Discover the Backbone of Fun: Top 7 Amazing Facts About the Spine!
1. Snooze like a Mummy
Hitting the snooze button on spine troubles: Turns out, resting like a mummy isn't such a bad idea after all! According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleeping on your back, akin to those ancient Egyptian sarcophagus dwellers, is the best position for maintaining a neutral spine and reducing the risk of back and neck pain. While curling up like a hedgehog in hibernation may seem cozy, it can actually lead to stiffness and soreness, especially for those with arthritis.
Source => coastalorthoteam.com
2. Slinky Spine
Behold the human Slinky: gracefully contorting, bending, and ever-ready to tackle a flight of stairs: Your spine is equipped with three natural curves - cervical, thoracic, and lumbar - forming an S-shape that expertly absorbs shocks and fends off injury. To maintain your built-in slinkiness, practice good posture and partake in core-strengthening endeavors, like planks, to keep your back splendidly supple and spine-tinglingly healthy.
Source => my.clevelandclinic.org
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=> Fun Facts about The-Skeletal-System
3. Giraffe's Neck Secret
If tall tales could speak, the giraffe would be the spinemeister of banter: Research at the University of Tokyo found that giraffes actually have an extra vertebra in their necks, totaling eight instead of the expected seven, just like humans. This bonus vertebra, acting like a cervical one instead of a thoracic, endows them with an extra 50 cm of flexible reach, making treetop dining and ground-level sipping a neck-cessible affair.
Source => u-tokyo.ac.jp
4. Facet Joints: Jagger Moves
You know how some people claim to have eyes in the back of their heads? Well, our spine has got the moves like Jagger, thanks to these handy-dandy body bouncers called facet joints: These little wonders guide and limit movement in each spinal motion segment, contributing to the stability of the vertebral column and playing a vital role in preventing spinal pain and injury.
Source => physio-pedia.com
5. Morning Height Boost
Feeling like a taller order of a venti latte after your morning beauty sleep, huh? Good news, you kind of are: As you snooze, the intervertebral discs in your spine reabsorb fluid and expand, resulting in you being temporarily taller in the mornings – that is until gravity kicks in and compresses those discs down as the day drags on!
Source => mayfieldclinic.com
6. Bungee Cord Spine
Whoever thought our spines doubled as a bungee cord must have had a disc-overy of epic proportions: Fact is, the intervertebral disc (IVD) tucked between our vertebrae acts as a flexible shock absorber, featuring an inner nucleus pulposus made of water and type II collagen, an outer annulus, and cartilaginous endplates that anchor the disc to adjoining vertebrae. Bungee, anyone?
Source => physio-pedia.com
7. Chiropractor's Laughter Medicine
Whoever said laughter is the best medicine must have been a chiropractor's favorite patient: regular chiropractic adjustments can actually improve a runner's speed by loosening up muscles and joints, increasing overall body efficiency, reducing pain, and preventing injuries.
Source => elitespinehouston.com
