Treatment and Rehabilitation of Patients with Scoliosis at the Turn of the Century

Idiopathic scoliosis is an illness commonly occurring in children and teenagers. During its development three-dimensional deformities can be observed: in frontal plane - primary, lateral curvature, in sagittal plane - deepening or flattening of the natural curvature of the spine and in transversal, horizontal plane - rotation and torsion of the vertebrae Scoliosis treatment and rehabilitation have been an important and complex issue since the ancient times. The early methods, however, were very painful and hardly effective. At the turn of XVI - XVII centuries a fast development of scoliosis research and the first rehabilitation attempts were observed. In the following the use of corsets became a popular way of treatment. In Poland, scoliosis treatment and patients' rehabilitation gained new meaning at the turn of XVII-XIX centuries, when new, fast developing rehabilitation/treatment centers in Krakow, Poznań and Warsaw were opened.