Scoliosis Treatments

Most children with scoliosis have mild curves — less than 20 degrees — and probably won't need treatment with a brace or surgery. Periodic checkups and X-rays are needed, though, to be sure the curve doesn't worsen (progress). Children who are still growing need checkups about every four to six months to see if there have been changes in the curvature of their spines.

The decision to treat scoliosis is based on many factors. While there are guidelines for mild, moderate and severe curves, the decision to begin treatment is always made on an individual basis. Treatment decisions depend on your child's age, maturity, sex, family history, curve size on X-rays and how much he or she is likely to grow.

Braces
If your child has a curve of 25 to 40 degrees and is still growing, your doctor may recommend using a brace. Wearing a brace won't cure scoliosis, or reverse the curve, but it usually prevents further progression of the curve. Most braces are worn all the time, during the day and night. Scoliosis braces can prevent progression and the need for surgical treatment up to 90 percent of the time. Like many treatments, scoliosis braces are only effective if they are worn as directed. Both the child and the child's family need to understand the importance of wearing the brace.

Children who wear braces can usually participate in most activities and have few restrictions. Kids can take off the brace to participate in sports or other physical activities.

Once the skeleton is mature — about 15 to 16 years old for girls and 17 to 18 years old for boys — or if the curve is too large — more than 40 to 45 degrees — a brace won't help.

Braces aren't useful for the treatment of congenital scoliosis because the curve is caused by abnormally shaped bones in the spine.

Braces are of two main types:

Underarm or low-profile brace. This type of brace is made of modern plastic materials and is contoured to conform to the body. Also called a thoracolumbosacral orthosis (TLSO), this close-fitting brace is almost invisible under the clothes, as it fits under the arms and around the rib cage, lower back and hips. A custom brace is molded to place corrective forces on the curve. Other types of braces place pads in areas to stabilize the curve.

Spinecor Brace: Spinecor Scoliosis Brace is the first and only truly dynamic brace, which provides a progressive correction of Idiopathic Scoliosis from 15 degree Cobb angles and above. Traditional rigid braces are non-dynamic and create muscle atrophy.

It is the only brace that preserves normal body movement and growth and allows normal activities of daily living. In fact, patients with the SpineCor brace are encouraged to be physically active while wearing the brace.

Spinecor Brace can be worn comfortably and easily under clothing. This is particularly appreciated by younger patients, to whom aesthetics are extremely important.
Its comfortable and non-visible nature leads to better patient compliance, particularly among children. Greater compliance leads to a better prognosis for your childs scoliosis.

A brace isn't effective unless a child wears it as prescribed. A brace will feel uncomfortable and awkward at first. After an initial period of adjustment, however, wearing a brace begins to feel normal. Your child may need help building a positive attitude about wearing the brace and maintaining a healthy body image.

Surgery

If your child's curve is greater than 40 to 50 degrees, your doctor will likely recommend surgery because scoliosis of this size tends to get worse throughout a child's lifetime. Scoliosis surgery involves techniques to fuse or join the vertebrae along the curve. Surgery is most commonly done through an incision in the middle of the back. For very rigid or severe curves, additional surgery may be needed through the side of the body.

"Fusion" means joining two pieces together. In the treatment of scoliosis, fusion involves connecting two or more of the bones in your spine (vertebrae) with new bone. The process is similar to what occurs when a broken bone heals. Eventually, the vertebrae fuse together preventing further progression of the curve. Doctors attach metal rods, hooks, screws or wires (implants) to the spine to hold the vertebrae together during the months after surgery while the bones fuse or heal together. The implants are left in the body, even after the bones have fused, to avoid another surgery. These implants can't be seen or felt. In addition to supporting the fused area, implants also apply force to the spine to help correct the deformity and help straighten the curve.

Scoliosis surgery is a complicated orthopedic surgical procedure. The operation takes several hours. Hospitalization can last five to seven days, and activities are restricted for several months. The results of surgery are usually very good, with dramatic improvement in the scoliosis curve size.

Complications may include bleeding, infection, pain, nerve damage or failure of the bone to heal. Rarely, another surgery is needed if the first one fails to correct the problem.

Other therapies
Other treatments that have been studied for treatment of scoliosis include:

Electrical stimulation of muscles
Chiropractic manipulation
Exercise
There's no evidence that any of these methods prevent spinal curvature from progressing. Although exercise alone can't stop scoliosis, exercise may have the benefit of improving overall health and well-being

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