What an honor to meet Christa Lehnert-Schroth – a spry, sharp woman who is still totally committed to helping others with scoliosis. (Marc had met her on other occasions, but this was my first time!) It is easy to see her life’s work is truly her passion.
We discussed many scoliosis related topics including a joint project to raise awareness about the dangers of yoga for scoliosis. It is a topic she is passionate about based on a lifetime of knowledge acquired while treating scoliosis. In the meantime, look for future web pages on this site on the perils of yoga for scoliosis since, unfortunately, it is widely promoted as something that is just the opposite.
Both Marc and Christa Lehnert-Schroth enjoyed sharing successes via photos and case histories based on old and new experiences with patients. She is a compassionate woman and it appears still spends most of her time helping those in need, whenever possible.
A highlight for me was the opportunity to have a private tour of the Schroth museum in Bad Sobernheim – an experience I had also missed previously. It was a privilege to learn firsthand about the early days of Schroth, its expansion and esteem in Germany, and to hear personal stories about Katharina Schroth from her daughter, Christa Lehnert-Schroth. Katharina’s work has been invaluable to those with scoliosis, and scoliotics and their families, are fortunate she had a daughter and grandson dedicated to carrying on her important work.
I especially enjoyed seeing evidence of Katharina’s other talents as well – beautiful floral paintings at the museum and at family member’s homes as well.
The museum also housed a fascinating display of some relatively simple equipment used in the clinic – used in the early days and through the years. It was interesting to learn of their history and to see Frau Christa as instructor and Marc as patient discussing their application. It never ceases to amaze me what benefits patients can achieve with simple equipment and caring instruction from a knowledgeable Schroth practitioner to instruct through mastery of technique and principles. It is beyond a shame the Schroth concept doesn’t yet fit into primary scoliosis caregivers (spinal surgeons) management model for scoliosis. After each trip to Germany, and this one was no different, Marc and I are even more committed in our efforts to change that. Our experiences over the past ten years have shown that patients are living improved lives and nearly all have avoided some or all medical interventions which become unnecessary when the Schroth Method is incorporated into daily life.
After the museum, we shared a lovely lunch with Frau Christa in Bad Sobernheim and it was a treat for Marc and I continued to delve into Schroth history directly from a primary source! Along the way we had many laughs and the pleasure of learning some German phrases and pronunciations which I am sure we botched horribly.
Our visit ended with a climb through the original Katharina Schroth Clinic in Bad Sobernheim with Frau Christa – another place I had never seen since our first visit to Germany, in 2002, was to the current Asklepios Katharina Schroth facility. She explained in great detail how she and her mother – two women with valuable knowledge and skills on a mission to help those with severe scoliosis – led Schroth’s expansion over the years, some of it, obviously, during a time of great upheaval. The impressive properties which comprised the original facility include over 100 stairs straight up a hill. Those stairs did not cause a moment’s pause when it came to Frau Christa’s pride and enthusiasm when offering us a full tour.
A memorable day…
