Scoliosis in Growing Adolescents

A detailed Summary of Scoliosis in Growing Adolescents

My summer physical before I started the fifth grade turned bad when my physician took my mother into another room. The bad news was all of a sudden I had a moderate case of scoliosis; which is the second stage of scoliosis. Scoliosis is genetic, but there was no history of it in my family. Little did I know how much this was going to affect my life in many different ways from: three years of treatment, doctor appointments almost every other week, to an end of my passion for gymnastics.

My treatment began with tests to see what caused my case of scoliosis since it wasn't genetic. I had two curves; the top curve started at fifteen degrees and the bottom curve was thirty degrees. After my diagnoses I was closely monitored; four months later my top curve increased to thirty-five degrees and my bottom curve increased to approximately sixty- eight degrees. This was definitely a major concern, especially since I hadn't gone through puberty yet. There was hope that a brace would correct it if I wore it through my stage of puberty. I was put in a brace that I had to wear twenty-three hours everyday. The brace went from my hips to my chin. This was called the Milwaukee brace. I

There are three types of scoliosis. Mild scoliosis is when the curve is less than twenty degrees and treatment is not usually necessary. With mild scoliosis periodic checkups are required to make sure the curve doesn't progress past twenty degrees. Once a child is past their maturity stage, the spine stops curving. An exception to this is if a child is under twelve because they have more time for the curve to grow. Mild scoliosis can also progress more rapidly which leads to moderate scoliosis when the curve is over twenty degrees. This is when treatment becomes necessary. Major curves exceed forty degrees and surgery is the only option.

looked like a linebacker from the Detroit Lions. I was picked on everyday and some kids at school were afraid to go near me. After a year my curves both decreased. I had also gone through most of puberty by this point. I then got a different kind of brace that I only had to wear at night when I slept. This one was called the Charleston bending brace. About six months later I was completely done with puberty; I was taken out of the brace a few months later. After puberty, when one is done growing, the increases of the spine curving normally stops or only increases a degree every few years. Once again I was being monitored closely for a few months. Both of my curves stayed the same. This was good news because the only treatment left for me was surgery.

It is important to have children checked for scoliosis. Since t

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Approximate Word count = 984
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science