High and low shoulders, asymmetrical back, tilted posture... Teach you to pick out the lurking "killers" who affect the health of your child's spine

Incorrect postures such as "crossed legs" and "erlang legs" may cause harm to the health of the child's spine. Liu Haiying, head of the National Working Group for the Prevention and Control of Scoliosis in Children and Adolescents and director of the Department of Spine Surgery of Peking University People's Hospital, said that it is estimated that the incidence of scoliosis in primary and secondary school students in China is 1% to 3%, and the number of scoliosis has exceeded 5 million, and it is increasing at a rate of about 300,000 per year.

Experts believe that any lateral curvature of the spine greater than or equal to 10 degrees is scoliosis and should be treated as early as possible; if severe scoliosis is suffered, surgery can be received according to the situation.

"Once there is an abnormal curvature of the spine, the shape and function of the child's spine will be affected, and low back pain will occur." Liu Haiying said.

Liu Haiying introduced that abnormal curvature of the spine is a three-dimensional structural deformity, and the early clinical manifestations are abnormal appearance. As the deformity progresses, the body trunk loses balance and tends to progress at the peak of puberty. Therefore, many children in middle and high school often have abnormal spinal curvature.

The first phase of the Spine Health Care Summer Camp in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, was held in Changzhou Sports Hospital, and the doctor guided the students to conduct sitting guidance training. (Photo by Xinhua news agency reporter Han Yuqing)

"Children of this age, height development is basically close to the end, mainly spinal growth, and physical exercise is relatively lacking, the muscle strength on both sides of the normal physiological bending of the fixed spine is insufficient, coupled with incorrect sitting and standing postures, it is easy to cause abnormal spinal curvature." Liu Haiying said.

At present, China has included scoliosis screening programs in the routine physical examination of each academic year or new students. Early detection and early diagnosis are the best prevention and treatment strategies for scoliosis.

In addition to observing the shape of the child's shoulders, Liu Haiying suggested that parents can also judge whether the child's shoulders are of equal height and whether the head is medium, or let the child's heels be together, the legs straight, the torso flexed 90 degrees forward, the hands are folded, the upper limbs are perpendicular to the ground, and the parents can observe whether the sides of the spine are symmetrical.

"If there is spinal deformation and rib elevation, there will be asymmetry between the two sides, and there may be scoliosis, which needs to be further clarified by going to the hospital." Liu Haiying said.

After completing the spine screening work, doctors need to accurately manage scoliosis and scientifically correct it.

Liu Haiying introduced that scoliosis treatment methods include non-surgical treatment and surgical treatment. Observation, physiotherapy, TCM orthopedics, body therapy, brace treatment, etc. are all non-surgical treatments.

"For patients with severe scoliosis, the specific surgical plan can be determined according to the type of scoliosis, the age of the patient, and other factors, and personalized management can be carried out." Liu Haiying said that through screening, prevention, intervention and follow-up assessment of scoliosis, one-stop service is provided for each child.

For how to help children straighten their spine, Liu Haiying suggested that children should pay attention to their own spine health, strengthen physical exercise, change sedentary behavior, correct poor standing and sitting posture; recommend that children use backpacks to balance nutrition; schools should also carry out spine education courses, cooperate with the completion of spine screening, reduce students' academic burden, adjust the height of desks and chairs; media networks and communities should increase scientific knowledge of spine health. (Reporter Li Heng)