Throughout episode 13 we focus on the mild scoliosis x-ray. The Cobb angle is the gold standard for measuring scoliosis in the realm of scoliosis. Dr. Dio and Ashley will discuss the Cobb angle measurement and more about the mild scoliosis x-ray in episode 13.
CLEAR-certified Dr. Dio Kim from Tustin, CA joins Executive Director, Ashley Brewer, for this week's show. Throughout the episode they discuss:
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Hello, beautiful people. Ashley Brewer here, Executive Director of CLEAR Scoliosis Institute, excited to bring to you episode 13. Now, this guest we have had on before, but today he joined me to talk about the mild scoliosis x-ray, and that guest is Dr. Dio Kim. He graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic West in 2000 and practices in Tustin, California. He's been CLEAR-certified since 2011 and along with scoliosis, he specializes in sports and pediatric chiropractic. So without further ado, I bring to you episode 13, The Mild Scoliosis X-ray, with Dr. Dio Kim. Let's do this.
Okay. Yes. Um, it is difficult to detect mild scoliosis because , um , it is barely noticeable since it easily hide under the crowding . So , um , if you do not pay close attention to it, one can easily ignore it because oftentimes there are so many, I mean, not many specific symptoms such as pain or discomfort come with it. However, if you know what to look for, it is not that hard, either. So when you're standing right in front of a mirror, look for if your shoulders are the same height, head is centered, hip is, are on same heights and both side of the rib cage is symmetrical. That's why you want to have looking for it. Moreover , um , if you really wants to confirm if you have a scoliosis, uh, you need to take an x-ray. So the x-ray can confirm scoliosis with the Cobb angle and it is more accurate way to detect scoliosis. Since you don't have to guess.
Now I've heard other CLEAR-certified doctors that I work with. I get to work with you guys on a regular basis, and it's awesome, but say we don't want a small problem to become a big problem. And I know from everything that I know working with CLEAR that curve progression is a risk with scoliosis. And we know that one of the most major factors associated with curve progression is growth. So let's talk about that for just a second. Why is it common for a curve to progress while a patient is growing?
And so is this often a time when you have patients or parents bringing their kids into your clinic to say, Hey, they have scoliosis, or I think they have scoliosis because they are going through all of the hormone changes associated with puberty?
So, yes. Um, so , um, there's also so many other factors can involve it, too, but , um, many things that can , uh , bone growth is so fast during those puberty and , um , hormone changes , not going to be associated with it. So I know you can see more progressions on around those , uh , age , um, between like a 10 to 18, you were seeing more , uh , uh , progressions of the puberty. I mean--
I've just heard some parents say over time that it was like this significant posture change happened overnight with my child and I'm guessing that has to do with growth. So let's switch gears a little bit. If someone suspects that they have scoliosis and comes into your clinic to get evaluated for scoliosis, what does this initial evaluation look like?
Many cases when patient comes to me into my clinic , um, they already know they have scoliosis. So in that case , um, I always have them make an appointment for a consultation. And during the consultation we discuss about the scoliosis and its treatment options, which includes traditional way and conservative way of treating scoliosis and , um, they would get lots of information before they decide the best treatment options for their situations. Uh, however , uh , if someone does not know if they have a scoliosis , um, I start with taking a brief history and the posture analysis and , um, Adams forward bend test and spinal screening by using scoliometer. And in that time, if I suspect a scoliosis , uh, as I commence to taking an x-rays to confirm the curvatures , uh, then we discuss the treatment options after then.
And so let's talk a little bit about that x-ray, since that's our, our topic for today. You look at these things all day, every day. So, you know a lot about the mild scoliosis x-ray, but as a practitioner, what are you looking at? You, you mentioned the Cobb angle. What is that? Can you describe that for our listeners?
Yeah. For the scoliosis , um , when you see the x-ray , um, you will actually notice that the spine is not straight. Um, you may have some , um, side bending curvatures from the x-ray. So we pick the , um , most tilted vertebrae from the top to bottom, and we measure that angle . So if there is more than 10 degrees, then we call or we--most of the time, most of the doctors diagnoses that as a scoliosis. So , um, the mild scoliosis the properties go under like a 20 degrees with Cobb angle. And , um, if you look at that x-ray and measure those Cobb angle, then you've probably going to be , um, finding out how severe the curvature it is. And you probably have better idea to what kind of treatment it needs for, um--
Let's talk for just a second about mild scoliosis. So you were just mentioning that if that Cobb angle or that measurement of the degree of curvature in their spine is more than 10 degrees, it's considered a scoliosis. And depending where you look it's between 10 degrees and 20 or 25, depending where you look and what scale of measurement they're using that classifies it as mild scoliosis. Um, you, as a trained professional can see this very, very well because you look at scoliosis every day , but if I'm a parent and I have no idea about scoliosis, is it just posture that I'm looking at to see if my child may have an indicator of that?
I mean, that's probably going to be the easiest way to notice it. Um , lots of parents bring their kids in , uh , when they start to notice that they have a humping back and they have some uneven shoulder heights, and some of them actually is the rare cases, you know, there's some kids having pain with, you know, scoliosis as well.
Yeah. I absolutely agree with you that, um, remember that, u m, old English saying, "a stitch in time saves nine". So it's very important detect a scoliosis early enough. So, u m, I have some c ase that, u m, actually, u m, h ere i s, uh, here is one of them. So, u m, a 14 years old girl, with a 25 degrees Cobb angle came to this clinic for, u m, CLEAR treatments. After her treatments, u m, h er curvature reduced t o 17 degrees, u h, which is pretty good reductions and both parents and, u m, the patient is fine with the t reatment. However, u h, she has, u m, 12 years old, a younger sister who came i n a t the 17 degrees Cobb angle. And s he started t he CLEAR t reatments at the same time with h er, u m, younger sister and her curvature reduced to five degrees, which is great because the c urvature becomes below 10 degrees. And I talked a little bit earlier today that, you know, doctors diagnose scoliosis if it's greater than 10 degrees of Cobb angle. So in this case, they went through the same treatments for the same timeframe. And, but however, the younger sister respond from the treatment way better than her older sister. Um, it is because she detected it and started treatment for scoliosis earlier than her , um , older sister. And, and I think that it was a very important to factor that , you know, it changing the results of the treatments , even though they went through the same treatment and same timeframe.
Thank you!
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