Scoliosis - Symptoms

Scoliosis causes a curvature in the upper body that is easy to notice from the front or back. The curvature may be noticed when a child is wearing a bathing suit or underwear. The child may appear to be standing with one shoulder higher than the other, or one shoulder blade may be pushed forward because the body has been rotated by scoliosis.

The amount of curvature increases during the adolescent years. During this period, a person's bones are growing and developing. Any curvature present before adolescence is likely to become more pronounced. As a result, cases of scoliosis that begin early in life tend to get worse than those that develop later in life.

More than thirty states have set up screening programs for scoliosis. A screening program is a plan for the detection of some specific medical problem.