Got your back
Published: 17 Jul 2018
Scoliosis is a disorder that causes an abnormal curve to the spine. The lack of information about Scoliosis in Singapore led a patient Ms Jasmine Liew, to start the Scoliosis Support Singapore in 2005. The support group raises awareness about Scoliosis and provides encouragement to patients and their families.
One of the members, Mr Aaron Yap, was diagnosed with Scoliosis when he was a young boy. His doctor had advised him to place a metal rod into his spine to pull it into corrected position but his parents were worried that this will affect the normal growth and development of his body and hence tried to delay surgery. It was only when his 60-degree curvature worsened to 100-degree that his parents made the decision for him to go for operation. After three months of physiotherapy, Mr Yap was able to regain full mobility and hopes to share his experience with other Scoliosis patients.
Associate Professor Gabriel Liu from NUS Medicine’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and head and senior consultant at the University Spine Centre at National University Hospital said that scoliosis is more common in girls as compared to boys. There is currently no cure to this disorder but there are ways to prevent it from deteriorating.
According to Assoc Prof Liu, the most common surgical treatment for scoliosis is spinal fusion using titanium screws, hooks, rods and bone graft to carefully straighten the curve through incision along the back of the spine.
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