 Good day. My name is Dr. Thomas Kishan and I am a spine and scoliosis surgeon at Manipal Hospital, Bangalore. June is scoliosis awareness month and I think it is important that we are able to identify and recognize scoliosis early so that these children can have treatment early. So normally when you look at the spine from the front it is straight but in some children the spine can start turning towards the side and this sideward bend of the spine is called scoliosis. Sometimes the spine can even bend forward so when you look at it from the side they have what is referred to as a hunchback and that condition is called kyphosis because of some birth defects in the spine itself and that is called congenital scoliosis. The second most common reason for scoliosis is something called idiopathic wherein we do not know why it happens and these are predominantly seen in teenage children and more common in girls and the third common reason why people develop scoliosis is when it is in connection with some other pre-existing disease like Maffan syndrome or neurofibromatosis they can present with scoliosis too. So the problem with having scoliosis in children is that if they occur very early it can affect the development of the lungs and occasionally the kids the teenagers with scoliosis in teenagers with scoliosis because of the growth spur that they undergo at that time the scoliosis or the curve can progress very rapidly resulting in very grotesque looking deformities. So it is important firstly to be aware of this condition called scoliosis where there is a lateral curvature of the spine. So if a child has scoliosis it can be recognized quite easily. Some of them may have a difference in the height of the shoulder. Sometimes one of the one side of the shoulder blades or the ribs can stick out and they may be asymmetry in the waist creases. So if you get these children to bend forward then you see that the ribs are not at the same level on both sides. One side may be higher than the other side and if somebody has scoliosis it is important to see a scoliosis specialist for it because they can be treated and if treatment is delayed they can develop very grotesque deformities that sometimes may not be amenable to surgical treatment completely. So very mild curves can be treated with just braces more severe curves may require surgery and this can be safely done and these children can get back to their normal activities by around 6 weeks time.