Scoliosis: Causes, Tests and Treatments

Scoliosis is a disorder in which your backbone becomes curved at the wrong angles. Its name is derived from the Greek work 'skolios' which means 'crooked.' The normal shape of your backbone is such that it is bent forward in the middle and backward at the top and bottom. When you view a normal backbone from the side, you can see the curve. And when you view from front, it looks straight. But if you acquire scoliosis, this means that your backbone develops more curves, which give your backbone an abnormal shape. The curves may develop at both the top and bottom of the backbone. This results in a backbone which has the shape of a 'C' or an 'S.' It is very important to diagnose scoliosis as early as possible. This is because if you get scoliosis while your bones are still growing, your scoliosis will get severe over time. And the severity of your backbone curve will worsen as long as your bones are growing. So if the diagnosis was late, you have given your backbone curve a lot of time to get worse. On the other hand, if you diagnose it soon after you acquire scoliosis, you may be in the position to apply a number of treatment methods such as braces to stop the worsening of your backbone curve or even improve the curve.