Breathing Incorrectly With Scoliosis Can Be A Real Problem

Scoliosis Often Causes Dysfunctional Breathing Patterns That Cause The Spine To Coil Up

Yahoo News posted an article recently on the Danger’s of Dysfunctional Breathing by Amy Schlinger at Q by Equinox, a fitness site. This article talks about the importance of the fundamental movement of breathing in fitness. While most of us take breathing for granted, improper respiratory movements can adversely affect your health and lead to pain and injury in many parts of the body. This is especially true with scoliosis, which often presents with abnormal patterns of breathing.

Many times people with scoliosis have a paradoxical diaphragmatic breathing pattern as well as abnormal rib cage movements with breathing. This is in part due to the overuse of their secondary muscles of respiration in their upper chest during inhalation, rather than using the primary muscle of respiration called the diaphragm. The use of these upper chest muscles in respiration is usually reserved for times where your body needs an extra boost of O2, like when at the end of a 100 yard dash. It causes the characteristic “heaving” type breathing movement that you see in sprinters at the end of a race.

An easy way to evaluate this is to stand in front of a large mirror and watch yourself breath. If while inspiring your shoulders rise and your belly goes in, your diaphragm likely has a paradoxical breathing pattern. What you should see instead is that your rib cage should expand at the bottom as your belly pushes out. Conversely, on exhalation your lower rib cage and belly should deflate back in.

Animation of Normal Respiratory Cycle

Below is an animation of how the rib cage should move normally during a normal respiration cycle.

In proper respiration as the diaphragm descends and the lower rib cage expands it causes a negative pressure to occur that pulls air into the lower parts of the lungs. This is where the most efficient oxygen exchange takes place.

Animation of Diaphragm Descending During Inspiration

When this doesn’t happen the body gets less oxygen overall and you tend to fatigue more easily. Additionally, the rotational pattern of the scoliosis causes worsening of the rib hump because of the expansion of the lung cavity on that side. Airflow into the lungs will always take the path of least resistance so when you breath in, air will tend to fill first in the expanded side, which in turn causes further rotation of the rib cage and worsening of your scoliosis.

This results in weakness and adaptive shortening of the tissues which can cause the scoliosis to coil up further, like a spring and this can cause a progression of your curves.

Specific Breathing Exercises for Scoliosis

To learn more about scoliosis specific breathing exercises to help improve the dysfunctional breathing patterns found in scoliosis click here.

Reference Article

To read this article click here

26 thoughts on “Breathing Incorrectly With Scoliosis Can Be A Real Problem”

  1. thank you for the information have scoliosis in the lower part of my spine can cold weather affect this disease also can shoveling snow also have art. in my spine

    1. If you’ve had scoliosis for a long time then chances are you have a lot of degenerative changes in your spine. DJD of the spine is known to impacted by cold and changes in Barometric pressure. Also shoveling snow will put strain to the spine and if you have a scoliosis it certainly could aggravate it.

  2. Is this person a respiratory therapist or a physical therapist or a MD that wrote this article?

    1. Mitzi,

      The author the article I referenced on The Dangers Of Dysfunctional Breathing is Brandon Marcello a PhD and the Director of Sports Performance at Stanford University.

  3. I have a 37/35 curve since childhood Im now 42 and been having difficulty with my curve. I have been getting pneumonia almost every year really easily, do you thing it may be from my curve? Looking back I had difficulty catching my breath as a child, this was before I learned of my curve…

    1. Michele, While I am not an expert in causation of recurrent pneumonia, that is something you will need to speak to your doctor about, I can say that if a reduced vital lung capacity can contribute to it then I would say it’s possible that your scoliosis has contributed to it as scoliosis rotation and curves can indeed reduce a person’s lung capacity.

  4. I have a 80 degree curve of my Lumbar spine. When walking i have problem’s breathing.read an article that severe scoliosis can shorten one’s life . Would appreciate information on how to improve my breathing.Thank’s
    JOAN

    1. Joan, The type of breathing exercises we teach for our scoliosis patients is called Directional Breathing and it’s part of the Schroth Method that we teach in our weekend immersive courses. Here is an article on the Schroth Method.

      If you would like to find out if Schroth is right for your scoliosis then please give us a call at (800) 943-1254 for a Free Scoliosis Phone Consult.

      1. Hello i’m from Pakistan
        My brother have breathing problem due scoliosis and Unfortunately he is unable to join your classes because we are living in Pakistan.. kindly can you recommend me any online classes / video tutorial or anything else which is related to Schroth Breathing technique or scoliosis treatment ..
        i’m Eagerly waiting for your positive reply

        1. Falak,

          Unfortunately, Schroth is not something that can be taught effectively via video or on-line classes. It requires a lot of hands on work with a trained therapist to be able to teach the patient how to activate the muscles in the trunk in the correct manner. We do have a Schroth therapist in our Dubai office, which is at least in your region of the world.

  5. My wife has a certain problem with scoliosis and while I was doing researching about that I came to your website and I found lots of good advice and tips. Will you have any classes in Ireland or somewhere in the UK?

    1. Thank you for the compliment. Unfortunately, we do not have any classes in Ireland. I might suggest contacting the Schroth Institute in Germany. They may know od someone.

  6. I have trouble breathing while exercising (e.g. walking) and have 3 minor curves as well as 6 rotated vertebrates. My largest curve, last I knew, was at 29 degrees. Could my scoliosis be the cause of my trouble breathing? I also have a very minor heart murmur. I am 5’3″ at 176 lbs. I am 22 years old, female and my curves are located in the cervical, thoracic, and thoraciccolumbar regions. I am willing to try just about anything except surgery but live in Eastern Oregon. Not sure where the closest specialist is.

    1. Hello Brandi,

      Thank you for your interest in our alternative scoliosis treatments. You wanted to know if your scoliosis could be affecting your breathing. Since your curves are centered around your thoracic spine, then yes it can.

      As your spine rotates it carries the rib cage with it since the ribs on both sides attach to the spine. This will cause the ribs on one side to rotate posteriorly to form a “rib hump” on one side, while the other side of the rib cage rotate forward and can cause compression to the lung on that side. In the post below you will find a section titled Schroth Breathing that will describe in greater detail how this rotation of the rib cage around the central axis of your spine can negatively impact your ability to breath deeply and, more importantly, what you can do to help improve it.

      Our closest office to you would be in Vancouver Washington, which is just across the river from Portland. If you’d like to find out if the Schroth Method or any of our other treatments may be right for your scoliosis, then please feel free to schedule a Free Scoliosis Phone Consult with me by clicking on this link.

      Dr. Brett Diaz, D.C.
      Founder of Scoliosis Treatment Alternatives
      Director of Clinical Services Scoliosis Systems of Vancouver Washington

  7. I am an 80 year old woman who showed signs of scoliosis three years ago when my husband had surgery. He had another problem and died in June 30, 2014. My scoliosis became very painful at that time and has since caused severe pain. Your information on this site has given me hope and I am looking forward to relief from this condition. Thank you for releasing this information.

    1. Claire Pryce, I glad our educational material is helpful for you. You should give us a call for a Free Scoliosis Phone Consult to discuss your case further to find out of our treatments are right for your scoliosis.

  8. I think I have asked you about this before but I didn’t know my cobb angle. I have an S shape curve so it is not really very noticeable until I bend over and I have a right rib hump. I now know my cobb angle is 30 degrees and I have rotation of my rib cage (It rotates slightly to my right). I had a spirometry test and I have restrictive breathing and I struggle to fill my lungs. I went to see a Spinal Surgeon last week only to get my xray results as he was the only person who could access them online. He didn’t think it should cause my restrictive breathing and is sending me for an MRI scan to see if they have missed something. What is your opinion on this please? Do you think my 30 degree curve could cause restrictive breathing? Could the schroth method help me? Thank you.

  9. Hi, so I was doing some research and came across this, then realised I’m in Australia & wouldn’t be able to do this but I’m 23 with a 60 degree t3 or 4 can’t remember curve out to the left lately my rib feels like it’s stuck under something and my neck/throat feels like it cramps and hurts and it’s so hard to get a deep breathe in any suggestions on what I can do only thing that slightly helps is a heat pack do you think this could be because of the scoliosis ?

    1. Kristie,

      It is possible that your pain is related to your scoliosis as the rib cage is attached to the spine so as the spine rotates because of the scoliosis, it takes the rib cage with it which could impact the ribs and costo-sternal junctions, but the only way to know for sure is to see a doctor who specializes the treatment of scoliosis. I would look for someone who is either a SpineCor or Schroth provider in Australia.

  10. everytime I take a step outside my back is immediately straitened and I just feel like I have far more energy and stamina. I think for some reason my body reacts to the oxygen in the air causing my scoliosis to disappear. And I suspect that my father’s house requires a makeup air vent.

    However the three other people living under this same roof have not complained about the stale air and as this article suggestions my only recourse against the scoliosis is effected by the scoliosis.

    1. I think you misunderstood the article. It was talking about a method of breathing called rotational breathing. It wasn’t talking about fresh air improving your curves, although getting outside for fresh air is definitely has health benefits overall.

  11. Hi, I have moderate thoracic scoliosis and have just undertaken a breathing test which has highlighted 83% fvc and 86% FEV1 (mild restrictive pattern). Could this be caused by the scoliosis? I’m a 37 year old female who runs regularly with no issue -could it be linked?

    1. Catherine,

      Yes, it’s possible that your thoracic curve is reducing your vital lung capacity. Scoliosis curves have both a lateral component (what you see on X-ray) and a rotational component that is not seen on X-ray but is what causes the rib hump on one side. The rib hump occurs because as the spine rotates, it carries the rib cage with it. This also results in the lung cavity on the side opposite to the rib hump to be compressed, which is part of the reason it seems flattened compare to the other side. This compression can reduce mechanical advantage of the hemi-diaphrym on that side. That combined with the lung cavity being slight reduced on that side, resulting in an overall reduction in oxygen intake.

      Schroth breathing exercises can help reduce the distortion and help improve the capacity of that lung cavity and increase your respiration. Here is an article about how scoliosis specific breathing can improve your vital lung capacity.

  12. Hi Dr.Brett,

    3 months lately, I’ve been really having hard breathing every time I use chest breathing. The lower chest muscles above the stomach, from front to back becomes stiff that makes my stomach becomes bigger and bigger and hard like a stone. In minutes later, my left back muscle from top to waist becomes stiff also. I couldn’t breathe. I have to lie down to have some air and breathe, and loosen all the stiff muscles. Meanwhile, all these troubles didn’t happen at all if I use diaphragm breathing. I’ve been trying to adapt, but it’s so hard for me to use diaphragm breathing all the time.
    I’ve been practising schroth exercise for 7 months. My doctor said that my scoliosis should not affect my breathing. I’m 44 years old. I was diagnosed as 4 curve single lumbar with 18 degrees of crooked and 6 degrees of rotation. I have low back pain also.

    Just wondering, what is happening to me. What should I do ? Where should I go to get some help ?

  13. Hello,
    My 7 years old son just got diagnosed with mild s curve scoliosis 10 degree curvature . I noticed for past year he has been breathing with his mouth while sleeping and struggling with his breathing . We were told By the dr who examined my son that he isn’t old enough for Scheoth method because it’s difficult for young kids to understand. Is that true ? I would love to see specialist who practice schroth method and do exercise with my son as well as already set up app with ENT dr to evaluate his mouth breathing problem. Is there anyone in WA state who practice schroth method please ? Thank you so much Jitka

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