I have told you before about Peter Roberts and Tetbury Osteopaths and this week Steve and Chris went to Tetbury to work with Peter to improve Chris’ technique with his Schroth exercises and to learn some new exercises and stretches to get his back in the best possible shape prior to surgery.

Steve and Chris set off together on Monday 15th September for three days of one-to-one exercise therapy with Peter.  I stayed at home with Chris’ older brother Anthony – and of course the dog!

Chris worked hard with Peter for around 4 hours each day refining our technique on our existing Schroth exercises, focusing on the importance of his breathing technique.  Through breathing into the appropriate parts of the lungs Chris was able to use his lungs like bellows to stretch out his rib cage and work against the curve.  In this way he learnt how to really expand his ribs where the curve of his spine has squashed them.  He also learnt a couple of new stretches that help to de-rotate the spine and help his standing posture.

Today the two boys returned home with a new exercise regime for Chris to do morning and evening.  Needless to say Chris is still not keen on the exercises but we know how important it will be for his recovery post surgery to have good muscle strength and flexibility.  The surgery will move a lot of these muscles out of their usual position and muscle pain is one of the main causes of discomfort post surgery – so we want to make sure these muscles are smooth and flexible when he has the procedure.  This will hopefully minimise the discomfort he suffers after surgery.

Working with Peter has been a great help to us and he is incredibly knowledgeable about Scoliosis and the Schroth Technique.  If you want to get help from a real expert you can do no better than Peter!

His website is: www.scoliosisattetburyosteopaths.co.uk