Here we sharing one more wonderful journey of 10 year old boy Joseph Lee who has been diagnosed with thoracic mild scoliosis cobb angle 4 degree. What is scoliosis: is a sideway curvature (S- shaped or C- shaped) of the spine that occurs more often in children. Severe scoliosis can reduce the amount of space within the chest, making it difficult for the lungs to function properly. On 21/12/19 he visited our centre, the major complaint from the mother was his sitting and standing posture look awkward. She notices his posture few week ago and she afraid that this condition will become severe.

Although he has been diagnosed with mild thoracic scoliosis by doctor, through our physiotherapy assessment our finding he has thoracic kyphosis, forward head posture, mild thoracic shifting to the right and weak core.  Muscle imbalance over the whole body causes improper standing and sitting posture. My short term goal for him was to improve the flexibility of the tight muscle and strengthen the weak muscles.  My long term goal for him was to improve the posture of standing and sitting with good support or control of spine muscles. He received physiotherapy rehabilitation at our centre for 1 hour includes manual technique and mechanical correction exercises with breathing. Exercise while proper breathing (large amount of oxygen will received by targeted muscle) leads the muscle to get stronger and more active. On the 7^th session of treatment, his standing posture improved and his mother notice that he stand with good muscle control for longer period of time. He is discipline in doing exercises at home and he is still receiving rehabilitation exercises at our centre.

These are the symptoms which we can notice obviously if you have diagnosed with scoliosis:

• Uneven shoulders
• One shoulder blade that appears more prominent than the other
• Uneven waist
• One hip higher than the other
• The spine will rotate or twist ( in severe case of scoliosis)

Here I’m sharing the exercises Joseph Lee received at our centre:

1. Stretching of tight muscle: Pectoralis, upper trapezius, Erector spinae, and Hamstring
2. Scapula stabilization exercises with breathing: slowly progress to elastic band and resistance
3. Core strengthening exercises with breathing: plank, posterior pelvic tilting exercises
4. Cervical retraction exercises with breathing slowly progress to elastic band and resistance: to correct forward head posture
5. Exercises with gymball and balance foam
6. Kinesiology taping: to inhibit the tight muscle and to facilitate the weak muscle

All the exercises and treatment are tailored to each an individual based on our understanding about pathophysiology of the condition.

“Stay Focused and Never Give Up”