The natural curve of our spine helps support mobility, increase flexibility, and relieve pressure on our backs. The disorder known as scoliosis causes the spine to curve more to the left and right. According to some estimates, scoliosis affects between two and three percent of the world’s population and six to nine million persons in the US. What exactly does scoliosis do to your physical health, and what can you do to stop the symptoms it causes?
Scoliosis can have an impact on many different body systems in addition to your spine. Scoliosis can also affect mundane things you do, such as sleeping or exercising. The impact on your health and lifestyle depends on your back’s Cobb angle.
Continue reading to learn about other scoliosis effects besides physical abnormalities.
Head and Brain
Intense headaches brought on by pinched nerves can lower your quality of life. Furthermore, a curved spine makes it more difficult for cerebrospinal fluid to reach the brain, intensifying headaches.
Muscles
There are numerous potential causes and effects of scoliosis on your physical health, most of which are unknown. Idiopathic scoliosis patients frequently overuse their muscles unintentionally to correct their postural abnormalities.
Ineffective muscle use feeds a vicious cycle, resulting in bad posture and chronic back pain. Patients with neuromuscular scoliosis have underlying spinal abnormalities, unlike those with idiopathic scoliosis. Spina bifida, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord injuries are a few disorders that cause the muscles to pull on the spine or become completely lax. Scoliosis may develop as a result of these muscle imbalances over time.
Heart and Lungs
Because their ribs twist strangely when their spine rotates, people with severe scoliosis may experience heart and lung issues. That limits lung expansion, which may make it difficult for patients to take full, deep breaths. Additionally, it may cause the heart to work harder than it should, leading to diseases like mitral valve prolapse and premature heart failure in the worst cases.
Stomach
The function of the digestive system may be hampered by an aberrant spine curvature that restricts specific organ systems. It could result from constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, acid reflux, nausea, and weight loss. Weight loss often happens because it’s harder for your body to absorb vital nutrients from meals, and you feel full even when you don’t eat enough.
Nerves
Nervous? It’s not just you. When curved improperly, your spine compresses or stretches nearby nerves. As a result, discomfort, pain, tingling in the extremities, burning, and other unpleasant feelings may be experienced.
In more extreme circumstances, nerve damage could cause problems with fine motor control, which would restrict your ability to carry out specific tasks. On rare occasions, it may impair bladder and bowel control.
Menstrual Cycle
We are aware that teenage girls with scoliosis are more likely than their counterparts to experience their first menstrual cycle later. Additionally, there is evidence linking scoliosis to irregular periods.
But other scientists now think that low levels of several female hormones, especially progesterone, may be the root cause of scoliosis. This can explain why girls are affected by adolescent idiopathic scoliosis ten times more frequently than boys.
