Treating Kyphosis With Braces
A brace can keep kyphosis from getting worse and support a person's back while he or she is growing, but it can't permanently fix kyphosis. The orthopedist will talk with you and your parent about what kind of brace will work best for you. Some braces are only worn at night. Others are meant to be worn day and night.
Doctors are making better braces for kids all the time. Braces keep getting lighter, more comfortable, and easier to wear. If you do have to wear a brace, it's important to wear it the way you're supposed to. Otherwise it won't work as well as it should.
After your spine is done growing, the kyphosis probably won't be a cause for concern and you won't have to wear a brace anymore.
Treating Kyphosis With Surgery
Most of the time, a brace will be enough to treat kyphosis. But somebody might need an operation for a severe case or for congenital kyphosis. Usually, it will be a surgery known as a spinal fusion. In this procedure, two or more of the affected vertebrae are fused, or joined together, to reduce the amount of rounding in the spine.
A kid having a back operation like this would be given anesthesia, a kind of medicine that puts patients to sleep and keeps them from feeling pain during an operation. Then the surgeon would attach new pieces of bone to the vertebrae by using metal rods, screws, and wire placed deep under the spine muscles. After a few months to a year, the bones grow together, or "fuse."
Once the bones have healed, the metal pieces aren't needed anymore, but they're not hurting anything. It would take another operation to get them out, so doctors usually leave them in place.
Years ago, before doctors started using metal rods, kids had to spend up to a year in a body cast as they recovered from spinal fusion. With modern surgery, kids can still move around as they recover. In fact, doctors often prescribe physical therapy as part of the recovery.
Every situation is different, but most kids who've had surgery to correct their kyphosis are up and walking within a day or two, and they can generally go home from the hospital within a week. Most will return to school within a month of the surgery and can resume some activities in 3 to 4 months.
By 6 to 12 months, most kids will be able to resume all routine activities, and the bones should be fully fused by about 1 year. It's important for kids who have had surgery to talk with their parents and the doctor about what activities are right for them as their backs heal.
Kids with kyphosis can lead active, normal lives and usually won't have any restrictions placed on them. Sports and activities don't make kyphosis worse, so even after surgery it's OK for kids to get out and play once they've talked with the doctor and a parent about how to participate safely.
Reviewed by: Suken Shah, MD
Date reviewed: July 2011