Many of my young female patients with idiopathic scoliosis are heavily involved with dancing in every style, type, and combination that one can imagine.  Ballet, tap, modern, and each dancer is quick to tell you that not all dancing is the same by a long shot, which is why I’m always puzzled when their mother almost always asks me “Does she have to quit dancing, because of her scoliosis?”.

I’m always taken back with these “wholesale” complete elimination strategies when attempting reduce activities that may aggravate the scoliosis condition, especially after their child just got done telling me how much each dance style differs.

There is no reason to eliminate entire sections of your child’s dancing activities just, because they have scoliosis.  While it is true that ballet dancers with scoliosis have a significantly increased incidence of scoliosis curve progression, it does not hold true across the board for scoliosis and dancing in general.

The primary concern with scoliosis and dancing is related to the repeated back bends of the mid back (hyper-extension of the thoracic spine) that could decrease the stability of the normal thoracic kyphotic curvature (the backwards bending curve of the mid back), which in turn is suspected to allow the thoracic spine to buckle into the sideways dimension in progressive scoliosis more easily.

Your kid is only going to be a kid once and we should all work as hard as possible to only eliminate/reduce the most specific concerns with respect to scoliosis and dancing.  Scoliosis treatment is a long-term commitment for any patient, but particularly adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients whom have no pain, tremendous social pressures, and a whole lifetime in front of them.  All too often, I have seen patient compliance with any given scoliosis treatment plan disappear virtually overnight when something like dancing (an activity they have often already pour years of work into) is taken away from them and replaced with a laborious scoliosis exercise program. 

Keep your child in as many dance classes as they wish to participate in and only eliminate the motions that are deemed harmful to the scoliosis spine condition.  Above all, keep them dancing, whether they have scoliosis or not.

 I think there is enough circumstantial and empirical evidence pointing towards repeated back bends being potentially harmful by predisposing or contributing to the development of thoracic idiopathic scoliosis in adolescents.  Special care must be taken in respect to dance and scoliosis, as well as other scoliosis exercises.

I would therefore recommend that back bends should be avoided by a person diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis, especially if the curve is in the thoracic spine. This is particularly true of young "dancers with scoliosis".  A recent study has found that nearly half (47%) of young females intensively training in ballet have developed idiopathic scoliosis, compared to the 12% found in college aged female study, that is startling.

Scoliosis is a multi-factorial condition that includes evironmental and genetic triggers.  While "dancing with scoliosis" is perfectly safe, some patients with mild to moderate scoliosis may benefit from limited some activities that cause a flattening of the mid back. 

Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT ASAP.