In a normal person, the spinal vertebrae are arranged in a straight line. However, when you look at a scoliosis patient from behind, you will see that their spinal column is slanted to either the left or the right and not straight like that of a normal person. While scoliosis can occur only in a minority of people, it can happen at any age from childhood to adulthood. For the most part, it happens at the period in life when the bones are developing rapidly, which is around 10-15 years of age.
Types of Scoliosis
The types of scoliosis include idiopathic scoliosis, congenital scoliosis and scoliosis due to abnormalities in the muscular and nervous systems.
Symptoms of scoliosis include the following:
- Curvature of the spinal column.
- Uneven height between both sides of the shoulders or hip.
- There might be a bulging bone on the back that clearly appears when bending forward.
- Pain in different parts of the body, such as neck pain, shoulder pain, back pain, waist pain, hip pain and leg pain or numbness in the arms and legs, etc.
- Some cases experience severe pain symptoms without a known cause such as severe headaches and severe back pain that disrupt daily living.
- The affected person might have uneven legs, which may be very apparent in some cases and cause walking abnormalities.
- Abnormal fatigue when physically exerting oneself or when performing activities.
Treatment for this condition depends on the angle of spinal curvature. In cases where the curvature is less than 25 degrees, no treatment is necessary. Instead, changes in the angle are to be monitored every 4 months. On the other hand, in cases where the curvature exceeds 25 degrees, treatment involves wearing an “armored vest” as a supporting device to improve strength and prevent or delay further curvature from before. Furthermore, cases where the spinal curvature exceeds 45 degrees might require surgical treatment in order to realign the spinal column. The surgery relies on the same approach for treating broken bones and that is to use metal braces to straighten the curved spine.
