Adult Scoliosis - Mayo Clinic

Sometimes the right procedure is no procedure. Mayo Clinic spine experts have your best interest in mind. We develop individualized treatment plans to address your concerns and to preserve your spine health for the future.

At Mayo Clinic, you’ll have the expertise and support of a whole multidisciplinary team of specialists in neurophysiology, neuroradiology, neurosurgery, orthopedic spine surgery, sports medicine, and physical medicine and rehabilitation.

With all this expertise, we can help you:

Avoid unnecessary procedures. We recommend surgery only when necessary and after ruling out less-invasive approaches. Mayo Clinic experts are paid a fixed salary. They are not paid based on the number of procedures or tests ordered.
Reduce hospital stays. Many people who undergo spine care at Mayo Clinic leave the hospital in one or two days, thanks to our advanced technology and ability to perform minimally invasive procedures.
Lower complication rates and shorter recovery times. When appropriate, We use technology like robotic-assisted surgery for greater precision, which leads to smaller incisions and scars, lower complication rates, and a quicker return to everyday activities.

Your team will work with you on a comprehensive care plan to meet all your needs. For example, if osteoporosis is contributing to scoliosis, then your treatment will include an endocrinologist specializing in bone health, and your plan will include treatment for that condition.

All of Mayo Clinic’s campuses have highly trained neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons who specialize in treating adults and children for spinal deformities, including scoliosis. All members of your care team will have spinal deformity expertise, including nurses and anesthesiologists dedicated to caring for patients during complex spinal procedures.

Your team will work with you on a treatment plan that might include:

Physical therapy
Stretches
Weight-bearing exercises like walking
Adjustments to diet and nutrition
Medications
Surgery
Post-surgery therapy
Scoliosis usually can be managed without surgery. If the spine is overly tilted or involves arthritis, surgery can be effective in relieving symptoms. Spinal fusion is usually the surgery provided to adults. It involves fusing joints, freeing compressed nerves, and balancing the spine. (Vertebral body tethering is a procedure performed at Mayo Clinic for use in children, but it is not appropriate for treating adults, according to our experts.)

If surgery is needed, our experts use innovative technologies and minimally invasive surgical approaches with goals of improving results, lessening complications, and shortening recovery times.

We use if needed:

3D printing of an actual model of the spine based on scans
Intraoperative monitoring to measure neural function and integrity, performed by highly trained technicians and monitored by a neurophysiologist onsite, to decrease complications
3D spinal navigation to guide the placement of spinal hardware
Intraoperative scans to check the placement of spinal screws
Robotic guidance

Through clinical trials, Mayo Clinic doctors are exploring new treatments and interventions to prevent, detect, treat, or manage adult scoliosis. Explore our active studies.

Adult Scoliosis Treatment Options at Mayo Clinic.

Scoliosis is a condition where there's an abnormal curvature in the spine. Sometimes that can lead to pain. It can lead to collapse of your lungs and make it harder to breathe. Sometimes a pinched nerve can occur and then you can get pain down your legs. Most of the time we think of scoliosis as something that happens to children or teenagers. But a lot of times adults develop scoliosis as part of aging. Scoliosis is typically diagnosed by your doctor but sometimes you'll notice scoliosis when you're standing in front of your mirror. Sometimes you'll notice your clothes don't fit quite right. Or your leg seems longer than the other.

When a doctor starts to notice the scoliosis, then usually x-rays are performed to try to find how bad the curvature is, and if it's really there. If you have scoliosis and you're worried about your condition or what the future holds. I'd encourage you to talk to your doctor about this because there's actually a lot of treatments that can help the symptoms of scoliosis. Non-surgical treatments can help a lot. Things like physical therapy, losing weight, taking medications.

Injections can be used for scoliosis when there's a pinched nerve or there's arthritis in the joints of the spine. Also, sometimes people have scoliosis and don't have a lot of pain, so they don't need any major surgery or treatments.

Surgery is one of the final options to treat scoliosis, but it's a very effective option when it's used in the right patients. It's important to find a specialist such as the specialists at Mayo Clinic who perform a lot of scoliosis surgery. When we're performing a spinal fusion, we try to straighten the spine as much as we can safely. It doesn't have to be perfectly straight, but we straightened the spine as much as we can without injuring the spinal cord or other nerves or causing too many other complications. Surgery seems like it's an invasive or aggressive option. But in fact, a lot of patients get a huge benefit from surgery and can have a lot less pain and do a lot more functional things than they were able to do before surgery.

Mayo works as a team to take care of the patient and the best possible way. It's not just about the surgeon or one individual, doctor we really work as a team to make sure the patient gets the treatment that they need. And it'll be the most likely to help them with the least invasive options as possible.

Adult Scoliosis Treatment Centered Around You

The benefits of expertise.

We’re with you every step of the way.

Innovation leads to better outcomes.

When it's time to find answers, you know where to go.

Contact us to request an appointment.

Adult Scoliosis Treatment Options at Mayo Clinic.