Understand Your Back and Spinal Cord

Understand Your Back and Spinal Cord

The spinal column consists of series of vertebrae forming the skeleton along the back. It houses the spinal cord, spinal discs, muscles, ligaments and nerves.

The spinal column serves some very important functions like supporting the body's weight, providing flexibility for movement, protecting nerve roots and fibers and forming a protective surrounding for the spinal cord.

• The first set of vertebrae is called the Atlas.
• As babies, we have 33 vertebrae but as adults we end up with only 26 vertebrae. Four of them fuse to make our tailbone and five fuse to make the back section of the pelvis.
• The biggest cause of disability in working population is spinal disorders.
• Those suffering from back pain who do not exercise deep back muscles have a risk of recurrence of back pain.
• Spinal discs are very strong tissues filled with a gel-based substance which helps support the spine and gives it mobility.

• Our spine is so flexible that it can bend to form two thirds of a circle.
• Four out of five adults experience some type of back pain during their lifetime.

Lower back pain is the most common type of back pain. This is because our lower back twists and bends more than any other part of the back. Also it bears the weight of the upper body.

Sometimes back pain is caused by other ailments in the body. For e.g. pain experienced in the middle of the back, which becomes worse after eating, may be a sign of stomach ulcer. And if you experience an intermittent back pain that reaches groin, it might indicate kidney stones.