West Valley Family Clinic Blog

Scoliosis is the abnormal sideways bending of the spine. It shows up usually between the ages of 8 and 18, and effect girls more than boys. It is often identified by postural changes that may occur, but these can be missed, or even not present at first due to the body’s adaptive capabilities. This is why X-ray is the definitive diagnostic procedure for scoliosis. Scoliosis can progressively worsen, and can if left unchecked become crippling, and even life threatening due to interference with heart and lung function.

The medical approach to scoliosis is to try bracing the spine, and then watching and waiting to see if the curve gets worse. At some point, usually 25 degrees of curvature in an immature spine, they will recommend surgical implants of rods along the spine.

This is a highly invasive action, and will lead to rapid and progressive degeneration of the non-brace spinal joints. For this reason, this should be the last resort.

In most cases this can be avoided. Chiropractic has had great success in preventing the progression of the curve, and in many cases even reducing the angle of the curve.