@suzy7 Hello Suzy, and welcome to Connect. I know it's hard to watch someone become stooped over and develop kyphosis. I watched my dad go through this and it creates a balance issue increasing a risk of falling. We took him to physical therapy and he wouldn't follow through with advice and home exercises from the therapist. As much as she did with hands on stretching at his appointments, he always took the easy route, falling into a chair and my mom waiting on him instead of him getting up, standing up straight and going to the kitchen himself.

There can be conditions like osteoporosis and spine compression fractures that cause kyphosis or discs that wear out and bulge pitching the spine into an abnormal curve. The vertebrae can develop some instability and slide past each other a bit. Bad posture puts pressure on the spine that puts wear and tear on a weakened spine helping to advance the problem. Sometimes with advancing age, a person may not be a surgical candidate, and spine surgery could makes this much worse and leave a person in constant pain. That recommendation must be made by a spine specialist. It is worth asking, and a back brace may help keep it from getting worse and be a non invasive approach. Does your spouse use a walker for balance? Have you discussed this condition with your primary care physician?