Why do we need to discuss scoliosis?

I haven’t been able write on spinal problems for some time. Don’t think that it is because I had an episode of laziness though, I worked on and prepared a YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC506qxzLUjpcbLEK4P-mRSg) that is dedicated to patient education on scoliosis. Now that it is pretty much complete and there are some matters to be discussed, I am back.

Why do we talk scoliosis?

I had provided basic information on the natural history and frequency of scoliosis in my previous blogs as well as YouTube videos. Briefly, we know that it is fairly frequent (1% of girls), but we also know that most go unrecognised for prolonged times without causing any real disturbances. For those recognised, most of these also go ahead with their lives without any real problems apart from concerns about appearance. In essence then, the chances that scoliosis advances to a stage that may require a relatively dramatic solution (surgery) is probably around 1%.

Why all this fuzz then?

This is a question that I fail to find an objective answer. I write and talk about scoliosis because an overwhelming majority of the patient question directed to me comes from families in panic; things like “disaster, what are we supposed to do now?” I recognise a real fear from this condition in the families of involved kids, and it gets ever worse as they revert to (often grossly exaggerated) information provided by the sources in internet. Families panic when their kids are diagnosed with scoliosis. It is very common even for those who are not diagnosed but knowledgeable of the condition to seek advice on how to prevent it. Which exercises should we do? Should we start physical therapy? As you may imagine, this is a big market.

Conclusion:

I write on scoliosis because this is one of the major areas that is being ruthlessly abused; the other being disc herniations. I’ll start writing on these as well.

Let me clearly state again. Scoliosis is a condition that is very well known to us. We know the natural course, that it does not require any treatment for most people involved, and even if it does require treatment, that it is treatable. The only major exception to this is scoliosis with very early onset.

So,

·      Don’t be scared of scoliosis

·      Don’t scare people about scoliosis

·      Don’t succumb to attempts to scare you of scoliosis.