Elite Chiropractic

What is the back/spine composed of?​

 

1. The spine is made up of 24 movable bones and 8 fused bones.

2. The neck has 7 moveable bones, the mid back has 12 bones, and the low back has 5 movable bones.

3. The sacrum has 5 fused bones.

4. The Coccyx or tailbone is made up of 3 fused bones at the very bottom of the spine.

5. In between the bones we have intervertebral discs which provide mobility and flexibility to the spine.

6. There are also spinal ligaments which attach vertebral bones to other vertebral bones

7. The tendons attach muscles to the spine and enable a contracting muscle to provide a force on the spine to move it in a given direction

8. The lumbar spine is made up of the bottom 5 moveable vertebra. The low-back ideally should have a 35 degree curve between L1 and L5.

 

When the curve (lordosis) is in the correct position it enables the low back to function more like a spring distributing the weight amongst all of the joints. When there is a change in the low back curve (either too much or too little) it changes the forces through the low back, foucusing the stress into certain areas which are then more vulnerable to becoming misaligned, inflamed and irritated causing pain and discomfort.

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