How Do I Know If I Have Scoliosis?

What Is Scoliosis?

Scoliosis refers to a medical condition in which the spine curves sideways. On an X-ray film, the normal spine looks straight, but the scoliotic spine will look like a “C” or “S”.

How Do I Tell If I Have It?

Besides looking at X-rays, one can look at his or her posture in order to look for possible signs of scoliosis.

Signs that may indicate scoliosis are:

• Head not centred to the body and uneven shoulders (either one is in front of the other or one’s higher than the other)
• Uneven shoulder blades: one is more prominent or higher
• Uneven waist angle: the gap between arm to the trunk is wider on one side
• One hip is more prominent than the other, or the hips are not levelled
• The spine line is not straight

One can use the picture below for a quick self-test of scoliosis:

You can also perform a Forward Bend test (also called “Adam’s test”) to detect for possible scoliosis.

• Standing with the feet together, then bend forward as far as you can with your palms together, fingers pointing at between your toes.
• Look at the back, one side of the back (either upper or lower back region) will be higher than the other side

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