Every summer, the number of scoliosis patients increases, so it is very important for doctors, patients and parents to understand scoliosis scientifically and deal with it correctly. The following is an insight into the correct and popular knowledge of scoliosis. We hope this will be helpful. Scoliosis is often found in adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14, because this is the second growth spurt in a person’s life and the spine grows faster, and scoliosis, which was mild, worsens faster during this period. Early scoliosis abnormalities are not obvious, especially when wearing clothes, so most adolescents with scoliosis are discovered by parents when their child takes a bath or wears fewer clothes. If you find that your child has the following signs, you must be alert to whether he or she has scoliosis: uneven neckline, one shoulder is higher than the other; asymmetrical development of the girl’s breasts, the left side of the breast is often larger; one side of the back bulge; one side of the waist has a fold; one hip is higher than the other; both sides of the lower limbs are not equal in length. If you find that your child has any of these abnormalities, you can do some simple checks yourself, such as touching the spinous processes of the spine with your hand to see if they are in a straight line, or having your child stand upright and bend forward to see if the back is symmetrical. If, after a simple examination, you find that your child has an abnormality, you should go to the hospital immediately. Professional doctors often examine patients with scoliosis, starting with a medical history and physical examination. Some medical histories are helpful in making a diagnosis, such as scoliosis in patients with neurofibromatosis, which is a genetic disorder, and congenital scoliosis, which is often associated with congenital heart disease, urinary malformations, and neurological lesions. In addition to routine cosmetic examination, neurological examination is essential to observe the presence of sensory and motor deficits. Sensory separation usually suggests the possibility of spinal cord hollowing. Abdominal wall reflexes and pathological reflexes examination are items that every scoliosis patient should check, and neglecting these examinations can sometimes have disastrous consequences. X-rays are taken for the following purposes: to get a preliminary idea of the type of scoliosis, whether idiopathic, congenital or otherwise; to measure the size of the scoliosis, currently measured by the Cobb’s angle, the larger the angle, the heavier the scoliosis; to assess the balance and flexibility of the scoliosis; and to provide an objective basis for comparison at follow-up. A formal x-ray is a full spine view in the standing position, both orthogonal and lateral, to understand the right and left curvature of the spine in the coronal position, the anteroposterior convexity in the sagittal position, and the axial rotation of the spine. a CT or MRI examination can help to understand the vertebral structure and intracanal conditions. Sometimes parents find their children have scoliosis is very nervous, and even overwhelmed, often everywhere, there are calcium supplements, massage massage orthopedic, with brace undershirt, in short, heard what works, take the child to treatment, the results have little effect. So, what exactly should be done when you have scoliosis? There are three main methods of treatment for scoliosis, namely regular follow-up; brace treatment; and surgery. The most common is idiopathic scoliosis, the so-called idiopathic, that is, the cause is not clear, which is different from the vertebral deformity of congenital scoliosis and neuromuscular scoliosis caused by neuromuscular lesions. For idiopathic scoliosis, Cobb’s angle within 25-30° usually does not require bracing and surgery, and is followed up every 3 or 6 months depending on age, with continued observation if the angle does not increase significantly, and bracing may be considered if the increase exceeds 5°. A brace is different from a brace in that it corrects scoliosis by applying support in the direction of the scoliosis. Once brace therapy is started, it should be worn 23 hours a day until skeletal maturity, usually 17-18 years for males and 15-16 years for females. If scoliosis is found to worsen during brace treatment, then surgery should be considered. Surgery for scoliosis began in China in 1976, and the Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital was one of the first units to carry out corrective surgery for scoliosis in 1977. The indications for surgical treatment are mainly scoliosis greater than 40° with trunk imbalance or unequal shoulders, and sometimes scoliosis with faster development with posterior protrusion or flat back and Cobb’s angle of 35° or more should also be considered for surgical treatment. Age is another important factor for the surgeon to consider. If the patient is younger than 12 years old, surgery is likely because of the high likelihood of scoliosis aggravation; if the patient is 15 or 16 years old and has good trunk balance, surgery may not be considered. The surgical approach can be posterior, anterior or combined anterior and posterior depending on the patient’s condition. What are the risks of scoliosis? In general, scoliosis occurs mostly in the thoracolumbar region, and pulmonary dysfunction may occur when the Cobb’s angle exceeds 60°, and most scoliosis above 90° has restrictive ventilation due to the severity of the chest deformity. Some patients with scoliosis have significant trunk deviation and unequal shoulders, which seriously affects aesthetics. Idiopathic scoliosis is generally unlikely to cause paralysis, but only when the Cobb’s angle exceeds 100°. Therefore, parents should ask more questions during the process of seeking medical treatment. What will happen without surgery? What will happen if surgery is performed? In the past 20 years, I have often encountered such cases, originally 15 or 16 years old Cobb’s angle of more than 20 degrees of scoliosis patients, was told by other doctors should be operated immediately, or will be paralyzed and disabled, so the parents sold all the furniture and even the house, to raise 30,000 to 40,000 yuan to do surgery, but also caused the child to be suspended from school for a year. The author believes that this approach is not desirable. In fact, the likelihood of scoliosis worsening in such patients is very small and does not require immediate surgery. 2003 National Orthopaedic Congress, a scholar asked: whether all scoliosis requires surgery? In fact, scoliosis is in most cases a benign lesion that develops slowly, and most can be treated with elective surgery when the child is on summer or winter break, and after four to six weeks of postoperative recovery, the child can continue to go to school and avoid delays in learning. So how risky is the surgery? Will having the surgery cause paralysis? These are usually the main concerns of parents. At the Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, where I work, the likelihood of paralysis after scoliosis surgery is almost zero. The incidence of complications such as wound infection is only 0.5 to 1 percent. Some parents are too worried about the surgery and delay treatment, so that a scoliosis originally about 40° develops to more than 120 degrees, along with cardiopulmonary dysfunction. At this point, not only does the surgery become more difficult and risky, but the prognosis is also worse. Does scoliosis surgery bleed a lot and require a lot of blood transfusion? According to the author’s experience, the general bleeding during surgery for simple thoracic or lumbar curvature is about 100-400 ml, and most do not require blood transfusion. Blood transfusion can also be avoided by taking blood from the body before surgery and transfusing it back during surgery. Usually, patients with scoliosis can be discharged from the hospital within 3~4 days after surgery and within 1~2 weeks. With the current medical technology, most patients can do exercises such as swimming 4-6 weeks after surgery, jogging in 3 months, and non-contact confrontational sports activities in about a year. In conclusion, scoliosis surgery should be an effective and safe procedure for an experienced medical professional.