The Spine

Keywords

Spine, back, spinal cord, cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, coccyx, vertebrae.

Introduction

The spine is one of the most important parts of our body. It doesn't just keep us upright. It carries the information superhighway (our spinal cord) between our brain and the rest of the body.

How is it Made up?

Basically, the spine is a series of bones collected together that house a cord in the middle. Not only that, between these bones, are supple joints (also called discs) that allow the spine to move about from side-to-side, as well as from front-to-back.

From this, we can see that the back is separatd into 5 areas. They are:

Parts of the Spine

The Cervical: this is the topmost part of the spine, and connects directly to the skull. The first vertebrae is called the Atlas, named after the Greek god himself, who held the Earth above his head. Both this and the second vertebrae allow for the movement of your head to nod and move side-to-side.

Thoracic: now, if you've read my page on the ribcage, you will already know that the Thoracic vertebrae are connected to the ribcage. They provide protection for your heart and lungs.

Lumbar: these vertebrae support the upper portion of your body, and are larger to as to support the stresses.

Interesting fact: lumbar areas of the back provide the most common issues with back pain. This is because they are usually overstretched, and manual handling techniques are not applied to workforces.

Sacral: these are fused together, so no more joints (discs) between the bones. They form part of your hip, through connection to the spine itself.

Coccyx: the last four bones in your spine are also fused together, and provide points for attachment of ligaments, and also muscles of the pelvic floor.

A Single Vertebrae

What does a single part of the bone do? Well, for one, it is split into three parts - the body, the arch and the processing points, of which there are three. The body bears the weight, the arch allows the spinal cord to be housed, and the processing points allows for attachment.

There are also two places where each vertebrae join together. These are called facet points. Between each veterbrae are the intervertebral discs. They are made up of several small layers of fibres that interweave to make up the annulus. In the middle is a gel-filled layer called the nucleus (like the nucleus of a cell).