What Causes Scoliosis

An abnormal curvature of the spine is what is referred to as scoliosis. Sufferers exhibit one or more curves in their spine when viewed from behind. It is a condition that mostly affects young people between the age of seven years and adolescence. The condition tends to be more severe in the case of girls than boys. Adults too might suffer from it, but more often than not, it is the result of scoliosis that went undetected and untreated in youth. Thankfully, once noticed, the curvature rarely gets worse over time. The tell tale symptoms of scoliosis can be enumerated as uneven shoulders or waist, a leaning towards one side, one hip positioned higher than the other, and fatigue. Though by itself scoliosis is not fatal, it is always best to immediately address the problem using braces or surgery. If your child displays these tell tale symptoms, go in for medical supervision and follow the doctor’s recommendations.

The sad part is that in most cases — over 80% of all incidences of scoliosis — the cause is unknown. These cases of scoliosis are all clubbed together under the name idiopathic scoliosis, literally meaning “cause not known”. Research has suggested that idiopathic scoliosis can be hereditary and tends to run in families; however, its root cause still remains unidentified. In the rest of the 20% of cases, scoliosis can usually be put down to a number of causes. A disease affecting the neuromuscular system can end up causing scoliosis since the spine is so closely linked with the nervous system. Sometimes, it is can be a birth defect that causes scoliosis. This particular type of scoliosis is known as congenital scoliosis, and it actually begins right during the development of the fetus in the mother’s womb, affecting the vertebrae of the baby. Congenital scoliosis is usually accompanied by other abnormalities of the heart and kidneys. In some other cases, the cause for scoliosis could be a leg length discrepancy. This refers to one lower limb being slightly longer than the other. This leads to an uneven position when erect, thus bending the body weight onto one leg and eventually curving the vertebral column. Spinal cord abnormalities and brain system abnormalities too have been identified as established causes of scoliosis. This type of scoliosis is known as degenerative scoliosis. Contrary to what is popularly believed, scoliosis is never caused by poor posture, diet, excessive exercises, the use of heavy backpacks etc.