By Andrea Lyn Van Benschoten, Web Content Editor
It seems like every disease has an “awareness” month. We all know October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and everyone is awash pink to stand with those fighting the disease. November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. December is AIDS Awareness Month. And so on.
All of these diseases receive important attention, support, and research with hopes of finding advanced treatments, and eventually, cures.
Well, June also is an “awareness” month, however, it isn’t nearly as well known. June is National Scoliosis Awareness Month. The disease affects approximately three percent of the U.S. population. It is not caused by carrying heavy backpacks as a child or poor posture, as many people think. It is the most common spinal deformity and has no known cause. While scoliosis is often considered a childhood disease, it can also appear after adolescence, well into adulthood, making it much more difficult to treat.
Why is this important? Well, because my husband has kyphoscoliosis and Scheuermann's Disease and it was discovered in his 40s.
Seven years ago, his life was literally saved by his surgeon as he underwent an 11 ½ hour surgery to place two rods, 23 screws, and three horizontal stabilizer bars in his thoracic spine to help uncurl his spine and prevent additional damage. He was in the hospital for one month of recovery and in-patient therapy. He has been to outpatient physical therapy multiple times over the years to continue to help him heal and keep him strong.
There is little known as to why scoliosis occurs and there aren’t many treatment options available. The Scoliosis Research Society is one of the few organizations that are dedicated to understanding why scoliosis occurs and is working to develop ways to treat it and hopefully, one day, prevent it.
So make sure you have your children periodically checked for scoliosis as they grow and if you have back pain, don’t wait to get it checked. Hopefully it is nothing serious. If it is, make sure you understand all your options. If you do have a form of scoliosis, do your research. And know you can get through it and you are not alone. Just like with other disease research, advancements are being made all the time thanks to dedicated researchers. So think about wearing a green cap (the official color) before the month is over for all of those who have scoliosis and for those who are working to find a cure.