What Causes Scoliosis?

Congenital Disabilities

Congenital disabilities, or conditions an individual is born with, can also result in scoliosis. Approximately one in ten thousand babies are born with scoliosis, which makes it much less common than the type that arises during puberty. Doctors believe it happens because one or more vertebrae, or parts of vertebrae, don’t form properly when the baby is still in the womb. This abnormality results in an angle called a hemivertebra. Sometimes the spine in the fetus doesn’t separate into individual vertebrae and what would have been two distinct vertebrae are joined together by a bar of bone. Sometimes, these bars join with the hemivertebra. This condition requires surgery to correct. The body can also compensate for scoliosis by creating curves in other parts of the spine that cancel out the curvature of scoliosis.

Discover another possible cause of scoliosis now.