Do adults need treatment for spinal deformities? Will it affect life expectancy?

Actually, this question has to be answered in two cases. The first is mild to moderate spinal deformity and the second is severe spinal deformity. For mild to moderate spinal deformity, because the bone growth and development has stopped in adult life, the progress of the deformity is very slow, and it will not affect the cardiopulmonary function. In this case, there is no need for special treatment, but only need to strengthen the physical exercise. In the second case, that is, the severe spinal deformity (the Cobb’s angle is more than 50 degrees), if this case must be actively treated. For this kind of scoliosis with a Cobb angle greater than 50 degrees or more, even after the bone growth and development stops, the scoliosis will slowly aggravate to a certain extent, which will affect the patient’s cardiorespiratory function, and this kind of cardiorespiratory function will result in the loss of the patient’s labor force, and shorten his/her life expectancy. Some patients often say to me, “I am now in my 20s or 30s, and I have had scoliosis for many years, so is it not necessary to treat it? This concept is wrong. Because when it develops to the age of 50 or 60, it is possible that his lung function will be like that of a person in his 80s or 90s, and then this condition will seriously affect his life expectancy.