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Approximately 4% of teenagers are affected by scoliosis
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80% of people affected by scoliosis are female
300 Australians undergo scoliosis surgery each year
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40% of lower back pain sufferers, aged 50-80 years, have a scoliosis
Get the Right Advice from the Right People
- Scoliosis treatments are not ‘one size fits all’
- Expert diagnosis and assessment is required to determine the right options
- Experience and dedicated clinicians need to be able to offer multiple options
- So they can provide the right treatment, at the right time!
- Research currently supports bracing in adolescents as more effective than “wait and see”
- Some braces are more effective than others
- Scoliosis specific exercise and rehabilitation can be beneficial
Available Scoliosis Treatments in Australia
One traditional approach to scoliosis has been the “wait and see” method of observation. This often happens when a scoliosis is detected in a young child, but the curve is not large enough to recommend traditional treatments such as hard bracing or surgery. A doctor or surgeon will periodically monitor the progression of the curve to see if it gets severe enough to do something about.
ScoliRoll® is a spinal orthotic device which may be used as an adjunct to scoliosis treatment programs and bracing. It aids in maintaining and improving spinal flexibility, creates translation and lateral flexion of the spine, and may help to reduce back pain in some cases. ScoliRoll® can be used as a diagnostic or treatment aid and is designed for in-clinic or at home use
Specific scoliosis physiotherapy and scoliosis rehabilitation exercise programs can play an important role in scoliosis treatment.Traditionally most surgeons have been of the opinion that “physiotherapy does not work for scoliosis”. While this maybe true for general physiotherapy or general exercise programs such as core stability programs being used to try and stop progression of idiopathic scoliosis. The development of scoliosis specific programs such as the Schroth approach among others, offers a new role for physiotherapy in scoliosis treatment.
There are many types of scoliosis braces available. Braces are either hard plastic braces such as the ScoliBrace, Boston, Cheneau and Sforzesco braces, or they are soft and dynamic such as the SpineCor scoliosis brace or second skin pressure garment. The type of brace recommended to a scoliosis patient may depend on the type of scoliosis they have, or the access and understanding the health professional has about particular braces.
When required, surgery is an important and often be life changing procedure. Surgery is usually recommended when a scoliotic curve rapidly progresses to a point where it unbalances the spine. Surgery is not recommended on the degree of curve alone, there are other important factors to consider such as, the patients age, the balance of the spine, the potential growth and many other factors. As a guide surgery can be indicted for some curves as low as 40 degrees, but in some cases curve of up to 60 degrees may not require surgery.