Make an appointment with your healthcare professional if you notice an increased curve in your upper back or in your child's spine.

In older people, kyphosis is often due to weakness in the spinal bones that causes them to compress or crack. Other types of kyphosis can appear in infants or teens. These types are due to malformation of the spine or wedging of the spinal bones over time.

The bones that make up a healthy spine look like cylinders stacked in a column. These bones are called vertebrae. Kyphosis happens when the vertebrae in the back become more wedge shaped.

The risk of developing kyphosis as an adult increases with age as bone density decreases and spinal disks degenerate. In children, certain genetic and metabolic conditions may put them at increased risk for kyphosis, including osteogenesis imperfecta, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and Marfan syndrome.

Mild kyphosis may not have any noticeable symptoms. In fact, the upper back naturally has a little kyphosis. People who have excessive curvature may experience back pain and stiffness.

Mild kyphosis causes few problems. Serious kyphosis can cause pain and be disfiguring. Treatment for kyphosis depends on your age, and the cause and seriousness of the curvature.