Healthy Habits: Shriners Hospital Scoliosis App

Many parents don’t know if their kids have been checked for scoliosis – an abnormal curvature of the spine that can limit mobility and affects millions of Americans. Shriners Hospitals for Children^® doctors say that finding the condition early is key to the best treatments, and kids should be screened every year. Scoliosis is most commonly diagnosed between 10 and 15 years of age, when children grow rapidly. Some cases, however, can go undetected for periods of time because during this point in a child’s life fewer vaccinations are required, so they may see a doctor less often.

I actually have scoliosis, luckily a mild form, so I definitely want to keep an eye on it with my kids. When I was growing up, scoliosis was checked with hearing and vision screening, but that's not necessarily the case anymore.

Shriners Hospitals for Children doctors teamed up with developers and parents to create the new SpineScreen app to give parents a quick, informal way to regularly monitor their child’s spine at home. The app detects curves when the phone is moved along a child’s back in addition to providing resources about scoliosis. For more information, visit shrinershospitalsforchildren.org/scoliosis.

 I have a chance to post this interview with Amer Samdani, M.D., chief of surgery for Shriners Hospitals for Children — Philadelphia to demonstrate and discuss the new SpineScreen app and answer questions about scoliosis.