Scoliosis in Children

Treatment methods vary depending on the patient’s age and the severity of their spinal curve.

Monitoring

Recommended for: Children showing early symptoms of scoliosis

In many cases of childhood scoliosis, doctors will recommend simply monitoring the condition to see whether it gets better, gets worse, or stays the same as the child grows. Further treatment may be prescribed if the spinal curve doesn’t improve over time.

Cast

Recommended for: Babies and toddlers whose spines have not developed properly

Casts are non-removable, and in general, they are only used when the patient is very young. A scoliosis cast is worn for months at a time to straighten the spine as it develops. Casts are changed every few months.

Brace

Recommended for: Children with scoliosis who are still growing

Bracing is a fairly common treatment for children with scoliosis, as well as for pre-teen/adolescent patients whose bodies are still growing. Braces come in a number of different forms, and while they can’t correct an existing curve, they do help to prevent scoliosis from progressing with growth.

Physiotherapy

Recommended for: Scoliosis patients aged 4 and up

Exercise-based physical therapy can be highly beneficial for scoliosis patients at virtually any age. This is a non-invasive option that has proven capable of reducing the angle of the patient’s spinal curve while also addressing other symptoms such as back pain and muscular imbalance.

Surgery

Recommended for: Extremely severe cases of childhood scoliosis

For a child with an especially severe spinal curve, spinal fusion surgery may be the only viable option. However, the spinal fusion procedure is very rarely performed on children, not least because it’s usually better to wait until the patient is fully grown before operating.