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Today, families generally worry that their children’s posture is not correct and they feel the need to take them to the doctor even if they do not have a complaint. This affects children psychologically and may delay the recognition of really existing problems.
The most important thing to know about this issue is to determine whether the child’s posture disorder is due to a structural cause and to determine the right treatment method without wasting time with early diagnosis. The spine has certain curves when viewed from the side, especially while standing. These folds; formed by the effect of long and strong muscles around the spine, and us; They are very important elements that stabilize our body, which allows us to look straight ahead.
Although it varies from person to person, the average normal humpback (kyphosis) is between 10-40 degrees, while values up to 50 degrees can be considered normal. The cupping (lordosis) value in the waist can generally vary between 20 and 60 degrees. While the increase in humpback increases the waist curve in order to keep the gaze parallel to the ground, the excess of this curve may also be due to the fact that the sacrum (coccyx) bone in women is parallel to the ground. If the hump progresses, the pelvis turns back, the hip and knee bending angles increase, the muscle length becomes shorter, and the gait is impaired. This situation may also occur due to the deteriorated body balance after the humpback, which is caused by the loss of height in the anterior parts of the dorsal vertebrae due to osteoporosis, especially in the advanced age. In the adolescence period;
The disease, called Scheuerman’s Kyphosis, disrupts the spine balance by causing painful and progressive humpback. Clinical examination and radiological imaging help us a lot in the diagnosis of this disease, and curvatures of 75 degrees and above can be corrected with surgical treatment, while the hump between 50 and 75 degrees is followed by corset/physiotherapy.
In congenital humpbacks (especially the type containing triangular vertebrae); Spinal nerve problems are added to the deformity, resulting in rapidly progressive spinal deformity and early surgical intervention may be required. In addition to all these primary causes, the heavy bags that children carry especially when going to school or the technological devices such as computers-tablets-phones that they stare at for a long time can also cause secondary posture disorders. The weight of the bag should not exceed one tenth of the body weight, the bag should not be carried on one side but diagonally at the back, and heavy books should be placed close to the body of the bag.
Moreover; when children use technological devices; It is important for spine health that they are positioned so that the monitor is at eye level in a chair with a hip-knee angle of 90/90 degrees with lumbar support. Since there is a tendency to approach the screen in children with visual impairment, neck flattening and muscle pain are also more common. As a result; Maintaining the balance of the spine both in childhood and in advanced age is an indispensable element for a healthy life, and it is very valuable to get the opinion of an orthopedic specialist in cases of suspected posture disorder
