Scoliosis affects the spine of the patient and bends it to a side. The most common areas of spine to bend are the chest region and the lower part of spine but any part of the spine can be afflicted with scoliosis.

In the case of children diagnosed with scoliosis, usually no special treatment is required, as the abnormality in the spine gets cured automatically as the child grows. In some cases a back brace has to be prescribed and only in very rare cases, surgery is required. In a majority of cases, scoliosis is not painful, although it can be painful in some cases. The common symptoms include one shoulder being higher than the other, patient leaning to one side, uneven length of the legs or the head not positioned directly above the pelvis. In case of infants, a bulge on the side of chest or the baby usually lying curved to a side are the common symptoms of scoliosis. There are several causes of scoliosis and the most common one which is responsible for nearly 80 percent cases is called the idiopathic scoliosis. This is the term used when we don’t know the real cause of scoliosis. Only thing we know is that it occurs more in families or that it is more common in case of girls. Some of the less frequent causes include a difference in leg length and though very rare, some babies are born with a spinal defect called congenital scoliosis. In this type of scoliosis, the spine grows unevenly. Every child studying from fifth to ninth grade should be examined for scoliosis, especially those who already have a patient in the family. Scoliosis can be checked easily by physical examination and sometimes doctors take the help of an X-ray.