Disease

Question

What is the best treatment for scoliosis?

Answer

Hello Sara Beth! Thank you for sending your question to AskNSDL. I am a professional librarian and can point you to some websites that contain reliable, authoritative health information on the treatment of scoliosis. For decisions regarding the "best treatment" and personal options, it would be best to talk with your health care provider. When doing research, it's usually helpful to narrow your topic and define the age of the patient. Since you didn't say, the first three resources listed below specifically address teenagers. The last two resources cover a broad spectrum of ages. "Scoliosis" by Steven Dowshen, MD and William G. Mackenzie, MD (Updated and reviewed Aug. 2004 by R. Jay Cummings, M.D.) This article appears on Kids' Health, a project of the Nemours Foundation,http://kidshealth.org/index.html, which specifically targets three audiences: parents, teens and kids. I selected "Teens" and typed "Scoliosis" in the search box to find this article. Scroll down the page to read the section entitled, "Treating Scoliosis." http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/bones/scoliosis.html The next two articles also come from the Kids' Health Website. They share personal stories of two teens with scoliosis and their treatments. "Scoliosis - Samantha's Story," reviewed by Steven Dowshen, MD, May 2004. There is a lot of positive energy in this story. Be sure to read all the way through to last paragraph! http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/bones/scoliosis_samantha.html "Scoliosis - Keri's Story," reviewed by Mary L. Gavin, MD, August 2002, originally reviewed by William Mackenzie, MD. Keri talks about her treatments and says that her experiences made her a lot stronger person! http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/bones/scoliosis_keri.html If you're interested in comprehensive lists of resources on scoliosis, try the following websites. "Scoliosis" - This index from NOAH, New York Online Access to Health,http://www.noah-health.org/, includes many links to organizations with information on the care and treatment of scoliosis. http://www.noah-health.org/english/illness/orthop/scoliosis.html MedlinePlus,http://medlineplus.gov/, is the National Library of Medicine's website for quality health resources for patients and health information consumers, in general. Click on "Health Topics" and then "S" and scroll down the page to the link for "scoliosis." http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/scoliosis.html Also, check out the other resources listed in the Health category of this website. Go to the AskNSDL Homepage,http://asknsdl.askvrd.org, and click on "Health." I hope this information is useful to you. The librarian at your school and/or public library can probably help you find more resources on this topic, in print and electronically. Sincerely, Joyce W.