Medical expert of the article
New publications
Slouching and round back
Last reviewed: 08.07.2025
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
A rounded back (slouching) is the most common deviation, in which there is a pronounced thoracic kyphosis (which affects part of the lumbar spine) and a significant decrease in lumbar lordosis. Slouching is characterized by the fact that the head is usually tilted forward; the chest is flattened; the shoulders are lowered forward; the shoulder blades have a wing-like shape; the back is rounded; the stomach is protruding or sags; the buttocks are flattened; the knees are half-bent. The muscles of the trunk in this position are weakened, so it is possible to adopt the correct posture only for a short time.
Stooping must be differentiated, especially in prepubertal and pubertal age, from such a serious pathology of the spinal column as Scheuermann-Mau disease.
The distinctive features of Scheuermann-Mau disease are back pain (absent in the case of a round back), as well as a sharp limitation of the mobility of the spinal column in the thoracolumbar region. In addition, in Scheuermann-Mau disease, a sagittal profile radiograph of the spinal column reveals wedge-shaped deformation of the vertebral bodies, Schmorl's nodes, and narrowing of the intervertebral spaces in the kyphosis zone.
With a round-concave back, thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis are significantly expressed; the angle of the pelvis is increased; the buttocks are sharply protruded backwards, the abdomen is protruding; the waist is shortened; the head, neck and shoulders are tilted forward; the chest is flattened. Underdevelopment of the abdominal muscles is observed, which causes the prolapse of internal organs.
This disorder must be differentiated in the case of pronounced lumbar lordosis from spondylolisthesis (slippage of the vertebral body forward together with the overlying section of the spinal column. Most often, the L5 vertebra slips).
The distinctive features of spondylolisthesis occurring in children are: pain syndrome and limited mobility in the lumbar spine; the "reins" symptom - defense of the long extensors of the back in the lumbar region; the "telescope" symptom - the approach of the costal arch to the pelvic bones and a number of other symptoms.
[ 1 ]