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College Essay On Scoliosis

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The spine is one of the most important structures in the human body. The spine is located in the dorsal cavity and consists of 24 bones, called vertebrae. These vertebrae play a crucial role in protected the body’s command center, the spinal cord. But what happens when a disorder prevents the spinal column from functioning correctly? Scoliosis is a musculoskeletal disorder that causes abnormal lateral curvature of the spine and it effects millions of people in the US per year. I have chosen this disorder because I am aspiring to become a chiropractor and scoliosis is a typical condition that chiropractors help treat on a daily basis. There are three different types of musculoskeletal disorders that effect the spinal column: Lordosis, Kyphosis, and Scoliosis. Scoliosis effects the largest amount of people and also effects the widest range of ages. There are three different types of scoliosis and they are categorized by the age at which the deformity developed. Infantile scoliosis develops from birth to 4 years old, juvenile scoliosis develops from 4 to 9 years old, and adolescent scoliosis develops from 10 to 18 years. Scoliosis is most commonly developed in the adolescent stage, it compromises approximately 80 percent of all scoliosis cases (Baaj, 2017). Any …show more content…

Once doctors have diagnosed a patient with scoliosis and have determined the severity, they will begin treatment. There are three main categories of treatment: observation, bracing, and surgery (Davis, 2017). Nonstructural scoliosis can be treated with indirect treatment of the spine. An example of this may be putting a wedge in the shoe of a patient in hopes of evening their leg length, thus causing the spine to correct itself. The majority of people with structural scoliosis, which is incurable, will need surgery in order to lessen the curvature of their spine since observation and bracing is usually insufficient (Davis,

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