If your child has unequal shoulder heights, two shoulder blades bulging backwards, and walking tilted to one side, you should seek medical attention immediately.
Guangzhou Daily News (all media reporter Weng Shuxian correspondent Zhang Xunkai, Bai Tian) 17-year-old Xiaomei (pseudonym) has mild pain and soreness in the waist for several days. When she went to the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, it was actually "juvenile idiopathic scoliosis". ".
Recently, the team of Professor Wu Zenghui from the Spine Surgery Department of the hospital performed "Posterior Scoliosis Correction Surgery" for Xiaomei, which corrected her scoliotic spine and increased her height by 4 cm.
Flower season girl frequently has low back pain
Scoliosis detected
The 17-year-old Xiaomei is in her second year of high school. Some time ago, she felt pain in her lower back, and she would feel slightly sore after sitting for a long time.
At first, Xiaomei's mother thought she was just straining her lumbar muscles and didn't take it to heart, but when she opened her clothes, she found that something was wrong: Xiaomei's back was slightly raised on the left side than the right side.
How is this going?
My mother took Xiaomei to the Spine Surgery Department of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University.
Wu Zenghui, the chief physician of the department, carefully examined Xiaomei and asked her to take a full-length X-ray of her spine. It was found that her thoracic and lumbar segments were partially scoliated to the left, with an angle of about 40°.
Combined with physical examination, it was diagnosed as "juvenile idiopathic scoliosis".
According to Wang Gan, deputy chief physician of the Spine Surgery Department of the Third Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, the spine of a normal person should be a straight line when viewed from the back, and the two sides of the torso should be symmetrical and the shoulders of the same height.
Scoliosis can be manifested in that the spine deviates from the midline of the body, and the scoliosis part can be convex to the side or show an S-shaped deformity of the spine.
Severe scoliosis may affect adolescent growth and development, and even affect cardiorespiratory function.
adolescent scoliosis
Need immediate medical attention and early intervention
In response to Xiaomei's situation, Wu Zenghui suggested orthopedic surgery.
When it comes to surgery, Xiaomei's mother hesitated, worried that the surgery might damage her spinal cord and affect her normal life in the future.
Can it be corrected by wearing an orthosis or by asking Mei to pay attention to her posture?
Wang Ga said frankly that many parents believe that scoliosis can be corrected only by reminding their children to pay attention to their posture, but specific problems need to be analyzed in detail.
For patients with severe scoliosis and stable growth and development like Xiaomei, timely surgical intervention can prevent more serious low back pain and neurological dysfunction caused by rapid lumbar degeneration in the long term.
If you want to use orthoses to help correct it, it also depends on each person's spinal condition.
Because how the brace should be used and adjusted varies from person to person, it is best to seek guidance from a spine surgeon.
After repeated discussions and full communication with the family, Professor Wu Zenghui's team developed a personalized surgical plan for Xiaomei.
After surgery, Xiaomei recovered well, her thoracolumbar scoliosis decreased from 40° before surgery to 8° after surgery, her height increased by 4 cm, and her appearance was also improved.
Wu Zenghui reminded that since scoliosis will affect growth and development to a certain extent, the most suitable age for surgery for children is around 15 to 16 years old. At this time, growth and development tend to be stable and the orthopedic effect is better.
If parents find that their children have unequal shoulder heights, two shoulder blades protruding backwards, unequal crotch heights on both sides, and walking tilted to one side, they should attach great importance to them, take their children to see a doctor as soon as possible, and intervene as soon as possible.
Develop good habits from an early age
away from scoliosis
According to Wang Ga, juvenile scoliosis can be simply divided into structural scoliosis and non-structural scoliosis. The former is more common in idiopathic scoliosis and is a disease of unknown etiology that causes scoliosis deformity in patients. ; The latter is scoliosis caused by some special factors such as poor posture.
No matter what kind of scoliosis, the key is early detection and early intervention.
Without early intervention, scoliosis is at risk of progression, and parents should pay attention to the changes in the appearance of the spine during the child's growth.
From the perspective of prevention, daily guidance of children to develop good habits, maintain correct sitting posture, appropriate exercise, regular physical examination, etc., will help prevent the occurrence of poor posture scoliosis.
Maintain the correct sitting posture: When sitting at the table to study, be careful not to bend your back, straighten your head, do not deviate from the sides, sit up straight with your chest up, and keep your chest about a punch away from the table.
Correct bad postures: Everyday, you should correct bad postures such as "Erlang's legs" and hunched over.
Pay attention to the weight of the backpack: It is recommended to use a backpack for children, less shoulder bags, and the school bag should not be too heavy.
Appropriate exercise: Symmetrical exercises such as breaststroke and running have a good effect on preventing scoliosis.
Regular check-ups: Take your child for a regular check-up of the spine.