Scoliosis cases rise, parents need to watch for heavy backpacks

SALEM – A warning for parents as doctors are seeing more cases of scoliosis.    

"We don't know if heavy backpacks cause scoliosis. There isn't anything conclusive. We do know that if you have a slight curvature of the spine and with text neck and playing video games and doing all that stuff over the summer and they're all bent over and then they get some curvatures and put heavy backpacks on we do know that will make it worse," said Dr. Patrick Kennedy, with Kennedy Chiropractic.

Dr. Kennedy says:
- If a child puts on a backpack and complains, don't ignore it.
- look for numbness
- sometimes their back will tingle
- If they have trouble putting on the backpack, that's a problem and you should get it checked.

"Getting kids screened is really, really important to make sure they don't have any curves before they put that backpack on," said Dr. Kennedy.

He says go with your gut if you think something is wrong.