How to Prepare Your Child (and Yourself) to Begin The CLEAR Treatment

For Parents:

How to Prepare Your Child (and Yourself) to Begin The CLEAR Treatment

When you learn that your child has scoliosis, it’s understandable for you to be upset. It’s natural to be worried, and you will certainly have many questions. One of the big questions that may arise for you right away is:

“How do I talk to my child about this?”

At The New York Scoliosis CLEAR Treatment Center, we believe it’s important first and foremost that your child understand there is nothing “wrong” with her. She doesn’t have a terrible “problem” and she does not need to be “fixed.” She is perfect just the way she is.

Every one of our bodies needs attention and maintenance to stay in excellent working condition.

Draw your child’s attention to this fact. If you are a family who’s put physical fitness high on your list of priorities, this is easy to do. She’s seen Mom going out for her daily run; she’s watched Dad stretching on his yoga mat. Now, with the CLEAR Treatment (scoliosis exercise), your child can adopt a scoliosis exercise program too, one that’s tailored specifically for her. If exercise hasn’t been a family priority in your home until this point, don’t worry. Now is a wonderful time to begin. You can start taking steps toward improved health as a family.

Kids learn an enormous amount about how life works by observing their parents. They are always watching. They are always listening. If you’ve ever let some less-than-appropriate language slip in their presence, you know this to be true. The very next day, what happens? That bit of colorful language comes right out of their mouths.

Choose the words you use to describe your child’s condition with care. We don’t want to frighten her by using words like “sick,” “illness” or “disease.” There’s no need to speak of her curvature as being “bad” or “getting worse.” Your child is taking her cues from you on how to feel about his diagnosis, so rather than dwell too heavily on her scoliosis, try as much as you can to emphasize the health and strength she’s about to gain.

As your son or daughter begins the process of healing, your relationship with your own body is going to be more important than you realize.

Remember that she’s listening and start noticing how you talk about your body and the flaws you may perceive yourself to have. See if you can replace those old criticisms with compassion. If you can, you will be doing your child a tremendous service. By making the commitment to be kind to your body, you will teach her how to be kind to hers.

-Dr Sid
Esprit Wellness (Find us on Facebook)