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Hello everyone, After a year long of trying to fix the problem by myself and going to a manual therapist, I gave up and now I am going to a chiropractor who is apparently not totally useless as I had been led to believe. I, however, know that is not a good idea to just "wait for someone else to fix your problems", specially when it comes to muscular/spine problems. And specially when the treatment is financially unsustainable in the long term. Then I discovered Stretch Therapy and this time I think that my problem will be finally solved. I wrote a short background about my self and the issues I've been dealing with. It's here with x rays. The short version is this. 1. I've had scoliosis and hipermobility since I was a child but that didn't stop me from training or being healthy (deadlifts, handstands, running, squating, etc.) 2. One year ago, I had a head (left side) contusion that did "something" to my left shoulder that I completely ignored and didn't really care about it until now (you know, no pain, no gain). 3. The issue is that I can't move it freely. The scapula, I think, doesn't upwardly rotate in a correct way so the arm only gets to 170° (the deltoid doesn't touch the ear). What's more, I have some sort of huge knot between the upper trapezius and the clavicle (I think levator scapuale might the culprit). The range of motion is "fine" for the average population. But not for me because my movement practice is/was based mostly on handstands. This issue does not cause pain whatsoever. However, the humerus "pops" and "snaps" when I move it, but I surmise that is caused by the faulty scapular movement. Also, the left scapula is sitting lower than the right, as you will see in the pictures. 4. When the chiro showed my X rays, I saw that the scoliosis is there and he pointed out that that MUST be the case of the problem, which is not really true because I was doing 1 minute free handstands BEFORE the head contusion. Anyway, it also showed that my hips are uneven (one is higher than the other), which would be causing the very recent lumbar pain I've had. However, I think that the lumbar pain and the uneven hips are the direct result of me walking with my backpack on the right side to avoid "stressing" my left shoulder. That's basically it. Here are the pictures of my back now. And of my back 2 years ago with full range of motion overhead, and the scoliosis as well. Things I've tried for my shoulder include mobilizing the first rib (Kelly Starret style), stretching, band traction, Yuri's mobility routine, serratus activation and a myriad more, but they just seem to make it worse. Things I learn include what is correct scapular-humeral movement, how to think positively, how to minimize ego-driven behavior and how to get over frustration and learn to accept that sometimes I can't control everything (like having scoliosis or having an almost-deadly accident). I will answer any questions and take more pictures if needed. I just want some feedback. Kit said that my spine looks awful because the muscles put it in that position and he also told me to recognize my restrictions. But I am afraid I don't know of any more restriction than my left shoulder and I don't really want to keep hurting myself. I am really thankful for your help. Kinshiro.

Hello everyone, I joined the forums some time ago but this is my first post and I want to make myself present before posting any request. I don't really think that personal details are that important, but here it goes. My name is Kinshiro, I am 19 years old, 1.87 metres and 75kg. I joined the forums because I really need help. Short story. I have scoliosis and I recieved chiropractic treatment for some months 8 years ago, but I had to cut because of financial difficulties. After the short treatment, however, the pain disappeared. When I was 14 years old I decided that I did not want to suck and feel bad about myself. So I started training and moving. I went from swimming to calisthenics and from calisthenics to weighlifting (no machines, real weights) and from that to gymnastics-oriented training. During the last 3 years, I trained sometimes with high volume, others with high intensity. I managed to deadlift 160 kg and do pullups with +40kg, but that doesn't matter anymore. At some point I stopped and just focused on free handstands with open shoulders. To add some lower body, I included KB swings with a homemade KB and everything was kind of fine until one year ago. During the period that I've described, I had some injuries. I had knee pain, rotator cuff and elbow tendinitis, I got tight intercostal and serratus muscles, thoracic outlet syndrome and some other minor ones. One year ago, however, while using the homemade KB I had an almost deadly accident. The KB broke and I fall against a wall and hit my head in the left side of the back. I still have the video if any of you want to see details, I don't mind. After the accident, I didn't train for about two months to make sure that I didn't have any major brain injury. Then I continued with handstands, band training, occasional pull ups and bodyweight squats. I must admit, however, that after the head thing, I became some sort of chicken-shit and didn't train as hard or as smart as I could. Sometimes I would take 3 days off because it didn't feel right to exercise, I was afraid. Fast forward to the last 6 months. I found myself with rotator cuff disconfort in the left arm (side of the head accident) and having a difficult time getting my arm overhead (shoulder to ear), I tried to fix it with self myofascial release and apparently I made it worse. Sometimes I would "mobilize my shoulder" (band traction, flossing, first rib, etc) for 2 hours just to be able to lift it overhead. So two months ago I gave up and went to a PT. She said that I had actually done a lot of damage to my rotator cuff but that was because my left scapula was not upwardly rotating. Then, I discovered a huge knot in the supraclavicular area, near the trapezius and then I listened to the PT and took a month off. After the month, some weird lumbar pain appeared in the right side. The PT says that all of that is the result of the accident and I agree with her. She says that the contusion damaged cervical nerves. But she also helped me a lot with the rotator cuff and to release some muscles and disconfort. She couldn't, however, make my shoulder move freely again. Now I just can hit the 170 degrees with some disconfort. The last months have been character building days. I've been through depression because of lack of movement. And now I just keep asking myself why nobody ever told me that a head contusion could damage anything besides the brain. Today I went to a chiropractor. Had the X rays and stuff. Payed a lot of money and was diagnosed with scoliosis and kyphosis in both cervical and lumbar. The chiro says that my shoulder and the lumbar pain are the result of my spine. I do believe in that, but I don't really have the money to receive chiropractic treatment. What's more, I've read several times that it's not really the best tool. So here I am. I don't really know if it is the scoliosis or the head contusion, whatever it is I will solve it and will get back to moving again. I am, of course, looking for other options and willing to listen to anyone with good advice. Thanks for reading, I will check back in a few hours if anyone needs more information. I am really thankful for this community. PS: I am attaching the photos of my x rays in case anyone wants to see what are we up to.

Hi all, I am a freelance manual therapy practitioner, i have 3 questions in mind and hope someone can explain for my future clients. Q1. Is there any suggestion on muscle group to stretch for clients with "Scoliosis" C-Shape or S-Shape? Q2. From ST workshop in Hong Kong i understand clients feeling is the most important truth about effective or not effective stretching, but is there any case that we should not appled rotation exercise like from Kit video but i do it on massage table and side bend exercise with "post isometric relaxation techniques" for people with "Scoliosis" ? Floor partner lying rotation Partner Quadratus Lumborum stretch Q3. If you have a client who just notice she has Ankylosing Spondylitis, is there any video from "Kit Laughlin youtube" can help them? Thank you teachers, Cheers, David