Symptoms of kyphosis vary depending on its cause, severity, and where it is in the spine.
Although kyphosis is most common in the thoracic spine, or mid-back, it can also form in the cervical spine (neck) and lumbar (low back).
Some symptoms of kyphosis are:
- A visible hump on the back
- Back pain, ranging from mild to severe, especially as the body compensates for the excessive bend
- Chest pain and heart failure
- Fatigue
- Loss of bladder and bowel control, from nerve damage
- Nerve impingement that leads to weakness or numbness in the legs
- Rounded shoulders
- Shortness of breath or other breathing difficulties from compression of the lungs
- Spine stiffness
- Tight hamstrings (the muscles in the back of the thigh)
- Weakness, tingling, or loss of sensation in other areas of the body, depending on which nerves are impinged
A person with kyphosis in the cervical spine may also have:
- Limited neck rotation
- Neck pain, ranging from mild to severe
- Visual shape changes in the neck, from mild to extreme deformity
