Patient D. H. T, 16 years old, was taken to the Department of Traditional Medicine and Rehabilitation, Central Tropical Diseases Hospital for examination in a state of scoliosis, crooked gait and clearly shrunken neck.
Through examination, specialist doctor Le Nguyen Long, Deputy Head of the Department of Traditional Medicine and Rehabilitation, determined that the patient's condition was related to maintaining the wrong sitting posture for many years. The patient was treated with rehabilitation methods such as massage, spinal impact, infrared radiation, spinal exercise combined with electrical pulse, shock waves and ultrasound.
After one course of treatment, the muscle stiffness in the neck, shoulders and back has improved significantly. However, the recovery process still requires a long time along with persistent training and maintaining the correct posture in daily activities.
Doctors say that the spine of children and adolescents is still in the development stage. Habits such as lying and crawling on the table, bending over, sitting sideways or crossing legs for a long time can cause muscle imbalance, causing hunchback, scoliosis and other posture disorders.
Doctors recommend that parents should choose tables and chairs suitable for their child's height, arrange learning corners with sufficient light, and regularly remind their children to sit in the correct posture. Children should not sit and study continuously for more than 30–45 minutes but need to stand up and exercise, stretch their muscles. At the same time, limit bowing their heads for too long when using phones and computers and increase physical activities to help develop back muscles and abdominal muscles to protect the spine. If children have signs of hunchback, shoulder misalignment or neck drooping, they need to be taken to the doctor early to avoid irreversible spinal deformities.
