The examination to determine Kyphosis is very simple and it can be performed regularly by the parents themselves but also by gymnasts in school. The examination takes only two minutes. It is made up of two partial examinations.
Observation of the child’s body, naked or with a tight T-shirt. Standing up from in front and behind, and the Bending test.
Kyphosis, that is hunching, as observed in an adolescent, is when the shoulders fall forward in general, creating a curve in the back, which, however, is corrected when the adolescent straightens his/her body.
1. Kyphosis Test: OBSERVATION IN A STANDING POSITION
In pathological kyphosis, the hump does not disappear even when the adolescent tries to straighten his/her body, and this is visible when viewing from the side.
2. Kyphosis Test: BENDING TEST
In the bending test we make the child stand to attention and then bend forward, hands hanging freely, knees straight, head between the arms and without lifting the shoulders. The child must bend so as to form almost a right angle, and we observe from the side.
If kyphosis is true and not due to bad posture, we see that the outline of the back is not a smooth curve, but at some point there is a second curve which is more prominent, whose shape does not change when the child begins to raise slowly towards the upright position.
The hump is not corrected if we place our hand on it and instruct the child to raise his back.