Growing up is an unavoidable adventure in a teenager’s journey through life, and with it comes physical change and development. However, one potential health issue that can creep up on this growth spurt is adolescent scoliosis. Have you noticed a slight asymmetry in the way your child stands? Or notice that they seem to have a slight curve in their shoulders or lower back? These could be scoliosis symptoms in teenager, and early detection could be the key to building a strong foundation for their future health.
What is scoliosis?
Scoliosis is a common clinical condition in which one or several vertebral segments of the spine are curved to the side away from the midline of the body in the coronal plane, usually accompanied by rotation of the spinal vertebrae and an increase or decrease in posterior or anterior. Scoliosis is a 3-dimensional deformity that affects the structure of the spine and usually first becomes apparent during adolescent growth and development.
During the development of scoliosis, the spine not only curves laterally, but may also twist, compromising the overall symmetry of the body. This structural change may result in not only cosmetic changes, but may also negatively affect the body’s function. For example, scoliosis may lead to muscle tension in different areas, causing discomfort and pain.
Teenagers are susceptible to have scoliosis syptoms
A normal person’s spine should look straight from behind and be symmetrical on both sides of the torso. In scoliosis, the spine deviates from the central axis of the trunk to one side or both sides, forming an “S” shaped curve, which is defined as scoliosis or scoliosis if it is greater than 10 degrees as measured by the specialized Cobb’s method on the orthopedic X-ray film (known as the Cobb’s angle in medical terms). There are many causes of scoliosis, but they can be categorized into congenital and acquired. Congenital scoliosis is caused by abnormal spinal development at the fetal stage, accounting for about 10-15% of the cases, and this part of the patient is relatively small, and it can be seen and discovered at an early stage; while acquired scoliosis is more frequent and hidden, accounting for about 85% of the cases, which is known as idiopathic scoliosis in the medical field.
Idiopathic scoliosis means that its cause is not fully understood, and it is currently believed that there are genetic factors (autosomal dominant), growth abnormalities, biomechanics, and neuromuscular pathology, among other factors, that are to blame. The disease usually develops in the pre-pubertal period, unknowingly deforming the spine and worsening the scoliosis as it grows.
Clinical observation found some signs of scoliosis in teenager that girls in the first six months of menstruation and one year after menstruation, boys in the period of voice change, these two periods of time is the child’s rapid growth peak, but also the rapid formation of scoliosis, when the development of the development stops not to grow up, the scoliosis deformity is also stopped, the scoliosis is most likely to occur in the thoracic and dorsal and thoracolumbar combination of the parts.
There are some other factors, such as due to the students nowadays generally heavy learning pressure, the popularity of cell phones and computers, bad learning habits, outdoor activities, etc. are induced by scoliosis unfavorable factors.
Scoliosis symptoms in teenagers
- Shoulder height: affects body shape. Shoulder height is different and hunching occurs, and one side of the back is limited to bulging.
- Head position : the head is not centered with the rest of the body)
- Hip height or position: One hip is higher than the other, resulting in a deformed physical appearance.
- Shoulder blade height or position: both shoulder blades are elevated and not in the same plane, girls have asymmetrical breast development, the left breast tends to be larger.
- One side of the ribcage protrudes forward.
- One side of the back protrudes when bending forward
- In most cases of scoliosis, the spine rotates or twists in addition to bending sideways. This causes the ribs and muscles to protrude more on one side of the body than the other.
While most people with scoliosis have a mild case, sometimes scoliosis can lead to complications:
- Breathing problems. When severe scoliosis occurs, the rib contour may press on the lungs, causing breathing problems.
- Back problems. People who develop scoliosis as children may be more likely to suffer from chronic back pain as adults, especially if they have a more severe and untreated curvature of the spine.
- Appearance. As scoliosis worsens, it can lead to more noticeable changes, including asymmetry of the hips and shoulders, protruding ribs, and crookedness of the lower back and torso to one side. People with scoliosis often feel embarrassed about their appearance.
How to prevent scoliosis symptoms in teenagers?
The prevention and treatment of scoliosis is the key to early detection, early diagnosis, early treatment, parents should master the basic knowledge of scoliosis prevention and treatment, regularly take their children to regular hospitals for scoliosis checkups, and at the same time actively participate in scoliosis screening organized by the Spine Surgery Foundation in schools.
Pay attention to the standing and sitting posture, usually develop a good posture of standing like a pine, sitting like a clock, pay attention not to sit for a long time, read and study for 40 minutes to 50 minutes, get up and stand properly or move around.
Pay attention to the sleeping posture and bed. Sleeping position also has an impact on spinal development, mainly because teenagers in the night secretion of growth hormone is more, is the time of bone growth, if the sleeping posture deformity will naturally have a negative impact, it is recommended that young people sleep in a hard bed or lie down on a soft and hard moderate bed.
Pay attention to strengthen the exercise. Scoliosis in adolescents, girls accounted for a higher proportion, which is not unrelated to the majority of girls are naturally static and do not like to move. Common sports such as running, gymnastics, swimming, etc., can prevent scoliosis to a certain extent, of which the pull-up is a more obvious effect but can not be sustained simple exercise, need to adhere to a long time, most of the girls can not be competent in this movement, you can start from a short period of time every day hanging for a while.
Now the children’s schoolbag are more heavy, should try to carry shoulder bag, shoulder bag also do not shoulder crossbody.
Parents should always remind their children not to look down at their cell phones for long periods of time to surf the Internet, and not to explore their shoulders or hunch their backs when walking, as this posture may aggravate scoliosis.
- Avoid stilted legs, lying on the ground and other bad posture.
- Don’t stand with your back hunched, and maintain a correct sitting posture.
- Avoid carrying heavy things on the left and right shoulders for a long time.
- Strengthen physical exercise, often do stretching back movements or sports, such as swimming, hanging bar.
- Drink more milk, etc. and sunbathe appropriately to help the body produce Vitamin D3, which is beneficial to calcium and magnesium absorption.
- When problems are found in body posture, timely intervention and appropriate treatment should be made.
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Forethought Medical is unwaveringly focused on the creation of intelligent and portable high-tech medical scoliosis technology to prevent scoliosis symptoms in teenager. Our independent research and development efforts feature groundbreaking technologies, such as revolutionary smart optical sensing technology, precise terrain scanning technology, multi-sensor data fusion technology, and industry-leading digital twin technology. Our innovations include the groundbreaking “Forethought Spinal Data Collection & Analysis System” and the revolutionary “Sapling Spinal Detector,” which together redefine spinal detection by making it simpler and lighter than ever before.
References
- Scoliosis Research Society. “What Is Scoliosis?” Available at: https://www.srs.org/patients-and-families
- Mayo Clinic. “Scoliosis: Symptoms and Causes.” Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/scoliosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20350716
- National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). “Scoliosis in Children and Teens.” Available at: https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/scoliosis
- American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. “Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis.” Available at: https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases–conditions/adolescent-idiopathic-scoliosis/
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Scoliosis in Teens.” Available at: https://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/scoliosis-teens
- Boston Children’s Hospital. “Scoliosis Overview.” Available at: https://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions/scoliosis
- National Scoliosis Foundation. “Scoliosis Symptoms and Diagnosis.” Available at: https://www.scoliosis.org/scoliosis/symptoms-and-diagnosis/
- Cleveland Clinic. “Scoliosis: Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment.” Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/10309-scoliosis
- Stanford Children’s Health. “Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis.” Available at: https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=adolescent-idiopathic-scoliosis
- Healthline. “Scoliosis: Signs, Symptoms, and Complications.” Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/scoliosis
- Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Scoliosis: Types and Symptoms.” Available at: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/scoliosis
- Spine-health. “Scoliosis: Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis.” Available at: https://www.spine-health.com/conditions/scoliosis/adolescent-idiopathic-scoliosis
- MedlinePlus. “Scoliosis in Children and Adolescents.” Available at: https://medlineplus.gov/scoliosis.html
- World Health Organization (WHO). “Scoliosis in Adolescents: Prevention and Early Detection.” Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/scoliosis
- Forethought Medical Technology Co., Ltd. “Innovative Technologies for Spinal Health.” Available at: https://www.forethoughtmedical.com
