Does Sitting Slouched And Slanted Cause Scoliosis?

Question: My daughter sits with a slouch, and sometimes sits with her body slanted to one side. Will that cause scoliosis?

No. Sitting with a slouch or in any other bad posture does not lead to scoliosis. When we discuss about scoliosis, we typically mean idiopathic scoliosis – which caused by genetic factors that leads to uneven growth of the spine.

The curvature of the spine from bad posture known as postural scoliosis, and is reversible.

Posture And Scoliosis

Human skeletons mainly supported by both muscles and ligaments. The centre of gravity of the skeleton varies when its alignment changes. This affects how much the muscles have to work to maintain their stability.

Therefore, “bad postures” refer to postures in which the body structures need to work harder to maintain a particular position. “Good postures”, on the other hand, refer to postures in which the muscles work the least.

• Therefore, the ideal upright posture is one that, if looked at from the side, the ear is right above the shoulder, and the shoulder right above the hip. Any posture that deviates from which would be requiring more effort from the muscles. Sitting slouched or slanted to one side would require more muscle work on one side of the body. This may lead to overuse and tightness of those muscles.
• In the case that one stays in a faulty posture for long and causes muscle imbalance, the spine may be slightly curved due to uneven muscle tension. This type of curve called postural scoliosis is not the same as scoliosis that caused by bone deformities. If taking a spine X-ray in lying, this type of scoliosis will disappear on the X-ray film.

So, bad posture may cause postural scoliosis, but it will not cause bone deformity. The good news is that it is completely reversible by exercises and posture re-training.

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