What is Scoliosis

When we say scoliosis, we pertain to a spine curved sideways. Around 12 percent of us are suffering from scoliosis. While this is a small percentage, the ailment remains undiagnosed.

There are actually four types of scoliosis.  The first type is congenital scoliosis, which means the condition is present at birth. Normally, the ribs and the spinal vertebrae are poorly formed.

On the other hand, neuromuscular scoliosis pertains to a wide term for many conditions.  But the critical part is there is damage to the muscles and nerves caused by ailments like cerebral palsy and polio. 

There’s also traumatic scoliosis which resulted from an injury to what was once a normal spine.  Spinal fracture, radiation treatment, unrelated surgery and injury to the tissues and muscle at the part of the spine can result to traumatic scoliosis.

Lastly, there’s idiopathic scoliosis which accounts for a good percentage of all scoliosis cases.  While there have been extensive researches on this type of scoliosis, no precise cause has been founded.  However recent studies indicate that it is caused by genetic factors, although there needs to be more research to back up this claim. Children afflicted with this type of scoliosis have a normal spine at birth, but it begins to curve before the kid reaches the adolescence stage. Girls are normally susceptible to this type of scoliosis.

All types of soliosis are categorized depending on the severity of the damage to the curve.  Curve 30 degrees and less is categorized as mild, which can also mean it will be undetected until the individual is examined for some sort of backache. For mild cases of scoliosis, serial observation is need. While no active treatment is enough, the physician will simply examine the patient at usual intervals in order to ensure that condition will not worsen.