Scoliosis is a serious condition that all parents need to be aware of. It begins to develop in kids 6-12 years old. This spinal deformity starts to form an ‘S’ shape and varies significantly from person to person. The more a child grows, the more the deformity will settle in. If one goes to a medical doctor with this condition, the most common response will be “watchful waiting”. This means we wait until it gets bad enough, and then the child will have to have surgery.
According to the medical world, there is no particularly effective treatment for scoliosis other
than surgery. If scoliosis progresses past 40+ degrees, most surgeons will
recommend a spinal operation. Surgery is very invasive and can be very scary to
children, and their parents.
The recommended surgical procedure involves slicing the spine in half, putting straight metal rods between the spinal halves, and pulling them back together. I would not wish that upon anyone! This procedure often causes additional symptoms as the child continues to grow. Do not get me wrong; there is a time and a place to do a surgery like this. It is simply important to understand that there are many factors to consider in each case.
Once one is an adult, scoliosis decreases its progression unless it surpasses the 30-degree curve. If it is higher than 30 degrees, then it will continue progressing in adults due to gravity, about 1
degree per year. If scoliosis gets out of control, it leads to impingement of nerves and organs, causes them to shut down, and may lead to death.
Now that we have established that this is a severe condition. How do we know if a child has scoliosis? The test for this deformity is quite simple.
Have your child face you while standing and ask him/her to bend down, touch their toes
with their fingertips, and stay there for a few seconds. The goal is to look at the
shoulder blade level of the back/mid-back region. If their ribs/shoulder blades are
even, then there is no scoliosis. If it is uneven, then bring your child in for us to
evaluate as soon as possible.
Even in 6 months, scoliosis can go from something minimal as 10 degrees to 40 degrees. Time is an essential factor here. One may wonder at this point, “Why are you telling me about this serious condition if there is no treatment for it until it becomes horrible?”. Good question! There is a way to treat this impairment. The earlier I can diagnose a scoliosis case, the better the outcome may be.
I want you to understand that we cannot say that I can stop all scoliosis from progressing to surgeries, but there is one thing that I am certain about when it comes to scoliosis. I have seen scoliosis in my practice, documented it, treated it for 3-5 months, and gotten amazing results. These results may vary from full elimination and/or stopping its progression to no results at all.
As I said, this condition is not fully understood to this day, but I am certain that treatment is
helpful and careful evaluation of x-rays and the spine must be done to see if the cause
of scoliosis can be found.
Call 360-737-9665. Consultations are free. Do not wait for this condition to progress or worsen.
Time is an essential factor in the diagnosis and effective treatment of scoliosis.
