Would you know if your child had scoliosis?

Quick intervention can prevent pain and mental anguish

Scoliosis is something you definitely don’t want your child to develop. It only happens to two or three children in every hundred, fortunately… but it is a deformity which will last for life and can cause not only discomfort and pain, but also problems with lung function and psychological distress.

“Scoliosis is defined as a lateral curvature of the spine – that is, a curve to the left or right side – of more than 10 degrees,” explains SA Society of Physiotherapy President Magda Fourie. “While it may appear at birth or soon after, it commonly appears as the child grows up, usually in adolescence. Far more girls are affected than boys.”

Although in some cases, scoliosis is caused by other conditions – trauma from an accident, for instance, or the side-effect of an infectious disease, most cases (80%) are what the scientists call ‘idiopathic’ – basically, no-one knows what causes it.

“The fact that the cause is unknown means that we can offer no guidance on how to prevent it,” says Fourie. “The most important advice we can offer is to be alert for signs of scoliosis and get your child into treatment as soon as possible. The earlier the medical professions can intervene, the better the outcome is likely to be.”

 What are the signs of scoliosis?

Some of the signs you can look out for include:

• Shoulders are held habitually at different heights
• The left and right rib cage may be at different levels
• One shoulder blade is more prominent – sticks out more – than the other
• If you look at the person from behind, you can see that the head is not centred over the pelvis
• The waist appears to be tilted to one side or the other
• One hip appears more raised or the hip-bone sticks out more
• The skin over the spine itself may have changes in appearance or texture – dimples, changes in the colour of the skin and even hairy patches may appear
•  The whole body leans to one side.

One of the possible treatments is surgery, but that is obviously something you’d want to avoid if possible – while surgery can be very helpful in very curved spines, recent studies suggest that in the long term the patient is likely to experience more stiffness and pain. In fact, in one review of the scientific studies, no evidence could be found that surgical intervention was the ideal treatment.

What else can health professions do to help your child? Physiotherapist Lou-Ann Rivett explains that “Physiotherapy, mainly specific exercise programmes, is used to decrease the progression of the spinal curvature as well as decrease the incidence of surgical intervention.”  In many cases, the patient will also need corrective bracing. But your first port of call is manual therapy and exercises from a physiotherapist.

Specific exercises can strengthen the muscles around the spine to prevent the curve from increasing. Manual therapy stretches and manipulates the back. This is the approach taken in Europe, where some countries have centres devoted to scoliosis treatment, employing physiotherapists who have special training in this area and work alongside a team of other medical professionals trained to tackle scoliosis.

 What should you do?

Physiotherapists are trained medical professionals whose main focus is understanding the way the muscles, joints and bones interact to enable people to move and function without discomfort or pain. So they are well-equipped to spot the tiniest signs of developing problems. Why not take your child to the physiotherapist for an assessment?

Many physios will be offering free assessments during National Physiotherapy BackWeek, between and September, and in some towns, physios will be setting up booths in shopping malls and other public spaces. So keep an eye out for events in your area, which will be publicised in your local media.

 Issued on behalf of the South African Society for Physiotherapy

Tel: 011 615 3170

E-mail: consultant@saphysio.co.za

By: Magda Fourie