For patients with scoliosis, the muscles along the spine become imbalanced on opposing sides. During Schroth exercise, the patient learns to shorten the muscles on the convex side of the spine and lengthen the muscles on the concave side of the spine. Patients learn Schroth rotatory breathing and taught to breathe into the concave side of the trunk. This 'inhalation' phase is followed by the 'exhalation' phase of Schroth, known as stabilization. Stabilization helps restore a more stable three-dimensional spinal alignment helping the patient experience the feeling of the corrected spinal posture in order to recognize how to maintain it. Initially, efforts to re-balance spinal musculature is no easy task. Dedication and patience are required on the part of both the clinician and patient, but with practice, it becomes easier. For decades, in Germany, the Schroth Method has been taught via in-patient immersion and we also favor immersion-type training for several reasons. In the outpatient setting the benefits of learning Schroth principles in a short period of time clearly translate to improved outcomes. This is especially true for adolescent patients who are more easily able to understand the big picture when all the concepts are learned in a shorter span of time. The added benefit is that they gain the skills needed to halt scoliosis progression during growth - when time is of the essence!

Schroth Exercises Singapore