Special shapes of the hunchback

Scheuermann’s disease (adolescent kyphosis): Due to a disorder of ossification, the front and back of the vertebral bodies in the thoracic region grow unevenly, which leads to the development of a rounded back. This disorder affects adolescents, with boys being affected twice as often.
Bekhterev’s disease (ankylosing spondylitis): A chronic, rheumatic-inflammatory disease leads to stiffening of the lower spine, often resulting in a hunchback in the chest area. This disease is usually diagnosed between 15 and 30 years of age.
Pott’s gibbus (Spondylitis tuberculosa): This can occur as a late complication of tuberculosis in the spine.

Symptoms

Pain is one of the typical complaints of people with a pronounced hunchback.Especially patients who have suffered from the formation of a hunchback since early childhood often complain of pronounced pain. Typically, the pain intensifies after long periods of standing or slow walking. Patients with a hunchback often suffer from back pain, and some also complain of headaches.

In addition, movement restrictions, but also sensory disturbances due to damage to the spinal cord can occur in the course of the disease. This can be caused by a constriction of the nerve fibers exiting the spinal canal. The increasing malposition of the individual vertebral segments leads to compression of the intervertebral discs and, in the long term, to impairment of the nerve fibers.

In addition, patients with a pronounced hunched back often suffer from a significant false strain on the muscles in the area of the back. The result is painful muscle tension which is very difficult to relieve without specific therapy. A further reason for the pain in patients with a hunchback is the impairment of the vertebral joints and the periosteum.

Excessive strain on these structures can cause irritation and/or inflammatory processes. The symptoms are not limited to the area of the back. The function of the heart and lungs can also be impaired if the back is very hunched.

Patients also suffer more frequently from sleep disorders and depression, among other things because of the cosmetically unfavorable shape of the back. A hunchback classically leads to a restriction of shoulder mobility. Due to the incorrect curvature of the spine, the shoulders hang down at the front and the shoulder blades stand up at the back.

The wrong posture caused by a hunchback can lead to tension in the neck and back muscles. Neck or back pain is the result. The pain is usually aggravated by movement, which is why those affected tend to adopt relieving postures and avoid movements of the shoulder and back.

Certain movement sequences, such as rotating movements of the body, can cause the pain to radiate and trigger low back pain. Depending on the severity of the hunchback, pain can even radiate into the limbs. In addition, those affected often suffer from sleep disorders. A frequent consequence of the sleeping disorders as well as the hunchback itself are permanent headaches, which can be very stressful.