Treat scoliosis as early as puberty

Scoliosis often develops in the pubertal growth spurt

Already during the growth spurt in the course of puberty, the spine may become distorted in some children and adolescents. According to doctors, around three percent of all Germans are affected by scoliosis.

(06.12.2010) In some people, the spine has a lateral bending called scoliosis, which can be the primary or secondary cause of back pain, flank pain or low back pain. Either scoliosis is already innate or it develops during the growth spurt during puberty. According to physicians, about 3 percent of all people are affected by such deformation of the spine. Girls have scoliosis four times more often than boys.

Depending on the extent of scoliosis, the appearance and body functions can be severely affected. For this reason, parents should observe the growth of their children closely according to orthopedic ideas and occasionally take a look at the back of the children. Parents can best recognize deformation when the child bends forward. If there is scoliosis, it shows on the affected side „humpback“. If orthopedic surgeons notice a deviation beyond a certain level, a so-called corset treatment is performed as therapy. „Thus, almost all scolioses can be successfully treated”, explains the pediatric orthopedist Stefan Wilke from the clinic „Emil von Behring“ in Berlin in the new issue of „pharmacy magazine”.

Such a corset is very unpopular with children, which can complicate the course of therapy. The back support has to be worn for at least 23 hours a day. „Young people are having a hard time with this”, explained the pediatric orthopedist Wilke. Therefore, it is very important for the parents to do the necessary work of persuasion. If scoliosis is not adequately treated, patients often suffer massive back pain during their subsequent lives.

According to the opinions of manual methods such as osteopathy or the fascial distortion model (FDM), the deformations of the spine are only limited explanations for back pain. „People with an almost straight spine may have the same back pain as people with scoliosis“, says the osteopath Peter Wührl, D.O. from Hamburg. And further he gives to consider: „A mobile scoliosis can also be symptom-free.“ From an osteopathic point of view, scoliosis is a problem when there are movement restrictions or uncompensated tensions. Osteopathy usually goes one step further and looks at how it could have come to the side bending.

„Scoliosis does not always have to occur directly on the musculoskeletal system. Functional or structural changes of the internal organs can also induce scoliosis“, Wührl says. Wührl, who as author has also written a book on osteopathy and internal organs that has also been translated into English, also applies beyond osteopathy as an expert in movements of the internal organs. He advocates a more holistic and more functional view of the use of scoliosis and those affected. (Sb)