What does scoliosis mean to me/us?

I'll speak in terms of an adolescent diagnosis today: Following a routine screening at school or in a physician's office, you may have been told that your child has scoliosis. I hope many questions begin running through your mind. What is that? Is it serious? Can we fix it? What healthcare providers should we consult with? Questions will and should continue.
As a licensed physical therapist AND mother of an eleven year old daughter with 4 curvatures in her spine, I want to offer some important information to each of you, from a conservative point of view. First of all, you WILL have many choices to make in the coming years, just regarding scoliosis management/treatment. There are lots of websites offering cures-this is NOT valid or realistic. Please be careful where your sources of information are coming from. My desire for this blog is to educate parents/scoliosis patients on their choices, and to serve as a sounding board for all these kids and their parents. Scoliosis management decisions, as with other healthcare issues, should be made by the patient and his or her family. In order to make the best choices, please educate yourself, and learn, learn, learn. Also, connect with other patients around the globe; consult with those who have "gone before you" to gather their opinions. In the internet age that we live in, this really could not be more simple.
We now know that scoliosis is a 3 dimensional abnomality. To clearly understand this, a bit of anatomy is required. To define positions and motions of the human body, a three-dimensional, rectangular coordinate system is used. The accepted "anatomic position" is standing erect with the head, toes, and palms of the hands facing forward. There are three "cardinal planes" of the body, if you will, with each plane positioned perpendicular to one another. So, scoliosis has a rotational component (occurring in the horizontal plane), a forward bending(kyphosis/flexion) or backward bending(lordosis/extenson) component (occurring in the sagittal plane), and a side bending/lateral component (occurring in the frontal plane). The "c" or "s" that we see with our eyes is what we typically associate with scoliosis, and is in the frontal plane. Now that we know this deformity includes rotation, flexion, extension, and lateral deviation we can begin to understand the whole diagnosis much better. Consult a good anatomy book from your library to further understand the anatomy of scoliosis.
Okay then, these scoliotic spines are twisted, bent, and leaning to many varying degrees. The way radiologists measure the abnormal angles of scoliosis is in Cobb's degrees. We have been told by orthopedists and an orthotist that the error in measurement is + or - 6 degrees-in other words, there's a lot of room for error. Any Cobb angle greater than 5 degrees should be watched closely.
A good place to start is with your family physician or pediatrician. They will probably order an x-ray. Normally, any curve greater than 20 degrees requires treatment. "Treatment" is where we have to be very careful. I'll travel there next blog.
Have a blessed day.