SEAS in France: Training Where We Once Went to Learn

For the first time, at the end of January, SEAS — our exercise-based approach for the treatment of scoliosis — arrived in Marseille, involving 20 physiotherapists and one rheumatologist in an intense and highly engaging educational experience.

Hosted at the University School of Physiotherapy, the course represented a particularly significant moment for several reasons: it was the first SEAS edition in the region; it brought together a substantial number of professionals from an area historically distant from the most recent developments in conservative scoliosis treatment; and it combined theoretical lectures with practical applications.

Our Director of Physiotherapy, Michele Romano, who led the course, wished to share a brief personal reflection on this experience, describing its meaning and value also in light of the historical role France has played in scoliosis treatment.

“The treatment of scoliosis through exercises has undergone a fairly steady process of evolution in most parts of the world over the past twenty years.

During the same period, in France, there has been an unexpected and progressive decline — difficult to understand unless one considers political decisions related to public healthcare management.

France has long been considered a kind of international beacon in the treatment of this condition, thanks to the continuous development of casts, braces, and exercise methods that were, at the time, regarded as current and innovative.

Anyone who wanted to learn how to treat scoliosis or stay updated on new trends would go to France, making a kind of pilgrimage to the “Massues” Hospital in Lyon, and between a Camembert and a baguette, would return to their home countries with the latest developments.

Then, evolution slowly but inexorably came to a halt, and the trend moved in the opposite direction.
Thus, in recent years, with considerable ISICO pride, we have received requests to organize training courses in the very country where, in the past, we had all gone to learn.
Previous courses were delivered in Lyon and Paris. This latest training, however, took place in Marseille, responding to requests from professionals working in this region and in Corsica.

The course was held at the University School of Physiotherapy and generated great enthusiasm among the 20 participating physiotherapists and the rheumatologist, who attended the theoretical lectures and directly experienced the practical application of what they had learned on a group of real patients — adolescents and adults — who had been invited for the occasion.
While waiting to confirm the dates for the next course, already scheduled in Bordeaux, we left the transalpine country after visiting the wonderful MUCEM museum and filling a colorful bag with jars of Moutarde de Dijon.

Au revoir”.