Do You Watch Your Kid's Back?

We're always "watching our kid's back." We are constantly on the look out for anything that may hurt them, or make them sick. But when was the last time you *literally* watched your kids back? As in watch what their back...particularly their spine...does when they bend over. For me the answer was um....never. Why would I? None of my kids have ever complained of back problems & nothing looked out of the ordinary...


So, you can imagine my surprise when I took Connor in for a regular checkup last month, and the doctor noticed something funny when Connor bent over to pick something up. He said, "Ummm...Connor, can you bend over again?" The doctor took a long look at his back as he bent over. I asked if something was wrong. He told me to watch what Connor's spine did as he leaned over to touch his toes. Do you see the problem?


Connor's spine arches slightly to the left when he bends over. This is a condition known as Scoliosis. It's when there is a sideways curvature of the spine. It usually occurs most often during the growth spurt just before puberty, and can get worse as the child goes through puberty. The severity of Scoliosis is determined by how much the spine curves. Anything below 20 percent is considered minimal & usually doesn't cause very many problems. A 20-40 percent curvature usually requires a brace. And, anything above 40 percent requires major back surgery.

Connor inherited this condition from his Daddy. Mike was diagnosed with Scoliosis when he was about Connor's age. After going through puberty, his scoliosis topped out at about 12-14 percent. Since Mike's scoliosis is in the minimal category, it's never really bothered him much at all. He can still do all the normal things that any other guy can do. But, every once in awhile, he'll tweak his back just right & will have to lay on the heating pad for awhile to relax the muscles.

So, Connor has this condition too now, and it was time to figure out how curved Connor's spine had become. We went to the hospital for X-Rays. It was late on a Friday afternoon, and the doctor said that he would probably get the results from the X-Ray sometime Monday morning. Well, later that night at around 9:00 pm, I got a call from the pediatrician. (On a side note, how awesome is my Pediatrician for calling me with results at 9:00 on a Friday night???) Connor's scoliosis was at about an 8 or 9 percent...making it very minimal. What a relief!

The doctor said that we will still need to watch his spine very closely though as Connor goes through puberty (On another side note, can I tell you how freaked out I am to have to deal with boys going through puberty???) because his scoliosis will most likely get worse as he goes through the multiple growth spurts boys go through in their teenage years. He will need to have X-Rays at least once a year until he is 18, so they can see how quickly his Scoliosis is progressing.

Another thing that concerns the doctor is that Connor's Scoliosis is in his lumbar spine (toward the bottom of his back). Most people get Scoliosis in toward the top or in the middle of their back. It's apparently very unusual for someone to have Scoliosis in their lumbar spine, and the doctor wanted to do some research on it to figure out how that can affect the condition. Leave it to Connor to try to be different than everyone else!

So, now time will tell as to how severe of a problem this becomes for Connor. I'm hopeful that it will be similar to Mike's Scoliosis & top out somewhere in the 12-14 percent range, and won't ever give him any problems.

I feel really grateful that we were able to discover this right now, so that we can closely monitor it for the next few years. It's funny because Connor didn't need to go in for a physical this year, but he needed his flu shot, so I decided to have the doctor do a physical at the same time...and the doctor just happened to notice Connor's spine as he was bending down to pick something up. Talk about right time, right place! I honestly can say that I've never once paid attention to my kids' spines as the bent over. Why would I? But, I've now learned that it's important to not only "watch our kids backs" for sharp objects, germs & anything else that can hurt them, but REALLY watch their backs as well because this condition often goes undiagnosed for a long time. --Lindsay