Understanding the spine — surrounding muscles, bones and nerves — is key to understanding spinal injuries. Knowing the exact level of the injury on the spinal cord is important when predicting what parts of the body might be affected by paralysis and loss of function.
Anatomical Overview of the Spine
The spine holds the weight of the upper body, supports its structure and posture and protects the nerves of the spinal cord.
The vertebral column, also known as the backbone, is a column of 24 vertebrae, the sacrum, intervertebral discs, and the coccyx situated in the dorsal aspect of the torso. These parts are separated by spinal discs which, as a whole, protect and house the spinal cord. Viewed laterally, there are several curves in the spine, each of which represents a different segment of the spine. These segments include the cervical (making up the upper part of the spine and the neck), thoratic (the upper to mid-back), lumbar (the low back, and a more defined curve in women than men) and the pelvis, ending in the coccyx. The thoracic and pelvic curves are termed primary curves, because they alone are present during fetal life. The cervical and lumbar curves are compensatory or secondary, and are developed after birth, the former when the child is able to hold up its head (at three or four months) and to sit upright (at nine months), and the latter at twelve or eighteen months, when the child begins to walk.
The Spinal Anatomy Index has a complete list of the anatomical elements that make up the spine and links to detailed explanations of each.
The basic movements of the entire body can be traced back to a region on the spine. The the spinal segments correlate specifically to bodily movement functions. If movement in one part of the body is inhibited or numbed, a very specific region of the spine could be the source of injury.
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