Uneven Shoulder Blades
“I have noticed that there are many people walking around with scaplua that are not even (i.e. the left is noticeably lower than the right). There have been a few cases in my group mat classes where I brought the client to our resident Physical Therapist who said that there were no spinal or rotator cuff issues that it was a bad habit/posture that caused it. He also said that it is very common. I have brought Telescope Arms, Angel Arms and Sternum Drops into class. What would you suggest?” Cheri Wild
by Lesley Powell
The Physical therapist is right. When you see a problem, you need to look below or above to see how the body is organized. You have to look at the entire body.
When a student comes in, I observe how they walk, stand, sit and lie down. Poor patterns of alignment will keep showing up in an exercise.
Scoliosis could be a major factor why a shoulder might be higher. As a teacher, make your clients aware of feeling balanced in an exercise. Scoliosis for many is a muscular imbalance. Some cases of scoliosis could be hereditary due to spinal or leg differences.
What to look for:
Standing
- standing evenly on both legs
- one hip high or rotated
Sitting
- even weight on sitz bones
- alignment of ribs over pelvis
- side bending – more flexibility on one side
Supine
- pelvis – is it level/rotated?
- ribs – how align with pelvis?
- neutral bridge- are they even on both legs? Legs parallel?
Prone
- more tone on one side of the back
- side bending in prone
Especially in a group mat class, I would keep the students aware of being balanced in an exercise. Are they rolling down evenly on both sides? Do they favor a side? Also finding out which sides are tighter and weaker can help to retrain the problems
View Lesley Powell's profile
I am not sure what you mean by “for many, scoliosis is a muscular imbalance.”
If by that, you mean that people with scoliosis have muscular imbalance, that’s true in every single case.
There are two kinds of scoliosis: functional and structural, and both involved muscle imbalance.
Functional scoliosis is a lateral curvature of the spine that disappears in a forward bend or lengthening pose. At this stage, the curvature has not set in the bone and is indeed deeply affected by muscle imbalance/poor posture, asymmetric habits, bag carrying and so forth.
But scoliosis proper, or structural scoliosis, is a permanent curvature of the spine that includes rotation of the vertebrae and ribs (and compression of the organs). It is of the bone, and can be congenital, genetic, trauma-or surgery-induced, and so forth. Most cases are of unknown origin. There is certainly muscle imbalance, but muscle imbalance is seldom the cause.
The curve may be reduced by appropriate, knowledgeable exercise, but not always.
Sincerely,
Alison West
Co-Director
Yoga Union Center for Backcare & Scoliosis, NYC
I didn’t say muscular imbalance causes scoliosis. Scoliosis does create a muscular imbalance. Because of each of us has preferences of how we use our bodies, this can create imbalances and affect our alignment. It sometimes looks like a “C” or “S” curve of the spine.
You’re right, dear Body Thinker, you didn’t say “muscular imbalance causes scoliosis” and I did not quote you as saying that. You wrote “scoliosis is a muscular imbalance” which is what I quoted. That’s why I wrote–to seek clarification/offer explanation about that statement, because it could be read as meaning that scoliosis is mostly a muscular imbalance. Mine was merely a clarifying statement.
Namaste and Happy New Year!
Alison
Co-Director
Yoga Union Center for Backcare & Scoliosis, NYC
Lesley:
I think it would be a good idea to word your answers carefully. I really have to go with Alison on this–she’s 100% correct.
This is the definition of scoliosis in Wikipedia.
Cause
In the case of the most common form of scoliosis, adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, there is no clear causal agent [6]. Various causes have been implicated, but none has consensus among scientists as the cause of scoliosis. Scoliosis is more often diagnosed in females and is often seen in patients with cerebral palsy or spina bifida,[citation needed] although this form of scoliosis is different from that seen in children without these conditions. In some cases, scoliosis exists at birth due to a congenital vertebral anomaly. Occasionally, development of scoliosis during adolescence is due to an underlying anomaly such as a tethered spinal cord, but most often the cause is unknown or idiopathic.[citation needed] Some therapists like the referenced Hanna Somatic therapist believe that trauma to an adult can cause, not just asymmetry but an actual curve to the spine visible on x-ray, although no documentation is offered in her article. [7] Scoliosis often presents itself, or worsens, during the adolescence growth spurt.[8]
In April 2007, researchers at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children identified the first gene associated with idiopathic scoliosis, CHD7. The medical breakthrough was the result of a 10-year study and is outlined in the May 2007 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.[9]
I especially in my practice see a lot of imbalances of the spine similar to the comment by the Hanna somatics. The purpose of this post was to have teachers look below or above a problem to understand the source of the imbalance.
Here a past post
http://movementsafootblog.com/2007/06/20/scoliosis-–-an-inside-and-outside-approach/