Importance of a Healthy Spine

Introduction

I can’t believe that after nearly 40 blogs I have not talked about the importance of a healthy spine. That is kind of strange for a chiropractor. Our spines play a big function in our anatomy and our lives. It serves as a protection, anchor, and spring in our body. So today, I’m going to inform everyone who is reading this (if there are many) why it is important to maintain a healthy spine.

 

The protective effects of the spine

Our spine extends all the way up to the neck. It acts as a piece of armor and protects a couple of very important structures in our body; the spinal cord. The spinal cord is an organ that is responsible for relaying messages from the brain to the rest of the body and vice versa. It acts as the main highway and each nerve that goes to different parts of the body is like different exits. So if the spinal cord is disrupted it can cause major problems such as inability to control limbs, numbness, tingling, weakness and in some severe cases, we may even lose bladder and bowel control. This is why our spinal cord needs a protection by something important. Our spine serves as that protection, if our spines are healthier this way, the spinal cord will be better protected by the spine.

 

The “anchor” effects of the spine

The second function of the spine is to serve as an anchor. What I mean by that is, it provides plenty of supports for other muscles and other parts of the body. Big muscle groups like our Lats, traps, quadratus lumborum, levator scaps, psoas are just a few muscles that connect with the spine. This is because the spine is so well designed that it can handle plenty of stress. The reason why our spines are so stable is that it is surrounded by supporting ligaments! All these ligaments provide it with a solid structure allowing it to serve as an attachment point for different muscle groups. A lot of the time, if the spine is not healthy, it will lead to extra stress in the muscle group. This is due to the fact that the large muscle groups will have to provide extra stability. This causes the muscles to compensate and puts a greater workload on them. By having a healthier spine, there will not be extra stress placed on it, thus allowing to be the best anchor as it can be for having a long period of time.

 

The “spring” effects of the spine

Finally, the spine acts like a stress distributor. This can come from any type of stress, it can be stress from traumatic accidents such as car crashes, physical stress such as doing squats and jumping around, or even emotional stress. The spine has two main curves, these two curves are located in the neck and the low back and they look like a reverse ‘C’ shape. These two curves act like a spring and distribute stress. If we don’t have these curves, it’ll cause damage within the structures of the spine like the discs and ligaments. This is just like bending your knees when jumping off a table, if your knees don’t bend, it’ll cause even more damage within the structure.

 

Conclusion

So I just talked about 3 reasons why you should take care of your spine. If not, serious complications may occur over time. Taking care of your spine is like a long term investment. The more care you take, the more you will be able to enjoy your life for a longer period of time. So go to your local chiropractor and keep your spine as healthy as possible!

 

 

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