Contents:
- Medical Video: Non-Surgical Management of Scoliosis - Boston Children's Hospital - Orthopedic Center
- What is lordosis?
- What are the symptoms of lordosis?
- Is lordosis caused by genetic factors?
- Other causes of lordosis
Medical Video: Non-Surgical Management of Scoliosis - Boston Children's Hospital - Orthopedic Center
Lordosis is one of the bone problems that can appear in childhood to adulthood. People with lordosis have a different spine shape than normal people, there is excessive curvature in the lower spine. This can be caused by various factors, including genetic factors.
What is lordosis?
Normally, each person's backbone has a slight curvature in the neck, upper back and lower back. This serves to help the body in supporting the head, aligning the head with the pelvis, maintaining the structure of the body, and to help move and bend flexibly.
However, if the curvature of the lower spine goes too deep, this is called lordosis. This bone problem can affect the lower back and neck, as if the bone is pulled forward. This can cause excessive pressure on the spine, causing pain and discomfort. If the lower back curvature is very severe, this can affect your movements.
What are the symptoms of lordosis?
If lying on a flat surface, people with this spinal disorder will have space under their lower back. A common symptom in people with lordosis is muscle pain. This pain can last long or briefly in line with the activities being carried out. Movable movements can also be limited around the neck or lower back.Other symptoms that can be felt by people with spinal disorders are numbness, tingling, weakness, and lack of control over defecation or urination.
This can lead to more serious things depending on how severe the curvature of the spine you experience. Lordosis is considered serious if the spine is no longer flexible, meaning it is stiff or not flexible anymore. Preferably, immediately check your condition to the doctor if you experience these symptoms.
Is lordosis caused by genetic factors?
This bone disorder can occur at any age, from young children to adults. Most lordosis is innate, bone abnormalities are present since the baby is born. Congenital Lordosis is usually caused by a genetic disorder that can be inherited from a parent (father or mother) or due to a gene mutation that occurs during fetal development.
Some genetic disorders that can cause curvature in the lower spine are:
- Achondroplasia, a bone growth disorder caused by rare genetic mutations. This gene mutation is the main cause of disproportionate dwarfism.
- Muscle dystrophy, a muscle disease that is inherited from parents, which makes muscles (generally conscious muscles) slowly weaken
Meanwhile, lordosis that occurs in adulthood usually occurs due to causes other than genetic.
Other causes of lordosis
Some things that can be the cause of the forward curved spine are:
- Poor posture, when sitting or often lifting heavy objects
- Obesity, being overweight can affect body posture and exert excessive pressure on the spine
- Severe arthritis
- Osteoporosis
- Discitis (inflammation of the space between the spine)
- Injuries to the lower back
- Spondylolisthesis, where there is a spine that slips out of position so that the spine becomes out of alignment. This condition can occur from birth. Or, it can develop after you do certain activities.
