Not sure of anyone can answer

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Mikej77
Mikej77 Posts: 112
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello ALL! happy thursday.

So I know I should be asking this question to a doctor, but I just wanted to see of anyone has actual experience and could just give me thier thoughts. So my son is 13 years old, will be 14 in Oct. He is not the most active kid in the world. He enjoys his video games and thats about as much activity as he shows interest in. Well unfortunatly, a few weeks back we noticed that his scoliosis was getting pretty bad and took him into Boston. After seeing a specialist and getting some new x-rays done we were told he needed surgery. He has no pain or discomfort at this time and the Dr said there was no real rush on getting the surgery done. We scheduled it for december so he does not miss school. He is taking it pretty well considering and seems to be doing ok.

Ok so now that you all know that side of the story, here is my question. When is it safe or recomended to promote him to work out with me? I plan on doing strength training mainly, but I have heard a few different things about a kid who is still growing doing strength training. He is a skinny kid, otherwise pretty healthy. When I told him that I was going to start lifting he showed some interest. The fact that he needs surgery in the first place is what made me get off the couch and start paying attention to my lack of fitness. It has given me motivation to be a better influence and show him that it should be an important aspect of everyones life.

Replies

  • leapsonbounds
    leapsonbounds Posts: 77 Member
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    I don't think anyone should recommend something for your son. His pediatrician or specialist should make those recommendations. Given the fact that he needs surgery, I wouldn't let him do any weight training without his doctor's approval.

    Best wishes for a successful surgery & a speedy recovery for him.
  • Maaike84
    Maaike84 Posts: 211 Member
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    I think that you should talk to his doctor about it. The only thing I know, and I learned this when I was being educated to work as a sailing trainer for kids is that kids who are growing, when they want to improve strength, should only train using their own body weight, and not use weights and things like that. But I am by no means an expert, and you should get expert advise, esp since your son has medical issues. Good luck!
  • Mikej77
    Mikej77 Posts: 112
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    This is what I thought, I would never do anything with out double checking with a doctor. I just wanted to know what everyone thought really.
  • dakitten2
    dakitten2 Posts: 888 Member
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    Everyone is different, particularly a growing child. 100% agree with the others. His physician should be the only one qualified to answer this. No one on mfp should even try to answer your question even if they have had experience with scoliosis .
  • BeckyMBisMe
    BeckyMBisMe Posts: 215 Member
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    how long has he had this diagnosis? was the "degree" always high? I'm surprised he wasn't sent for physical therapy from the get go. I would have thought strength training to try to even and straighten his back would have been the first step.
    call his doctors and ask their opinions on how much and what type of exercise they would recommend. I'm sure some kind of activity would be preferable to being hunched down in front of a stupid video game all day.
  • Mikej77
    Mikej77 Posts: 112
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    See the problem is, last december his school sent home a letter making us aware that his curvature has increased. We took him to see his pediatrician. This doctor basically brushed it off, 6 months later I notice how bad it was, don't really inspect his back often, maybe it was my fault for missing it. Anyway I took him to my chiropractor who looked at him for 2 minutes and orderd xrays asap. Once we saw the xrays, I took him into boston to a specialist. At this moment we are in between pediatricians....
  • NeverCatchYourBreath
    NeverCatchYourBreath Posts: 197 Member
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    Well like you said, we aren't doctors and that's who you should be asking, but here's my opinion:

    If you take a look into some personal training materials that discuss exercise for the young as well as the elderly they give you a few suggestions on this. For the young, their suggestion is to try to get them out and abotu doing body weight exercises like jumping jacks, pull ups, pushups, etc... but the materials also say you can do some LIGHT weight resistance training with them.

    I think it's pretty obvious you don't want to pile on the weight for the kid and potetentially affect his bones during a very vital time. But do I think him picking up 10 or 15 lbs would hurt? no. Think about it this way.... does he help you clean the garage/basement? Is he moving heavy boxes in doing so? How about carrying in the groceries or taking out the trash? These objects are all over 10 lbs and you have him do that regularly.

    I think you just HAVE to teach proper form and go with a light weight and it'll be fine.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    While the "lifting will stunt a kid's growth" stuff was a bunch of unscientific BS, your kid has a very specific medical issue so the only opinion you should be seeking is from his care providers.
  • supplemama
    supplemama Posts: 1,956 Member
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    It will be safe when your son's surgeon tells you it's safe. My goodness! The questions people ask on here...I don't mean to be unkind but if someone actually gave you some answer (based on their own experience or that of their child which has nothing to do with your child whose doctors will give specific information for) what would you do with it?

    Would you tell the doctor, Well someone on the internet told me something else so I'm going to go with that?

    Look. I understand you have questions and probably just want to talk about this issue going on with your son. That is fine, but asking for advice is just not cool.

    My son tore his ACL, MCL, and meniscus last year and had to have surgery. His recovery post surgery took 9.5 months. He had a classmate who had the EXACT same injury, but his recovery took 11 months. Now what if I had told that kid's mom, well my son was able to start running around way before that, so you should let your son run around. NO
  • sophiercook
    sophiercook Posts: 46 Member
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    NOT a medical expert in any way, but my brother has/had scoliosis and was an active kitesurfer before his surgery. doctor was fine with it, just recommended adding in swimming regularly to strengthen. after op he couldn't kitesurf anymore due to concerns but he is an avid cyclist and lifts. all I can say is our gp was very keen on the swimming, perhaps this is the best exercise for your son for now!

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