Park Hye-young, Chairman of Incheon Himchan General Hospital's Barun Growth Clinic Parents need to closely watch their children's posture and growth because they live indoors in winter and their physical activity is greatly reduced due to cold weather. The vacation season is good for checking the growth status of children who have entered the full-fledged growth period and treating and correcting musculoskeletal diseases that interfere with height growth. Scoliosis, which is common during the growing season, can not only hinder growth but also cause other diseases such as cardiopulmonary dysfunction and chronic pain, so early detection is important.
According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, out of 85,076 patients with scoliosis in 2023, 39,270 were teenagers, accounting for about 46%. During the growing season when the growth plate is open, the growth of the spine is also active, and scoliosis occurs due to habits such as bent posture. Compared to adults, the spine is more flexible and easy to deform, but on the contrary, it can be sufficiently corrected.
Park Hye-young, chairman of the Barun Growth Clinic at Himchan General Hospital in Incheon, said "Just by doing the spine right, you can find the hidden height."If you correct the actual scoliosis, you can grow a hidden height of 0.2 cm per degree on average."
◇Key growth obstruction 'Spinal speculatosis' Attention...Loss of 4 to 5 cm in the wrong position
Spinal scoliosis is a state in which the spine is bent more than 10 degrees, and the spine that needs to be stretched in a straight line is deformed, causing pain. During the growing season, idiopathic scoliosis is often caused by unclear initial symptoms and causes. Careful observation by parents is important as it can be difficult to detect early because it is confused with other diseases due to minor apparent features or symptoms. Spinal scoliosis can be suspected if the height of both shoulders or pelvis is different when a child stands facing the mirror, or if the leg length is different or one of the soles of the shoes wears out faster.
If the diagnosis is delayed or not treated in time, the spine may become more bent and severe deformity may occur, and in some cases, major organs such as the heart and lungs may be compressed to cause complications. It is not good for mental health because it is greatly psychologically contracted due to the deformation of its appearance. In the early stages of symptoms, most of them improve with posture correction, exercise therapy, manual therapy, and wearing assistive devices, so it is better to treat them as soon as possible.
Since scoliosis is mostly caused by wrong postures or habits, it is important to maintain the right posture and develop the right lifestyle.
If growth and development are hindered due to incorrect posture, height loss can be seen up to 4 to 5 cm. Therefore, it is recommended to sit deep in a chair with your back straight and tie heavy bags on both sides, and the habit of sitting with your legs crossed should be corrected. It is also necessary to improve spinal health by strengthening muscle strength and flexibility. It is helpful to do exercises such as hanging a bar so that the lower body can be adjusted to the height of the pelvis, and the upper body can be adjusted to the right spine. The movement hanging from the iron bar stretches asymmetrically contracted muscles to balance both sides.
◇ Don't miss the time for the 8-9-year-old growth test...Suspected growth disorder if it does not grow more than 4 cm in one year
Vacation season is also good to check whether your child's growth is progressing properly. If your child is worried because he is shorter than your peers, it is better to comprehensively identify the causative disease, nutritional status, sleep time, hormone deficiency and damage to the growth plate, bone age and growth potential through a growth test. It is an opportunity to grow potential growth factors and correct risk factors through various analyses such as lifestyle and growth environment.
As a result of the test, less than 3rd out of 100 people of the same gender and age can be considered as low-growth, but if children who are 10cm smaller than their peers or under the age of 10 do not grow more than 4cm in a year, they should suspect growth disorders. If the cause of a growth disorder is a specific disease, treatment of the disease should be given priority, and if it is not due to a disease, normal growth can be helped by nutrition, sleep, and exercise, which are essential for height growth.
It is recommended to eat regular meals and balanced nutrients, especially proteins containing essential amino acids needed to help muscle and bone growth and produce growth hormones. Jumping exercises, aerobic exercises, and stretching to stimulate the growth plate and strengthen bones are also helpful. However, it is better to exercise every other day because growth progresses better during rest and recovery after exercise. When you sleep well, growth hormones are secreted well, so improve your sleep environment and don't use your smartphone until late.
Park Hye-young, chairman of the Barun Growth Clinic at Himchan General Hospital in Incheon, advised, `It is good to examine your child's lifestyle, eating habits, and posture with interest and to check your child's growth during winter vacation.'
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
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