Scoliosis Page 17

Scoliosis

Scoliosis is an abnormal curvature of the spine. In Scoliosis, the spine curves to the side when viewed from the front, and each vertebra also twists on the next one in a corkscrew fashion. The spine is an engineering wonder that supports our weight and ties our body together. The spine viewed from the front, the spine appears to be straight, but when looked at from the side, the normal spine has two gentle curves.

A lateral (away from the middle) or sideways curvature of the spine.

There are three general causes of scoliosis: congenital, usually related to a problem with the formation of vertebrae or fused ribs during prenatal development; neuromuscular (poor muscle control or muscular weakness or paralisis due to diseaseslike cerebal palsy, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida and polio); and idiopathic (of unknown cause), which appears in a previously straight spine.