Understanding your spine
Your Spine, Region by Region
Your spine is one column, but it does four different jobs along its length. Knowing which region your pain is coming from makes it much easier to describe — and much easier for us to work out what is going on.
The four regions
From the base of the skull down to the tailbone.
- Cervical spine (neck) — the top seven vertebrae. They carry the weight of your head and give it most of its movement.
- Thoracic spine (mid-back) — the next twelve vertebrae, each joined to a pair of ribs. The rib cage makes this the stiffest part of the spine, so it moves less than the neck or the low back.
- Lumbar spine (low back) — five large vertebrae, the ones that carry most of your body weight.
- Sacrum and coccyx (pelvis and tailbone) — fused bone rather than separate vertebrae. The sacrum joins the pelvis at the sacroiliac joints.
Why the region matters
Between most pairs of vertebrae sits a disc, and a pair of nerves runs out of the gap beside it. That is one reason a problem in the spine does not always hurt in the spine — a nerve can be irritated in one place and felt somewhere else entirely.
It also means the place that hurts is not always the place to treat. Part of the point of an examination is to work backwards from where you feel it to where it is coming from.
Problems by region
The guides on this site, matched to where the trouble is.
Sciatica
Lumbar spine — pain running from the low back down the leg.
Sciatica FAQs
Short answers to the questions people ask about leg pain.
Scoliosis
A sideways curve, most often through the thoracic and lumbar spine.
Hip Pain
Pelvis and sacroiliac joints — pain around the hip and buttock.
Prenatal Care
Low back and pelvis under the changing load of pregnancy.
Pediatric Care
Assessment of a growing spine, done gently.
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