Philip Pawley from me. That’s a real bargain because Repoise costs the equivalent of three lessons a year to everyone else.
Ring me on 0151 708 6172 if you want to arrange this.
- I occasionally run group lessons. If you’re interested in these, go here for details.
If you’re further away and can’t get to Liverpool
- There’s still nothing better than individual lessons. Here’s where you can find a teacher near you in the UK or elsewhere
- I suggest you also get direct day-to-day guidance from me by joining Repoise.
If you’re having plain Alexander Technique lessons from someone else, you still need to discover the Smiling Back Method of the Alexander Technique. You’ll get a lot more out of your lessons when you do.
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Telephone: +44 151 708 6172 Mobile: +44 7872 905 154
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