Teens are already going through a vulnerable stage of life, so when they are diagnosed with scoliosis, the team at Perth Scoliosis Clinic seeks to be both empathetic and motivating, whilst looking to work with the internal drivers of each individual child.
We try to make the teen understand that “we” collectively (i.e. parent/guardian, child & therapist) are a team, working together to manage their scoliosis and therefore we use leading-edge technology to help keep our teenaged patients both accountable and independent with their care at the same time.
We have services of corrective exercise, corrective bracing, preparation for scoliosis surgery and post op management rehabilitation for this age group as they need a team who will be able to manage them throughout each step of their care, whether they need surgery or are able to avoid it.
This time in a patient’s lifespan is a critical time to stay on top of their scoliosis curvatures as there is a huge risk of the curvature progressing during the peak pubertal growth spurt, so making sure that there is timely and appropriate intervention during this time period is the main goal of management for these patients.
We typically see patients monthly during this period to guide you through every step and make sure we get you through growth with no hiccups. In the initial stages of program set up we see you 4-5 times close together to set up your home program and then monitor your progress monthly. We always vary everything to be patient centered but the evidence supports that frequency of care.
