Table of Contents
ToggleSpinal Health and Curvature of the Spine (Scoliosis) Treatment in Children
Index
What is Spinal Health in Children?
How to Maintain Spinal Health in Children?
How Are Spinal Diseases Diagnosed in Children?
What are Spinal Diseases in Children?
What is Scoliosis and How Is It Treated?
What Factors Affect Spinal Health in Children?
What Should Be Done to Protect Spine Health?
The human spine, which consists of bones called vertebrae, is seen as a straight line when viewed from the front, while it has a curved appearance like the letter S from the side. In human anatomy, there are 3 physiological curvatures on the spine, waist, back and neck. Apart from these curves, any slip or curve formation in the spine creates a health problem. Problems in spinal health can occur congenitally or later. Congenital problems cause spinal diseases in childhood. Spinal deformities seen in children can cause serious health problems, especially posture and gait disorders, and life-threatening health problems as the spine disease progresses over time.
What is Spinal Health in Children?
Many diseases can be prevented by paying attention to the health of the spine, which acts as a carrier in the body. Spinal health may deteriorate as a result of posture disorders, incorrect sitting, excessive weight bearing, sudden movements, structural disorders and traumas in children in developmental age. Children’s carrying heavy bags, sitting incorrectly while reading a book, playing computer games or studying, making sudden movements or lifting heavy while playing games can cause spinal health diseases. Since there are many structural and environmental factors that affect the spine health of children, it is necessary to take measures to protect the spine health.
How to Maintain Spinal Health in Children?
In order to maintain spinal health, it is necessary to pay attention to lifestyle and personal habits. The measures that can be taken to protect the spine health of children can be listed as follows:
Standing straight and upright while standing, sitting, reading or playing
Making the right choice of the seat to sit and the bag to be carried
Ensuring that the bag or other weight carried is large enough for the child to carry
Eating healthy, avoiding being overweight and preventing excessive load on the spine
Strengthening muscle and connective tissue with regular exercise
Not to make sudden movements, not to start sports and not to play games without doing warm-up exercises.
Allowing the body to rest and renew itself by sleeping regularly
Trying to ensure that the child grows up in a peaceful environment, avoiding trouble and stress, and not creating tension in the muscles.
How Are Spinal Diseases Diagnosed in Children?
The earlier the diagnosis of spinal diseases in children is made, the more effective the treatment will be. For this reason, a great deal of work falls on the family in monitoring the correct progress of the physical development of children in the developmental age. It is possible to detect many spinal diseases when viewed from the outside. Mild spinal injuries may not be noticed from the outside and may only cause pain symptoms. When a spinal disease is suspected or when there is a complaint of pain in the lower back and neck regions, it is necessary to go to the doctor without wasting time, not thinking that it will pass over time. Although the doctor has largely detected the disease as a result of the physical examination, he uses various imaging methods to discover the condition of the spine and the extent of the discomfort. X-ray and MRI are the most commonly used imaging methods in the diagnosis of spinal diseases, while various neurological tests can also be applied.
What are Spinal Diseases in Children?
While most of the spinal diseases seen in children occur as a result of a congenital structural defect, in some cases, they occur as a result of the effect of environmental factors over time. Common spinal diseases in children can be summarized as follows:
Scoliosis: The spine, which should look like a straight line when viewed from the front, is seen to bend sideways in scoliosis. It is usually diagnosed by beginning to show symptoms in childhood or adolescence. Scoliosis, which occurs as a result of a congenital structural defect, may not show any symptoms with a mild course. However, as the age progresses, the condition of scoliosis may worsen and cause health problems. For this reason, it is necessary to take necessary precautions after scoliosis is diagnosed.
Kyphosis: Kyphosis occurs when the physiological curvature in the dorsal region of the spine is more curved than it should be (between 20 and 50 degrees). It can be said that kyphosis is actually a kind of rib condition that develops as a result of a structural disorder in children. Conditions that cause kyphosis include certain bone diseases, spinal fractures, spinal infection, damage to muscles and nerves as a result of injury to the vertebrae, and Scheuermann’s disease (a disease in which different growth rates occur in different parts of the spine).
Lordosis: Lordosis occurs when the physiological curvature of the spine in the lumbar region curves inward more than it should. Problems in muscle and connective tissue, loss of strength, especially looseness in the abdominal muscles, excess weight, may cause increased lordosis. In the presence of lordosis, the increase in lordosis can be prevented by applying the right treatment methods and doing the necessary exercises.
Straightening of the Spine: While there are 3 physiological curvatures in the spine under normal conditions, these curvatures disappear in the straightening of the spine and the spine becomes straight. Flattening can be seen in the neck or waist area. Neck flattening can occur after a long standing in the same position, stretching the neck muscles, neck hernia or damage as a result of a blow. Low back flattening can be seen as a result of posture disorders, muscle tensions and spasms caused by sitting in the wrong position for a long time.
Spine Fractures: Spine stress fractures, known as spondylolysis, usually occur as a result of excessive load on the vertebrae in the lower back region. Stress fractures, which occur in highly mobile areas such as the waist, cause pain in childhood and adolescence, but may not show any symptoms in later ages.
Spinal Slippage: Spine slippage, also called spondylolisthesis, is the forward slippage of one of the vertebrae that make up the spine. Spondylolisthesis can occur as a result of spinal fractures, structural disorders in the joints or trauma. Depending on the cause of the spinal slip, there are types called isthmic spondylolisthesis, degenerative spondylolisthesis, dysplastic spondylolisthesis and traumatic spondylolisthesis.
What is Scoliosis and How Is It Treated?
Scoliosis is one of the most common spinal disorders in children. In scoliosis, when viewed from the front and back, the spine, which should be seen as a straight line, is curved to the sides. It can occur as a result of scoliosis, a congenital structural defect, diseases such as cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy, injury or infection in the spine. If mild scoliosis does not cause symptoms, follow-up is preferred, not treatment. During the child’s development process, it is monitored whether the scoliosis worsens with regular controls. If the scoliosis is progressing, the curvature is tried to be controlled with the use of a corset. In the case of severely advanced scoliosis, surgical intervention may be necessary.
What Factors Affect Spinal Health in Children?
There are many factors that cause congenital or subsequent deterioration of spinal health. Factors affecting spinal health in children can be listed as follows:
Genetic Factors: Congenital spinal deformities
Familial Factors: Family’s attention and follow-up to the child
Environmental Factors: Behaviors of friends and teachers, traumas
Individual Factors: Posture disorders, wrong sitting, sudden movements
What Should Be Done to Protect Spine Health?
Postural disorders and spinal problems are among the most common health problems in children. For this reason, it is important to take measures to protect the health of the spine in a timely manner. The measures that can be taken to protect the spine health in children can be listed as follows:
When sleeping in a sitting position, do not load on one side, if possible, sleep only lying down.
Sitting upright while sitting, reading, listening to lectures, or playing computer games.
Choosing the right bag and adjusting the straps of the bag so that it does not put a load on the waist.
When placing items in the bag, placing them proportionally, not to put a load on one side.
Not carrying more than 15 percent of their own weight.
Paying attention not to make movements that will put a load on the waist and neck while playing games or doing sports.
If you suspect any problem related to spinal health in your child, you should visit a health institution as soon as possible and get the necessary counseling. You can make an appointment to get detailed information about spinal health in children from the Pediatric Orthopedics departments of Medical Park Patients.