Michèle Mendelssohn, author and Professor of English and American Literature at Oxford University
Can you imagine feeling wonderful about your scoliosis? For many – myself included – that’s a stretch. But can you imagine feeling a bit better about your scoliosis? Perhaps that feels more manageable. This new column is going to feature the things you have done, big and small, ordinary and extraordinary, that have helped you feel more comfortable in your body, and more at ease with yourself.
The idea for this column came to me while listening to Just One Thing with Dr Michael Mosley, a programme that showcases one thing that people should be doing to improve their health and well-being. What about one thing people with scoliosis can do? I wondered. And that, my friends, is how “One Thing Wonderful” was born. In each issue of Backbone, this column will feature someone from the scoliosis community who has done one thing wonderful towards living better with scoliosis. This may be something physical or material, but it might also be something psychological, or emotional. Maybe you’re doing morning stretches or salsa-dancing, you’re inspired by a YouTuber or a TikToker you follow, you’ve found a physiotherapist who gets you, you got a back tattoo, you swear by arnica bath salts and microwaveable heat packs for your aches and pains. Whatever it is, no matter how tiny, it helps you deal with your scoliosis.
For me, there are two parts to living with a snake-shaped spine: the fact that, from the age of 13, I have lived with a 40+ degree curvature, and the feelings I have had about that fact in the 30+ years since my diagnosis. The fact of having scoliosis has been straightforward, the feelings, in contrast, have been about as pleasant as discovering a slithering cobra scrunched up inside me. The fact could be addressed with a hard plastic brace that poked out of my school uniform, weekly chiropractor visits and physiotherapy during my growth spurt, massage, and lumbar support on my chair. The feelings of sadness, anger, shame and, at times, total body-hatred have taken longer to tame, but I feel better about my back now than ever before. You might say I’ve managed to charm the snake.
One thing that has helped me do that is swimming. Flashback: a year ago, I could doggy paddle half a pool length and the thought of wearing a bathing suit and baring my body was mildly alarming. I credit TV presenter Sue Perkins with changing all that. One night, my back was hurting, as it often was at the end of a day at my desk. I curled up on the sofa to watch her documentary about Japan. Then a bunch of irrepressibly joyous elderly Japanese women swam onto my TV screen: known as ‘ama’ these remarkable 60 to 80-year-old free-diving fisherwomen catch seafood in the Pacific. Watching these supercool geriatric mermaids, I started thinking about whether I would be as alive and kicking when I was that age. Then I felt worse about my back, worried age would crumple me, and that maybe my scoliosis boa constrictor would win.
A few days later, I signed up for an adult swim class at my local pool. And the rest, as they say, is history. A year on, I can swim 12 laps continuously. I will never be a contender for the Olympics but my back feels better than ever, my pain feels more manageable, and I don’t worry about the snake half as much as I used to. Instead, I look at the people at my local pool – elegant mermaids and mermen of all ages, shapes, and levels of ability – and I imagine my older self as a mermaid slithering and slicing through the water alongside them.
Swimming “strengthens the entire body. It is good both before and after scoliosis surgery,” explains personal trainer Caroline Freedman in The Scoliosis Handbook. “YES – Wonderful!” she says. Freedman had three scoliosis and rib correction operations herself. Her surgeon had her swimming every day when her brace came off. “It is very safe – you really can’t do much damage,” she writes.
I narrowly avoided surgery. Managing my scoliosis is part of my every day. It’s a fact of life for me, as it may be for you or someone you care about.
I’m not endorsing any particular approach and I’m not a medical doctor. The advice this column will offer will not replace treatment. But it may give you inspiration and ideas about living well with a differently shaped body, and all that entails.
Do you have an experience to share? Have you done something that helps you live well with your scoliosis? If so, I’d love to hear about it. In the first instance, please get in touch by emailing communications@sauk.org.uk some information about yourself, your scoliosis journey, and your “one thing wonderful”. I look forward to your stories. Over to you!
Michèle Mendelssohn is Professor of English and American Literature at Oxford University. She has written for newspapers and has published seven books. Her latest book, Making Oscar Wilde, was a semi-finalist for the PEN America Biography Prize and a finalist for both the Biographers’ Club Slightly Foxed First Biography Prize and the LGBTQ Polari Prize.
How has swimming helped you manage your scoliosis?
Laura Mathieu
Swimming is my happy place; my normally tired aching body is free! I can just float around or do some physio work, even minimal swimming can give you a really good workout. I’m pre op and cannot run or jump or ride a bike, so swimming is really making a huge difference to my physical and mental health right now.
Melanie Ince
I’m not a good swimmer but I benefit from aqua aerobics classes. I feel more mobile because the water supports me. I also feel that being in the water is relaxing and that is good for me and my back too.
Carrie-Ann Sarah Sudlow
I’ve moved to the sea just so I can swim more. I feel free in water and it’s great for lung function.
John Rooney
Swimming got me moving again after surgery. The feeling of weightlessness was amazing. My surgeon credits the fact I have such good rotation in my arms with all the swimming.
Cheryl Petitt
As a youngster swimming was ‘my sport’ with almost daily training sessions. This kept me fit, flexible, and improved the strength of muscles supporting my spine. At 22 I had my spinal fusion. After a full recovery I got back into training. During my two pregnancies I swam regularly, and afterwards too. Now as a 60 year old I’m still swimming. To date I’ve had many operations for complex issues, and am still benefiting from swimming.
Fay Ronald Cooper Holmes
I had my surgery in 1986. I’ve recently started swimming again after a very long break. It’s been a joy to find something I can do. It helps hugely. I can feel better in the water about all the things on land I can’t articulate, such as nerve damage and weaknesses in my legs. My neck and head are held high because I can’t drop them and I can only do the breast-stroke but on a good day, I do 32 lengths which is 1/2 a mile in our local pool, which is a huge difference to me on land. Just as long as nobody’s actually watching my technique, all is good!
Michaela Anne Demetriou
Swimming and karate were great for our son. Definitely kept him fit, healthy, and supple.
Jane Goodwin
I’m not very good at swimming but after spinal infusion in 2018 I started going weekly and loved it. Sometimes just moving around in the water is helpful. I started having pain at the top of one of my rods and had to stop going. I would recommend going at any age. I’m 60 this year and am waiting to go in and have surgery again. I will definitely be returning to swimming after that.
Jill Wise
I have thoracolumbar scoliosis, kyphosis, degenerative spine disease, and bad widespread inflammatory arthritis. I swim three times a week, for two hours each time, just gentle breast-stroke. It is honestly the only place my body feels “normal” and happy and I love it. When I get out, gravity lets me know how much I have wrong. As somebody has already said, it’s my happy place.
Caroline Freedman Gibber Brower
6 months post op I was sent to an aquatic physio for a few sessions and then told to swim a few times a week. Swimming is excellent for gently building muscle / stretching / range of movement and getting everything working again. I struggle with front and back crawl as my range of movement is limited and so I end up swimming diagonally across the pool – very annoying for other people. I do breast-stroke but am careful to make sure my head is in line with my body and have my face up to my nose in the water.
Elizar Ai
Swimming helps me with my pain management. Backpain is manageable when I do regular swimming, like twice week.
Kimberley Bailey
Swimming is the best thing I ever learnt. I am thankful that I was pushed to become a good swimmer. I believe it prevented my spine deteriorating through my teens. It saved my life through the fitness I had built up when I had sepsis after a traumatic birth of my sons. It gave me confidence when growing up and now although I struggle to get to the pool even once a week it is by far the best thing for my body. I go in barely able to move sometimes and afterwards I feel like I’ve been oiled. It has always been the one thing I can do that allows me to move my whole body and the most effective aerobic exercise for my fitness.