Spinal Cord

Keywords

Spinal cord, sacral, lumbar, thoracic, cervical, coccygeal, fibrous, vertebra, brainstem, tumours, abcesses, hematoma, fractures.

Introduction

The spinal cord is a continuation of the brainstem, including a thick bundle of nerves that travel down the inside of your spine. This extends all the way along the spine, and through smaller fibres, is anchored into place at the first Coccygeal vertebra.

Take a Closer Look

The length of the spinal cord in an adult is 40cm, and 2cm wide. Within this cord, it includes:

From this, pairs of the different types of cords emerge from the spine between spaces in it, to go to different parts of the body. This is a vital function of the spinal cord so that it can enable you to do everyday activities you need to perform.

Interesting fact: the spinal cord is like the motorway of our central nervous system, with other 'roads' that attach to it to allow impulses to send and receive back to the brain.

Inside the Cord

Much like the brain, the spinal cord has grey matter, which is situated within the cord flesh. This is a bit like an orange. If you take a look at one, they are encased in the skin (in the spinal cord, this is called the anterior funiculus), and the inside of the orange, which is the part that we eat, is then the grey matter in the spinal cord.

From the spinal cord, four roots appear, which form on either side of the cord. They join together to form the two pairs of cords that emerge and go elsewhere in the body for us to be able to function.

As much as we take our back, our spine and the spinal cord for granted, if we do not look after it, it will deteriorate to a lesser function, and possibly stop altogether. There are a range of disorders that affect the spinal cord, including:

Any of these can be treated, but there are also diseases and conditions that impair the cord further, such as:

While some of the symptoms of these can be reversed, there are no cures for some of them, and they can have permanent damaging effects on your body.