About Spinal Injuries in Huntersville

HOW DOES THE SPINE WORK?

Each function, organ, and system of the human body is under the direct control of the nervous system. The brain controls everything in the body. It sends signals to every part of the body. These signals travel down from the brain, through the brainstem and spinal cord, then out through the peripheral nerves to every part of the body. Some of these nerves go back up to the head. Sometimes the bones of the spine, which are designed to protect these delicate nerve structures, can become misaligned and get stuck. This is known as a subluxation. A subluxation can pinch, stretch, or otherwise irritate the peripheral nerves as well as potentially cause abnormal tension on the brainstem and spinal cord. This, in turn, causes abnormal function of the nerves in these structures and may lead to a wide variety of neurological symptoms and pain.

The spine is made up of bone and ligaments. There are over 100 intricate joints that connect all these bones together and those joints are connected by over 220 ligaments. Only 23 of these ligaments are discs, therefore most of these pain-sensitive spinal ligaments are non-disc spinal ligaments.

The spinal ligaments’ main job is to keep the spinal parts perfectly arranged so that the other systems and their parts in and around the spine are not compromised, irritated, or unable to perform in any way. When the spine ligaments are injured the spine may be compromised and cervical instability may occur.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE IS CERVICAL INSTABILITY?

Spinal ligaments, when damaged, are the leading cause of chronic pain and disability today. Ligamentous injury results in excessive movement in the spine which in turn may cause spinal instability. Spinal instability occurs when the spinal motion is mal positioned (dislocated), deformed (fractured) or excessively move in such a way as to cause pain or neurological dysfunction.