Scoliosis can be detected early. Parents can, on the basis of a simple clinical examination, identify this disease in their child early enough and thus limit too severe a deformation, preserve near-normal growth and prevent them from losing spinal mobility. To help them, the Academy of Medicine and the Yves Cotrel Foundation are broadcasting a short video.
A very difficult disease to cure
Scoliosis is a symptom of deformity of the spine and back, the causes of which can be multiple (heredity, juvenile osteoporosis, polio, etc.)
When the deformity is important, the treatments are not only difficult but also disabling for children or adolescents detected too late. In addition, the results are sometimes disappointing. Non-surgical, plaster cast and brace treatments are effective if scoliosis is caught early because they help straighten the spine. Only 1 to 2 in 10 scoliosis cases can be treated with surgery. It makes it possible to weld the deformed vertebrae together and stiffens a large part of the spine.
Two distinctive signs for detecting scoliosis
Two easy-to-recognize signs simply allow parents to identify this deformity of the back.
The first is costal asymmetry. To detect it, all you have to do is bend your child, legs outstretched and together, hands between the knees. If you notice that your child has one shoulder that is higher than the other, he may be suffering from scoliosis.
The second is the appearance of a skylight, observable when the child is standing with his feet together and his arms hanging down.
In case you have any doubts, it is recommended that you speak to your doctor as soon as possible, who will decide on the best treatment.
” Detect as early as possiblepossible therefore makes it possible to envisage a minimal deformation, a growth as close as possible to normal and, above all, without loss of spinal mobility ”recalls the Academy of Medicine in a press release.
The Academy of Medicine recalls that early detection involves “an appropriate radiological examination with very low irradiation to determine the cases which come under simple surveillance or non-operative treatment, which will then be carried out in the best conditions of comfort and of final result ”.
Scoliosis affects 2 to 3% of the population and develops very discreetly in childhood.