SCOLIOSIS sufferer Laura Tait can touch her toes for the first time in her life thanks to a treatment she discovered on the internet.

Laura, 12, from Wantage, was diagnosed with a curved spine in October after suffering pain while walking, running, sitting and even lying down, for years.

 

An x-ray of Laura's spine shows the extent of its curvature

After she was diagnosed, Laura’s GP said she should come back for monitoring in six months and sent her home despite the pain getting worse.

Because the condition sometimes corrects itself, doctors will often not immediately recommend treatment.

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But, if it does become necessary, treatment could either involve wearing a back brace until a patient stops growing, or having a metal rod surgically inserted into the back and attached with screws, hooks and wires.

Not prepared to take the wait-and-see approach, Laura and her mum Gabi searched the internet and discovered London clinic Scoliosis SOS.

Founded and run by scoliosis sufferer Erika Maude, the clinic teaches special spine-straightening stretches and exercises.

Oxford Mail:

Laura demonstrates one of the exercises she performs daily

For four weeks, from 10am to 5pm every day, Laura pulled and stretched her back in new ways.

By the end, she said, she felt like a normal person again for the first time in years.

The student at the European School in Culham said: “I met new people who had the same problems. You knew you were not the only one, it was nice to be with new people and the staff were really nice and kind.

“After two weeks I noticed I didn’t get any pain, I could lie in bed at night and it didn’t hurt. I could touch my toes for the first time.”

Back at home with her mum, dad Jeremy and big brother Julian, she practises her exercise regime for 45 minutes after school every day.

And she is hoping her passion for disco dancing will be given an extra lease of life thanks to her new-found flexibility.

The family decided not to tell Laura’s consultant at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford they were going to the clinic.

When they returned successful, she said they told the specialist, who said he knew about the treatment and was pleased it had worked for Laura.

Mrs Tait asked why he had not suggested it before and he said that he could not have recommended the treatment because it was not funded on the NHS.

She said: “He approves of it and thinks it’s a good idea but he can’t recommend it because not everyone could afford it.

“But Laura loved it, she said it was like a holiday camp.”

  • Find out more at scoliosissos.com


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