In the early 90s, Scoliosis screenings in Australia occurred at the age of 12 in public schools. Unfortunately moving to a private school at that age caused me to miss the mandatory routine school screening and my scoliosis went unnoticed for another 3 years. I was not diagnosed until 15 when my mother took me shopping and noticed the difference in my leg length while trying on pants and could see that one of my hips was considerably higher than the other. She immediately took me to the doctor who referred me to a Specialist and diagnosed me with scoliosis. Scoliosis is diagnosed through xrays and the measurement of the angles of degrees the spine curves from one side to the other (if you are looking at the patient from the back). It is recognizable when one hip is higher than the other, a shoulder blade petrudes out and also causes one shoulder to be higher than the other. Forward head posture is also another sign of scoliosis.
I was put into a body cast for 3 weeks while my brace was being made. With the seriousness of my curve I wore the brace for 2 years until I stopped growing to try and avoid having my spine fused together. It was the scariest and most humiliating time of my life, a time when I was trying to be a teenager and fit in with everyone else.
Luckily bracing and physical therapy during those last few years of growth stopped the progression of the curve enough to satisfy surgeons and I avoided spinal fusion surgery. A procedure that is well known to not only cause limited mobility in the spine, but render many patients disabled from the inability to touch their toes. WIthin ten years it is likely the curve will revert to its former position.
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