An accomplished healthcare consultant with an extensive medical background, Jonathan "Jon" Komar. MD, has served as a physician consultant at OptiMed Solutions in Scottsdale, Arizona, since founding the company in 2018. In this role, he works with private medical practices to provide clinical and business optimization solutions with the objective of realizing the full potential of electronic health record platforms. In addition, Dr. Jon Komar co-authored Scheuermann's Kyphosis Following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury.
Kyphosis is characterized by an excess curvature in the midsection of the spine, resulting in an abnormally round back. While some children are born with the condition due to an aberration in the spine's development, other children develop it gradually after birth due to an underlying defect in their spine (Scheuermann's kyphosis). Other children develop kyphosis as a result of poor posture, which can place excess tension on the spine and weaken the muscles and ligaments in the ribcage region. The spine yields to the stress by curving further. Parents should monitor the posture of their children. Frequent slouching can cause postural kyphosis, so parents should correct children when they slouch. An ideal way to prevent slouching is to encourage children to sit upright. Heavy backpacks can weaken the back muscles and ligaments, robbing the spine of the needed support to carry the weight and forcing it to curve. Therefore, parents should ensure that their children are not carrying too much of a load in their backpacks. Activities like running, walking, swimming, and yoga support the spine and can help prevent problems. Children need to do any or all of these activities regularly.
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A Scottsdale, Arizona-based physician with a medical career that has spanned two decades, Dr. Jonathan "Jon" Komar serves as a physician consultant at OptiMed Solutions, a boutique consultancy that he established in 2018. An accomplished medical researcher, Jon Komar, MD, co-authored the research paper Scheuermann's Kyphosis Following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury.
Kyphosis is a condition defined by excess curvature in the thoracic region of the spine. In a healthy spine, the vertebrae align in a pattern that forms a curve, but the curve is minimal (less than 40 degrees). A person can be diagnosed with kyphosis if the curvature is greater than 45 degrees. The most prevalent symptom of kyphosis is a rounded back, sometimes called a hunchback. If the curvature is not severe, a patient may experience no further symptoms. However, in many cases, kyphosis presents with symptoms such as back pain and stiffness, tenderness of the spine, and a low capacity to perform daily activities. The back pain could be a result of musculoskeletal tension in the region of the abnormal curvature. Adults are also more prone to complications from severe kyphosis. These include persistent pain that does not improve with medication. Breathing difficulty occurs if there is compression of the lungs and/or airway. In some cases, there may also be compression of certain nerves that run through the spinal cord in the affected region. When this happens, the nerves become damaged. In the case of severe damage, control or feeling in that part of the body is lost. Some complications include weakness or numbness in the extremities, poor coordination due to a lack of sense of balance, and loss of bladder control. These severe cases of kyphosis require more invasive treatment -- typically, surgery. |
AuthorJonathan Komar, MD, has involved himself as an active voice in the medical community throughout his career. Archives
March 2022
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