Vertebral Columns & Your Spine

Your vertebral column is composed of
bones which is hard tissue, your disc
and your nerve. Now what happens is the
disc has two components. In the center
here you have what’s called the nucleus
that houses all the blood and nutrient
for the disc. Surrounding that you have
these cartilage rings that help to keep
the nuclei nucleus in the center. It’s
very important that it’s centralized.
Now what happens is through accident or
injury over time unequal pressure can be
placed on the disc either one side or
the other or both. I want you to think
of this disc as kind of like a jelly
donut. And if the jelly donut is being
pushed on one side, the jelly is going
to shoot out. Well, that’s an example of
a disc bulge or herniation. You can see
how the disc is oluding where the nerve
passes through that. And this nerve in
your neck runs down to your arm and
hands. And in the lower back, it runs
down to your hips and your legs,
controlling all muscular function. This
is why somebody who has a back injury
can have pain down the leg or a neck
injury and have pain down the arm. Now,
what this model represents is the
different phases of spinal degeneration.
This is what it should normally look
like. You have a normal space here. You
can see how everything is symmetrical.
The space where the nerve passes through
is adequate without any interference. As
we start to age and get injured over
time, the space diminishes, further
closing off on the nerve. Depending upon
how it’s injured, it can cause this the
bones to remodel and break down. You’ll
develop these little nubs, these little
lips and spurs, and that can cause the
nerve to become um irritated, damaged,
uh and ultimately cause a lot of
different health problems in the body.
So, we want to make sure that with our
patients that we try to preserve as much
as we can and minimize the forces on the
spine so the body is able to work
efficiently. If you’re dealing with any
type of neck, back, headaches, any type
of issues um in the spine, there’s a
good chance that chiropractic can help
you. Please book an appointment, give us
a call, shoot us a message. We can
answer all your questions and point you
in the right