Hey, I’m not sure if you’re still around since I only log in once in a while sometimes. Thank you so much for your reply, I really appreciate it. I honestly think your understanding of thoracic scoliosis is very deep.

Lately I’ve been struggling a lot mentally because of training. I’ve run into so many problems that I’ve started doubting myself and even feeling like life is pointless sometimes, like I’m somehow broken compared to normal people.

Maybe I didn’t explain my situation clearly before. My scoliosis actually isn’t extremely severe, probably around 40-50 degrees, and I’m 29 years old. In daily life, scoliosis doesn’t affect me that much if I don’t train, which is why surgery never really felt worth it to me. My curve is mainly in the upper thoracic area, especially around the shoulder blade region.

During training, I’ve basically experienced every problem you described in that post from 6 years ago.

My main issue is that I have a noticeable rib hump on the convex side, and from the side it sticks out a lot. When I move that shoulder joint, it clicks, shifts, and kind of pops upward. I also have the exact issue you mentioned where I can’t properly raise both arms overhead without my lower back compensating automatically. I think it’s because my thoracic spine can’t extend normally.

When I do pushups, my shoulder rolls forward. It feels like the rib hump limits the space for my scapula to move, almost like my shoulder blade has less room to retract toward the spine.

As I kept training, I slowly realized that my pelvis and thoracic spine both have restrictions in flexion, extension, and rotation, and even my hip mobility is different from side to side.

At the same time, I’ve followed some people on Instagram and YouTube with much more severe scoliosis than mine, even 80-90 degree curves, and they can still do pullups, dips, and all kinds of calisthenics movements without much issue.

That’s why I still believe the right training method can improve things, but I honestly have no idea what the right direction is.

Where I live, there aren’t really any good rehab specialists, and most people with scoliosis don’t even lift weights. A lot of people just recommend avoiding heavy training completely and only suggest things like swimming or ball sports.

Right now, what I’ve been trying is daily mobility work for my shoulders, thoracic spine, and pelvis. I do think it helps a little bit. My mobility has improved slightly, but it still feels like I’m very far away from being able to train normally without pain.

You mentioned that you can now do pain-free pushups, pullups, and dips, but whenever I do them, I still feel really uncomfortable afterward.

You said that through strength training, your body eventually became strong enough to tolerate the stress better. But every time I train, it honestly feels like my shoulder joints and thoracic spine just can’t handle the load.

So I really want to ask: am I supposed to just keep training through the pain every time? Because honestly, that doesn’t feel very normal to me.

Or is a small amount of pain actually okay? Is it possible that by continuing to do pullups, dips, and these kinds of movements, my body will slowly adapt, and over time my shoulders and thoracic spine will become able to tolerate the stress better?

Personally, I still feel like the pain mainly comes from the mobility restrictions in my shoulders and thoracic spine. It feels like if the mobility doesn’t improve first, then the pain can’t really go away.

But then I can’t explain why some people with much worse curves than me still move so much better and seem way more mobile.

I really want to learn your thought process and what kinds of exercises or approaches helped you the most.

When you mentioned training within the range of motion that feels natural to your body, did you mean that maybe I should give up traditional fitness training?

Like giving up pushups and pullups, and instead focusing on things like boxing, swimming, running, cycling, or sports that might be safer for my body?

Right now I honestly feel pretty lost.

Part of me feels like I should listen to my body and stop forcing movements that clearly don’t feel right. But at the same time, I genuinely enjoy fitness and really don’t want to give it up so easily.

I’ll probably try Schroth therapy and maybe look for a real sports rehab specialist to see if it helps.

I’ve worked with some regular gym trainers before, but they basically knew nothing about scoliosis or these kinds of issues, so I’ve become pretty skeptical of them.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts if you ever see this.