# Why are scoliosis screenings only done in early elementary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scoliosis-screenings-only-done-in-early-elementary/756540 "2016-06-05T01:51:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scoliosis-screenings-only-done-in-early-elementary/756540/1 "2016-06-05T01:51:48Z")
In my own schooling I remember scoliosis screenings in early elementary–first or second grade. There were no more afterward. Reading about it though, many people don’t develop it until they’re adolescents. And I’m one of them. So why is the screening so early? Is it because earlier-onset cases tend to be more severe, or was this just a hiccup in my school system? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scoliosis-screenings-only-done-in-early-elementary/756540/2 "2016-06-05T02:18:36Z")
Can’t speak for your school district, but we (NE Arkansas) had screenings up to and during high school. ETA: Graduated high school in 1998 if that’s relevant at all. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scoliosis-screenings-only-done-in-early-elementary/756540/3 "2016-06-05T02:23:25Z")
Might just be your school system. I don’t recall anything come high school but up through junior high I remember them. ---
**Author:** ![pidgeon92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@pidgeon92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pidgeon92)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scoliosis-screenings-only-done-in-early-elementary/756540/4 "2016-06-05T02:29:11Z")
I don’t recall have any growing up in Chicago. I was aware of it due having read the Judy Blume book “Deenie”. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scoliosis-screenings-only-done-in-early-elementary/756540/5 "2016-06-05T02:59:38Z")
My daughter had screenings through middle school. She’s in 12th grade now. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scoliosis-screenings-only-done-in-early-elementary/756540/6 "2016-06-05T17:42:56Z")
We never had any screenings when I was in school, my daughter never had any when she was in school, and I taught for twenty years and never heard of any in the district, so I guess not every school screens. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scoliosis-screenings-only-done-in-early-elementary/756540/7 "2016-06-05T17:54:44Z")
We had it through middle school? Ninth grade? in the 80s. Sort of a poor district-- perhaps it’s something that schools do in places where family medical care is less dependably regular? ---
**Author:** ![12mgdaily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/f08c70/32.png) [@12mgdaily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/12mgdaily)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scoliosis-screenings-only-done-in-early-elementary/756540/8 "2016-06-05T18:23:59Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > In my own schooling I remember scoliosis screenings in early elementary–first or second grade. There were no more afterward. > > Reading about it though, many people don’t develop it until they’re adolescents. And I’m one of them. > > So why is the screening so early? Is it because earlier-onset cases tend to be more severe, or was this just a hiccup in my school system? The screening was done just once when I was in the second grade. I was found to have it. They called it a curvature of the spine. Nothing was ever done till I was a senior in high school. They placed me in a special gym class, where an instructor had me doing exercises to ‘stretch’ my spine. I don’t believe those exercises corrected it at all. I’ve never been to a doctor in regards to scoliosis. When I wear a bathing suit it is obvious, and I’ve received comments and questions about my back. I’ve also had intimate partners notice my back and make inquiries. There haven’t been any health issues for me such as backaches, so I’m fortunate. I’m not sure why the screening isn’t done at a more appropriate time and why when it is diagnosed there isn’t immediate, standard treatment… such as a back brace. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scoliosis-screenings-only-done-in-early-elementary/756540/9 "2016-06-05T18:38:37Z")
> [@capybara](#): > > We had it through middle school? Ninth grade? in the 80s. Sort of a poor district-- perhaps it’s something that schools do in places where family medical care is less dependably regular? More likely it’s varying state requirements. My kids district was not poor and had that screening done. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scoliosis-screenings-only-done-in-early-elementary/756540/10 "2016-06-06T01:15:55Z")
That’s the thing you bend over? I think I only had that in middle school. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scoliosis-screenings-only-done-in-early-elementary/756540/11 "2016-06-06T02:25:47Z")
We had it every other year for women, but not the guys. At least until high school–I distinctly remember it being in the junior high gym. I can’t remember for sure what they tested on the guys. But they had both going on simultaneously, with the girls being tested behind a partition. Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the exercises aren’t about straightening your spine, but about developing the musculature to counteract it. I remember that a girl I knew apparently had really good back muscles from horse riding. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scoliosis-screenings-only-done-in-early-elementary/756540/12 "2016-06-08T19:29:24Z")
For what it’s worth, my daughter’s case was not found in a school screening but one at her regular physician. I’m not sure her school ever performed this screening. (Southeaster NH) Thankfully, we have a great orthopedist that specializes in this condition, and my daughter is 100% on board with the treatment. This might change as she actually enters her teens or the really hot weather comes. 20 hrs/day in the brace is no fun, but I give her full marks for her acceptance.