Unveiling the Vital Roles of Vertebral Joints
- golabiromtin
- Jul 21, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 23, 2025
By Romtin G.
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Have you ever wondered what keeps your spine in perfect harmony, allowing you to perform everything from somersaults to sitting upright? Meet the vertebral joints— complex connections that are like the gears in a well-oiled machine, supporting your body weight and protecting the spinal cord, the essential nervous connection between the brain and the rest of the body. In this post, we’ll uncover the vital roles of the vertebral joints, a few of the common diseases associated with them, and how to keep them functioning smoothly.
SPINAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
As I said before, the spine supports your weight and protects the spinal cord, but it also provides a framework for muscle attachment. For example, a set of muscles called the extrinsic back muscles helps with rib cage and arm movement, while the intrinsic back muscles maintain posture and move the vertical column of the vertebral column. A singular vertebra has three parts: the body (bears weight), the vertebral arch (holds the spinal cord), and the processes (helps with muscle attachment). The vertebral column has a cervical section, with 7 vertebrates labeled C1-C7, a thoracic section, with 12 vertebrates labeled T1-T12, a lumbar section, with 5 vertebrates labeled L1-L5, and a sacrum and coccyx that have a total of 9 fused vertebrae. The cervical column supports your head, with lots of importance being placed on the first two vertebrates (C1 and C2) as they permit the most motion throughout your backbone. The C1 vertebra (also called the atlas) has a ring-shaped structure and allows you to nod your head, pivoting around the C2 vertebrae, which helps you shake your head when saying no.
The thoracic vertebrae hold the rib cage, lungs, and heart in place, and therefore have a limited range of motion. The lumbar vertebrae support your entire upper body weight, so they are larger than the other vertebrates. Excluding the C1 and C2 vertebrates (as they have a very specialized pivot function), each of the first 24 vertebrates has a shock absorber in between its neighbor vertebrate called an invertebrate disk. The last 9 vertebrates that are part of the sacrum and coccyx are fused, so they don’t have any invertebrate disks. The invertebrate disk is made of a gel-like center and a surrounding tough outer layer made of fibrocartilage (read my first article to learn more!). When you stand or move, pressure is put onto the nucleus, resulting in its expansion, while the tough outer layer holds the center in place. This allows for slight movement between vertebrae while maintaining a general framework. However, when damage occurs to one of these disks, the tough outer layer can break, allowing the gel center to leak through and put pressure on nearby nerve roots of the spinal cord or the spinal cord itself. This condition is known as having a herniated disk and is often the cause of a common disease called sciatica, where a specific nerve (the sciatic nerve) that runs throughout the lower body gets pinched, leading to pain, numbness, and weakness in the lower back and the legs. Also, have you noticed that some people seem to shrink when they get older? Overnight or when you lay down, the gel center absorbs fluid, and then this fluid is pushed out when you stand up throughout the day. Your invertebrate disks lose the ability to do this over time as they flatten out and become more brittle, resulting in a slight decrease in height!
CONCLUSION: MAINTAINING SPINAL HEALTH
Now, to keep our spine in the best shape, it is crucial to focus on a combination of regular exercise, proper nutrition, and good posture habits. Engaging in activities that strengthen the core muscles can provide essential support to the spine, while flexibility exercises such as yoga and stretching can help maintain the spine’s range of motion and prevent stiffness. Additionally, a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D supports bone health, and staying hydrated keeps the intervertebral discs well-nourished. Practicing good posture, both while sitting and standing, reduces strain on the spinal structures, and avoiding heavy lifting and using proper techniques when lifting objects can prevent injuries. By integrating these practices into our daily routine, we can promote a strong, healthy spine and enjoy an active, pain-free life well into our later years. I hope you enjoyed my review!
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