Scoliosis involves a spinal deviation with vertebral rotation, typically emerging during childhood or adolescence, though it can also develop in adulthood. Girls are eight times more affected than boys. Eight out of ten French people experience or will experience back pain, a threefold increase over the past 30 years. Our sedentary modern lifestyle, with prolonged sitting, promotes unnatural postures the body isn't designed for, explains Christophe Carrio, a graduate of the American Academy of Sports Medicine and author of A Body Without Pain (Ed. Thierry Souccar).
To compensate, the body develops mechanisms that lead to spinal deviations and pain. These are often mislabeled as scoliosis due to asymmetry, but this is inaccurate.
Scoliosis is a permanent three-dimensional spinal deformation of at least 10 degrees, involving vertebral rotation that displaces ribs and creates a hump in the upper back. Its origins are partly genetic. Contrary to common belief, heavy schoolbags or poor postures play no role. It affects 2-3% of teenage girls, who report no more back pain than peers.
True scoliosis can also emerge after age 50 due to spinal wear and tear. Women are more susceptible to these late-onset cases, which are rising with population aging and cause severe low back pain. In children and young adults, prevalence hasn't increased.
Video of the day:When the spine tilts only laterally, it's a scoliotic attitude, not true scoliosis. These are more common today from inactivity, overweight, sleep deficits, and poor postures. Unlike scoliosis, they respond to rehabilitation or orthopedic insoles for leg length discrepancies.
"True scoliosis demands vigilant monitoring to track progression and prevent worsening," says Dr. Laurence Mainard-Simard, radiologist at Nancy University Hospital. Stable, moderate cases require no treatment.
If worsening, a rigid corset is essential, particularly for growing adolescents. It doesn't correct but stabilizes. An American study from the University of Iowa, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows it must be worn at least 12 hours daily to stabilize scoliosis and avoid surgery in 75% of severe cases.
In adults, corsets primarily alleviate pain by supporting proper alignment. Progressive imbalance risks organ compression, breathing issues, and aesthetic concerns from trunk sagging. Surgery is a last resort.
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