The Spine Curves But The Body Is Straight
We all know we have a spine, and we know it has a long snakelike design. But not everyone knows what keeps it supple and able to survive all the tension and motion we expect it to handle. The spine itself is made of vertebrae which are bones and in between the bones is a disc. It’s the disc that provides a cushion for your back bones. The disc is made up of mostly water.
It is all held together with ligaments and tendons. Inside the spine is the spinal cord. The spinal cord runs from the brain to the end of the spine. A lot of nerves run out from the spine discs. There are bones, ligaments, tendons, discs and nerves in your back. Don’t forget the back muscles too. Any of these back components can be broken, sprained, injured, pulled, torn or bruised. It makes it really hard to find the source of back pain in many cases. In other words, be patient with your doctor when he or she has to run a lot of tests looking for answers to your back pain.
Knowing Your Spine
The spine is made up of 3 sections and each section has so many vertebrae. If you’re going to talk about back pain then you should know which vertebrae numbers belong to which spine segment. Otherwise, it won’t mean a thing when the doctor tells you that vertebrae T6 is injured.
The top section of the spine is called the cervical curve, and it’s composed of vertebrae identified as C1 to C7. The middle of the spine is called the thoracic curve and it’s made of vertebrae identified as T1 to T12. The third section is the lower back, and it’s called the lumbosacral curve. The lumbosacral curve is composed of vertebrae L1 to L5. Below the lower spine is the coccyx or tailbone. The spine is meant to be in balance in order to do its job properly. The spine should be lined up so that the ear, shoulder and hip are in a line. The spine curves, but the body is straight.
For more information visit one of our back pain guides: Back Pain Guides
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