What is Scoliosis – Causes of Scoliosis – Scoliosis Treatment – How to treat Scoliosis
The normal and proper position of the spine is to be straight when looking at it from the back or from the front.
But in the case of “Scoliosis” , a sprain in the spine appears on one side of the body.
Sprain often appears during the period of accelerated growth in adolescence from the age of 8 to 15 years
Estimates indicate that 2-3% of the population suffers from scoliosis in a varying degrees, but severe cases that require treatment interventions are less than that.
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Causes of Scoliosis
1- Unknown causes:
Represent more than 80% of cases and often appear before and during adolescence (from the age of 8 until the age of 15 years).
2- Known causes:
Often caused by abnormalities in the structure of the spine and its parts, or the spine is intact, but the problem is the difference in the growth and strength of muscles around it, such as various muscle diseases or neurological diseases such as cerebral palsy and others.
Important Notes:
Studies show that typical signs and symptoms occur during the growth spurt that occurs just before puberty.
It also indicates that girls are more likely to have a worse spinal curvature and to require treatment.
It indicates that genetics increase the chance to cause Scoliosis as well.
What are the symptoms and signs of scoliosis that require a visit to the doctor ?
- Uneven shoulders.
- One shoulder appears more protruding than the other.
- Uneven middle of the body.
- Having one hip higher than the other.
- The ribs are more protruding on one side of the body than the other.
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How to treat Scoliosis ?
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We treat them by treating the cause (If we know it), and surgery may be the most prominent solution because the problem is mechanical and lies in the structure of the spine and muscles, and these cases are beyond our control.
But the problem lies in the case where the cause is unknown, and we call this case is Adolescence Scoliosis, because the deformity does not appear on the body until after the degree of curvature exceeds about twenty degrees, and therefore a teenager can suffer from the tendencies of the spine without being visible..
The other important thing is that the rapid and severe development of scoliosis in girls is eight times more than that of young men, and this causes them to suffer psychological disorders, physical deformities, and others.
So what should we do to avoid our children physical deformities, psychological disorders, and major surgeries resulting from the delay in diagnosing scoliosis??
- First of all, it is preferable to have a radiograph of the entire spine at the age of eight (without fear of radiation damage because this amount of radiation does not lead to any harm).
- If the x-rays are shows no slight deviation or deviation (less than ten degrees), then we don’t have to worry about the child’s condition and we can reassured, but we repeat the x-rays after a year for observation again.
- If there is a curvature between ten to twenty degrees, then the x-ray must be repeated after six months and we measure the degree of inclination and whether it is stable or increasing. If it is stable, all we have to do is monitor it every six months.
- But if it is on the increase, here we must start treatment.
What are the available treatments for scoliosis ?
- First, exercises by specialists to try to straighten the spine and prevent the increase in curvature.
- Secondly, wear special splints that will stop the increase in curvature. These splints are made for the patient according to his size and angle of curvature and must be adjusted every period to fit his body, which is growing. This splint must be worn most of the time, even during sleep.
During treatment with exercises and medical splints, we monitor changes in the angle of curvature, but should we continue to wear splints and physiotherapy forever .. of course not.
As long as the curvature does not increase, we continue to do so until the age of 16 or 17 years for males, or three years after the start of menstruation for girls.
But if we find that despite all these treatments, the curvature is getting worse, or that the angle of curvature has become more than 45 degrees, in this case the surgical solution will be the best.