Scoliosis Guide

This guide is written for parents who have noticed an asymmetry in a child's shoulders or waist, and for families holding a new scoliosis report. It sets out each step of the process in plain language: what counts as a finding that needs following up, what the Cobb angle and the Risser stage on a report actually mean, when bracing comes into the picture, and where physiotherapy sits in all of it.

Every page rests on international guidelines and on studies published in peer-reviewed journals, and each one lists its sources in full at the end. Diagnosis, imaging and treatment decisions belong to the physician. Physiotherapy carries out and supports that decision; it does not replace it.

Where the evidence is not settled, you will not find a settled sentence here either. Not presenting the unknown as known matters more than sounding confident, because a parent can only ask the right question when the picture is honest.

These pages are written for an English-speaking reader living in or around İzmir, so they also explain how the route works in Turkey: how children are referred, why there is no national school screening programme, and what a family can do about that. Consultations at the practice can be held in English.

How to use this guide

If you are not yet sure what scoliosis is and what does not count as scoliosis, what scoliosis is is the place to start; it explains the difference between a structural curve and an asymmetry that comes from posture. If no diagnosis has been made yet, you can begin with the checks described in spotting the signs at home and take what you find to a physician. If you already have an X-ray report, diagnosis and monitoring explains what the Cobb angle and the Risser stage mean.

If a physician has recommended a brace, bracing and exercise covers how daily wearing time relates to the outcome and how bracing runs alongside exercise. To understand how the physiotherapy itself works, see the Schroth method and what a session involves. If surgery is the question on your mind, the surgery decision explains what the thresholds do and do not mean, where physiotherapy stops, and which questions belong to the surgeon.

Questions about school, school bags, sport and swimming are gathered in school, sport and daily life. For the questions parents ask one at a time, and for the beliefs that turn out not to hold, there is questions parents ask. If you are an adult with scoliosis, or the curve was first noticed in adulthood, scoliosis in adults is written for you rather than for a parent.

For families living in Bornova, Evka 3 and the surrounding neighbourhoods, the assessment process, appointments and directions are set out in for families in Bornova and Evka 3. The scope of the scoliosis work done at the practice is described on the Scoliosis Physiotherapy and ISST-Schroth page. Content on the postpartum period and pelvic floor health is in the Health Guide.