The vertebral column(or as better known, the spine) is quite strong and flexible! It is used as support to the head and provides support for the ribs! The spine is composed of smaller bones which are referred to as vertebrae, these are separated from one another by pads of cartilage tissues, which are called intervertebral disks. These discs are shock absorbers, and become more thin as people age, which explains height loss. The spine is split into five sections, named based off of their location in the body. These sections are called, the cervical vertebrae, the thoracic vertebrae, the lumbar vertebrae, the sacrum, and the coccyx.
Five Sections Explained:
Cervical Vertebrae = Is found within the neck area, allows us to nod and turn our heads.
Thoracic Vertebrae = Is found within the chest area, articulates with the ribs.
Lumbar Vertebrae = Is linked with the lower back, bears most of the bodies weight
Sacrum = Formed using five fused bones, is an articulation point for the hips
Coccyx = Is better known as the tailbone! Is formed by four fused bones.
It is magnificent to see how much stress and forces the spine is able to withstand, during athletic performances/activity! Not only this, but it is able to remain flexible and mobile as being used in performance. Although this is all great, injuries to the spine can be fatal/irreversible. This usually results in paralysis, damaging an athlete's future. The injury focussed on in this section is cervical fractures/subluxations.
Cervical Fractures and Subluxations Injuries to the spine like fractures or dislocations are serious, but not common in everyday athletics. A cervical fracture or subluxation can happen in an everyday sport! A sport with a high risk of these injuries are football players, as the head is used in blocking and tackling quite often. This fatal/paralyzing injury occurs when an athlete’s neck is in flexion and receive a hit to the crown of their head. For example, when the head is facing downwards and the top of the head makes contact with an object/person.
FUN FACTS!
All of our upper body weight is supported by the spine! The spine is made up of 33 bones! The spine contains over 120 muscles