Scoliosis Clinic

The Scoliosis Clinic provides conservative management and follow-up of children with curvature of the spine.

What to bring: 

• Any imaging that has been done elsewhere (X-rays, MRIs, CT Scans, bone scans).  It is best if these can be on a CD. 
• Appropriate clothing to wear during the physical exam (underwear, shorts, tank top) 
• If your child has any special toileting needs (urinals, bedpans, catheters) please bring necessary supplies with you as these are not available in clinic. 

Important pre-appointment instructions: 

It is your responsibility to bring any imaging (X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, bone scans) that have been done elsewhere with you to your child’s appointment.  Family doctors do not send your child’s X-rays to SickKids, so please ask them for a copy on a disc or bring the original films. Please make sure that you bring it with you. 

Directions: 

The Scoliosis Clinic is located within the Orthopaedic Clinic on the Main Floor of the Hill Wing (Gerrard Street), near Tim Hortons. Clinic registration is through the hallway between the Hill Wing elevators. 

If you are using the underground parking, please take the elevator to the Main Floor. Entrance to the Orthopedic Clinic is through automated double doors next to Starbucks: Go through these doors, follow the signs and footprints down the hallway to the clinic. 

The Orthopaedic Clinic and the waiting area can be an extremely busy place.  We may have as many as six different clinics running at the same time, with everyone in the same waiting room.  Some clinics run quicker than others, and therefore the wait time may be less for some families.  Patients may also be called from the waiting area to go to X-ray, for physio or for other tests.  Patients are called in to examination rooms to see the doctor according to appointment times, not arrival times.   

Despite our best efforts, a visit to the orthopaedic clinic can be lengthy.  We ask that you be aware that you may spend up to 3 hours in our waiting room due to unexpected events in the clinic. 

You will be asked to register, using your child’s health card. We will check your family doctor’s name, as well as your home address and telephone number. We will also ask you questions about recent travel and exposure to childhood illnesses such as chicken pox. 

If you have a CD with outside imaging on it please give it to the registration clerk. It will be uploaded into our system.

Once registration is complete, the registration clerk may direct you to the X-ray Department for additional X-rays, or to our waiting area. The health-care practitioner that will be seeing your child will decide if more X-rays need to be done the day of the appointment. 

You and your child will be directed into an examination room. Our Scoliosis Clinic is run by a nurse practitioner and a physiotherapist practitioner. Your child’s reflexes, leg and arm muscles and your child’s back will be examined. We will review the examination and the X-rays with you and your child, and make a treatment plan if necessary.

If you are sent for another X-ray, your child will be given a patient gown to wear. Please have your child stay in the gown or keep the gown with you if your child would like to wear their own clothes while waiting to see us. Your child will need to wear a gown for his or her physical examination. 

At the end of the appointment, if a follow-up visit is required, you will be given a form to leave at the appointment desk on your way out (at the window by the elevators).  Please do not take this form home with you! 

More information: 

If you are calling to inquire about your child’s referral from your family doctor or preliminary consultation clinic appointment, please call 416-813-4834 or 416-813-7041. 

If you cannot come to your scheduled clinic appointment or have a question about your appointment, please call the clinic clerk at 416-813-3199. We will try our best to schedule another appointment as soon as possible, based on availability at that time. You may need to leave a message due to the high volumes of calls received. If you leave a message, you can expect to hear back from us within 24 hours. 

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