Idiopathic scoliosis often occurs 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 more quickly during this period. What are the risks of scoliosis? Generally speaking, 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 ventilatory impairment 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 may only cause paralysis if its Cobb’s angle exceeds 100°. In most cases, scoliosis is a benign lesion that develops slowly, and most can be treated with elective surgery, which is performed when the child is on summer or winter break and can recover after 4 to 6 weeks so that he or she can continue to attend school. 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 less clothes. If you notice the following signs in your child, you should see a spine specialist promptly: uneven neckline, one shoulder higher than the other; asymmetrical breast development in girls, with the left breast often larger; bulging back on one side; folds on one side of the waist; one hip higher than the other; unequal lower extremities on both sides, etc. When a scoliosis patient goes to the doctor, the doctor will ask him or her to take an X-ray, and he or she should pay attention to taking a full frontal and lateral spine film, and must be taken in the standing position, which is often overlooked in many hospitals, because only a standing film can better reflect the deformity. There are three main methods of treatment for scoliosis, namely 1. regular follow-up; 2. brace treatment; and 3. surgery. For idiopathic scoliosis, Cobb’s angle within 20° usually does not require bracing and surgery, but follow-up every 3 or 6 months depending on age, and continued observation if the angle does not increase significantly, and brace treatment can be considered if the increase is more than 5°. The brace is used to correct 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 at the age of 17-18 for males and 15-16 for females. If scoliosis is found to worsen during brace treatment, then surgical treatment should be considered. Indications for surgical treatment are mainly scoliosis greater than 40° or with signs of trunk imbalance or unequal height of both shoulders. 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, surgery may not be considered if the trunk balance is good and the deformity is mild. It should be noted that congenital scoliosis is often due to developmental disorders of the spinal bones, and most of the brace treatments are ineffective and require early surgical correction.