When was scoliosis first discovered

These methods are far less physically invasive and much less emotionally disturbing, especially for young people. Evidence strongly indicates that non-surgical treatment can be highly successful in reducing the chance that surgery will eventually be required.

Often, more than one approach can be used to develop a treatment program — the two main approaches used at our clinic are scoliosis specific exercise and scoliosis bracing, however we may also complement these approaches with evidence-based Chiropractic treatment or postural correction programs. While these additional tools do not directly reduce scoliosis, they can often assist the sufferer in terms of pain relief, or with regards to improving body symmetry.

The biggest single factor in ensuring a good outcome for scoliosis patients is early diagnosis — a very small curve is much easier to stabilise and correct than a larger one.

June is Scoliosis Awareness Month. This month, we are offering free scoliosis screening sessions and informational talks to schools. So if you know anyone who might be interested, please ask them to get in touch!

If you do have a child who participates in a high-risk activity, please take a moment to screen them if you possibly can. MD; Dzherov, Assen D. MD; Parushev, Anton D. Clearly, this is inadequate and only provides physicians, parents, and patients a very limited window of information from which to make critical treatment decisions.

These variants have a negative effect on genetic performance and cause disruption in the proteins and enzymes a particular gene may produce. This disruption can have a profound impact on the metabolic chains that combine the genetic products together to make more complex molecules like neurotransmitter and hormones.

The disruption in brain-to-body communication becomes very readily apparent when adolescent children with the genetic variant combination for idiopathic scoliosis begin to grow very rapidly, resulting in a spinal curvature known as adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

These genetic variants for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis can be easily tested — non-invasively and inexpensively! The even better news is all 28 of the functional genetic variant groups relating to idiopathic scoliosis currently identified at the time this article was written are scientifically validated with known nutrient therapy interventions. Click here for more information on genetic variant testing for scoliosis. Scoliosis Causes Scoliosis Prevention.

Adult Scoliosis. Scoliosis Exercises Scoliosis Treatment. The number of the existing vertebrae is the ideal as it allows the spine to bend in a circular rather than in an angular manner thus avoiding the injury of the spinal cord".

In his books On articulations and Mochlikon , Hippocrates describes the normal curves of the spine in a most articulate manner Figure He classified the spinal vertebrae into three groups. The first group consisted of the vertebrae lying above the level of the clavicle.

The C2 and the great vertebra which corresponds to either C1 or C7 were in this group. The second group included the thoracic spine; the third group consisted of the five vertebrae between the chest and the pelvis.

He uses the term "ithiscolios", which indicates that the spine is straight in the coronal, but curved in the sagittal plane [ 9 ]. He believed that kyphosis of the thoracic spine is mostly deceptive, because the spinous processes are higher than those in the overlying and the underlying sections of the spine [ 9 , 13 ]. Lordosis of both the lumbar and cervical spine is a normal feature. Although he does not consider the sacral vertebrae and the coccyx as parts of the spine, he refers to both when he describes the normal curves of the spine.

In Hippocrates' treatise On Articulations , one of the most important surgical texts of the entire Hippocratic Collection, Hippocrates classifies diseases of the spine in five groups and presents the etiology, the clinical manifestations, and the management of these diseases. The five groups of spinal diseases which introduced by Hippocrates are, a kyphosis as a result of either a disease non traumatic or spinal injury traumatic , b scoliosis, c concussion "seisis" which means burst fractures, d dislocations of the vertebrae and e fractures of the spinous processes.

Galen described four types of spinal deformities, namely kyphosis when they spinal column moves backward, lordosis when it moves forward, scoliosis when it moves to the side and succussion, where there is no spinal deformity but the intervertebral articulations still have moved. He comments that Hippocrates used the term scoliosis to describe all spinal deformities [ 8 ].

He agreed with Hippocrates that these deformities can be caused by the presence of tuberculous nodes in the lung which usually leads to kyphosis, but also lordosis or scoliosis, by a spinal injury due to a fall either on the hips or on the shoulders, as a result of aging and fatigue of the spine and because of painful conditions. The mechanism of the deformity, according to Galen, is the formation of tuberculous nodes next to the vertebrae as well as intervertebral ligament shrinkage and pulling of the vertebrae toward the nodes.

Depending on the number and location of the nodes, all three types of deformities can be produced [ 8 ]. Description of spinal injuries is beyond the aim of the present study. In the following paragraphs, only the pathology and treatment of spinal deformities is discussed. Hippocrates described four different causes of nontraumatic kyphosis, namely tuberculous spondylitis, epilepsy the sacred disease , congenital or aquired bilateral dislocation of the hip, but it may also appear in healthy people.

In his treatise On articulations he writes " Curvature of the spine occurs even in healthy persons in many ways, for such a condition is connected with its nature and use; and besides, there is a giving way in old age and on account of pain".

In his book On Places in Man , Hippocrates divided tuberculous spondylitis into two categories. Galen endorses the Hippocratic division of the disease in these two categories. In the first category, the curvature of the spine is formed above the attachment of the diaphragm and are thought to be incurable, while in the second, the hump is situated below this level. The skeletal changes concern the hips and the spine: " The hips are still more attenuated in such cases than where the hump is high up; yet the spine as a whole is longer in these than in high curvatures" [ 9 ].

He describes spinal and thoracic deformity in a remarkable way: "the ribs do not enlarge in breadth, but forwards, and the chest becomes pointed instead of broad; the patients also get short of breath and hoarse, for the cavities which receive and send out the breath have smaller capacity. Besides, they are also obliged to hold the neck concave at the great vertebra that the head may not be thrown forwards" and continuous " The deformity of the spine is more pronounced in patients who have not reached puberty, implicating the role of growth in development of the deformity: "When hump-back occurs in children before the body has completed its growth, the legs and arms attain full size, but the body will not grow correspondingly at the spine; these parts are arrested in their development" [ 9 ].

In adults, the disease has a more benign course, because the growth of the body already has been completed: "When curvature comes on in persons whose bodily growth is complete, its occurrence produces an apparent crisis in the disease then present. In time, however, some of the same symptoms found in the younger patients show themselves to a greater or lesser degree; but in general they are all less malignant" [ 9 ].

Twenty-three centuries after Hippocrates described tuberculus spondylitis, Percivall Pott — , a famous British surgeon, described spinal tuberculosis in his work Remarks on the Kind of Palsy of the Lower Limbs Which is Frequently Found to Accompany a Curvature of Spine.

Today, tuberculous spondylitis is known as "Pott's disease" [ 14 ]. Hippocrates describes the pathology of post-traumatic kyphosis, commonly caused by falling on the shoulder or buttock in his book On Articulations and explains why the spinal cord usually is not injured:.

It is not that one has sprung out to a distance from the rest; but each gives way a little, and the displacement taken altogether seems great. This is why the spinal marrow does not suffer from such distortion, because the distortion affecting it is curved and not angular" , [ 9 ] and concludes that this condition has low mortality: " Deviations in the form of a hump are not as a rule injuries which cause death, retention of urine, or loss of sensation In the Hippocratic works, the term "scoliosis" has a general meaning and applies to almost every kind of spinal curvature, including those spinal deformities resulting from injuries of the vertebrae with or without dislocation of the vertebral bodies.

When the term is restricted to its contemporary meaning, then little information can be derived from the Hippocratic texts [ 15 ]. Hippocrates mentions two possible causes of the diseases: "due to 'gatherings' probably tuberculous abscesses on the inner side of the spine and postural — while in some cases the positions the patients are accustomed to take in bed are accessory to the malady".

Although Hippocrates promises to discuss the issue of scoliosis together with chronic diseases of the lung in On Articulations , this commitment was never fulfilled, at least in the Hippocratic texts preserved until today. Galen believes that this may be the result of a loss of some of the Hippocratic treatises, in which there might have been references to this disease.

When Hippocrates refers to management of the spinal deformities he makes no distinction between the various types; thus, the methods presented in his books apply to almost every kind of spinal curvature. Hippocrates recommended diet and extension for the treatment of scoliosis. Spinal manipulation as a treatment for spinal deformities was widely practiced at the time of Hippocrates.

He was the first who invented devices based on principles of axial traction and three points correction for correction of curvatures of the spine and the management of spinal diseases. The devices used by Hippocrates for treatment of spinal deformities were the Hippocratic ladder, the Hippocratic board and the Hippocratic bench. Although Hippocratic books do not contain illustrations, these are provided by Apollonius of Kitium 1st century BC , who commented on the techniques presented by Hippocrates in On Articulations.

These fine illustrations are preserved in a Florentine surgical manuscript Laurentianus Hippocratic ladder was developed to reduce spinal curvatures. To achieve reduction, the patient must undergo succussion shaking while being tied on a ladder, in erect position if the hump is near the neck Figure 13 or with the head downwords if the hump lies in a lower level Figure The weight of the trunk and the limbs act as the pulling force, which straightens the spine.

Hippocrates describes the board as the most efficient method for the correction of spinal deformities because the physician can easily control the forces exercised on the spine and these forces are exerted in accordance with nature: "for the pressure forces the protruding parts into place, and the extensions according to nature draw the parts that have come together" [ 9 ]. The method is so powerful that either traction or pressure alone is enough to accomplish reduction, but " The Hippocratic ladder for correction of spinal deformities with the head pointing upwards.

Bibliotheca Medica Laurenziana, Florence. The Hippocratic ladder for correction of spinal deformities with the head pointing downwards.

One should cover the ladder with transverse leather or linen pillows, well tied on, to a rather greater length and breadth than the patient's body will occupy. Next, the patient should be laid on his back upon the ladder; and then his feet should be tied at the ankles to the ladder, without being separated, with a strong but soft band. Fasten besides a band above and below each of the knees, and also at the hips; but the flanks and chest should have bandages passed loosely round them, so as not to interfere with the succussion.

Tie also the hands, extended along the sides, to the body itself, and not to the ladder. When you have arranged things thus, lift the ladder against some high tower or house-gable. The ground where you do the succussion should be solid, and the assistants who lift well trained, that they may let it down smoothly, neatly, vertically, and at once, so that neither the ladder shall come to the ground unevenly, nor they themselves be pulled forwards.

When it is let down from a tower, or from a mast fixed in the ground and provided with a truck, it is a still better arrangement to have lowering tackle from a pulley or wheel and axle [ 9 ]. Hippocratic board is another device to manage spinal curvatures. The technique which was recommended was simultaneous traction of the spine and the manual application of focal pressure over the kyphotic area Figures 15 , Figure 16 : "But the physicians, or some person who is strong, and not uninstructed, should apply the palm of the hand to the hump, and then, having laid the other hand upon the former, he should make pressure, attending whether this force should be applied directly downward, or toward the head, or toward the hips These include:.

Idiopathic scoliosis is often first discovered during a pediatric checkup or school screening. This is particularly true in children who wear loose-fitting clothes that might cover up the symptoms. If a pediatrician or school nurse suspects your child has scoliosis, they may recommend an evaluation by a pediatric orthopedist or spinal specialist. Idiopathic scoliosis may run in families, but researchers have not confirmed this. Clinicians who suspect idiopathic scoliosis conduct a detailed medical history and physical exam to confirm the diagnosis.

During the physical exam, the doctor may use the Adam's forward bend test to detect abnormal curvature of the spine. For this test, your child bends forward from the waist, hangs their arms loosely in front of them, and reaches for the floor. If your child has scoliosis, one side of their rib cage will be more prominent than the other.

The doctor may also order an x-ray, which allows them to see an image of the spine. In many instances, simple observation is the first form of treatment. Children with mild scoliosis , a curve of less than 25 degrees, are typically monitored at regular doctor visits to be sure the curve does not get worse.

Children with moderate scoliosis , a curve between 25 to 45 degrees, are typically treated with bracing. The brace keeps the spine in a straighter position as the child grows.

This can either partially correct the curve or prevent it from becoming more severe.