It may be challenging for adults to imagine how a scoliosis diagnosis sounds like the end of the world for a teenager. “Honey, the bright side of it is that you may become exempted from P.E. throughout high school,” a parent may say to cheer up the adolescent. In case the mom or dad thinks that their child worries about the curving of their spine, they might speak, “You can wear a brace, for sure.”
What many parents rarely perceive in this situation is that being idle or putting on a back contraption – regardless of how helpful it is – may not be the ideal way for youngsters to spend their teenage life. If they are into athletics, after all, having scoliosis entails that they need to slow down or stop doing sports at some point. However, even when they don’t play any outdoor activity, the possibility of wearing a brace that spans from the back to the thigh and being unable to hide it underneath clothes may be nightmarish for them.
“Everyone handles positive and negative stress differently. And yes, for some, positive stress can lead to a negative response to stress, depending on the situation.” Jessica Harris, LCPC, LPC said. Considering your teenage kid continues to stress over their scoliosis, here are some tips to share with them.
1. Avoid Over-Competitiveness
A child’s stress level may decrease immensely once you start encouraging him or her from the beginning to not compete with anyone too much. That is especially true when it comes to sports or other events at school that necessitates physical exertion. While a friendly rivalry is healthy, it can undeniably make your kid push himself or herself to the limit.
2. Do Activities That Don’t Often Require Back Bending
In case your teens with scoliosis still want to be active physically, you can encourage them to try sports that will rarely or never require them to bend backward. For instance, he or she can be a goalie at a soccer game. There are also dance routines in which you don’t need to perform back bending.
3. Stretch With Caution
Remember that not using the muscles surrounding the spine may be as bad as abusing them every day. Your teen kid may still work out to improve his or her core strength, yet he or she should stay away from exercises that involve stretching without a care about their back. The ones that someone with scoliosis can do include spinal molding, hanging on a bar, and stretching sideways.
4. Say No To Jumping
“Stress can seem omnipresent. Between working, socializing and taking care of the home, it sometimes seems we don’t have a minute to ourselves, let alone enough time to really take care of our bodies and minds.” Sonja Seglin, LCPC said. So for your child to not get stressed about his or her bad back, it may be best to ask him or her to refrain from jumping. Don’t do it on a hard surface; don’t even attempt it on a trampoline. The reason is that the bouncing movement might agitate your teenager’s back, to the extent that his or her mild scoliosis becomes severe is a short period.
5. Turn Lights Off
Lastly, to lower the chances of progressing your kid’s condition, you may want to advise him or her to avoid keeping the lights on at night. Some studies reveal that scoliosis patients happen to deal with melatonin deficiency as well, you see. This hormone comes from the pineal gland, which sits between and above the eyes. When someone has a spinal problem, even a sliver of light touching that region might stop the production of melatonin.
In Conclusion
According to Dr. David Ballard, PsyD. “When stress becomes chronic, this narrow focus continues for a long time and we have difficulty paying attention to other things.” Stress may often try to break down your teenage child’s confidence, primarily when he or she is dealing with a health condition that affects him or her physically. Nonetheless, once you remind your kid about the things mentioned above, he or she may be able to find a way not to let scoliosis control their life.