52 WDDTY | ISSUE 01 | AUG/SEP 2019 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

HEALTHY LIVING

With age, the

spinal canal

running through

your back can

narrow, trapping

nerves and leading

to numbness and

worse. Charlotte

Watts offers some

exercises to keep

things loose

Getting off

your nerves

T

hanks to gravity and the aging process, a certain

amount of spinal compression is natural as you get

older. But for some people, the narrowing of the

spinal canal can lead to pain and other symptoms.

With more and more people suffering from back

pain, it’s important to be aware of your spine and

understand how to keep it healthy.

A healthy spine

The human spine should curve in an S-shape—an

important design for our bipedal (two-legged)

upright sitting or standing stance. It allows the weight distribution to shift

as we move and holds our head and organs vertically up from the ground.

Our spines consist of 24 individual sections of bone (vertebrae)

separated by facet joints, which contain rubbery discs of cartilage to keep

the whole spinal column freely mobile (see the illustration on page 41,

top image). This also creates space for the spinal canal, a cavity running

through each of the vertebrae, which encloses the spinal cord, spinal nerves,

ligaments, fat and blood vessels.

Spinal nerves exit the spinal canal through nerve root canals (intervertebral

foramen) to branch out into your whole body. These canals are surrounded by

bone and ligaments, and changes in the bone structure can narrow them and

create compression or restriction of the spinal cord or nerves. Pain or numbness

can occur when blood flow out to the limbs is restricted.

Spinal stenosis

One cause of narrowing of the spine is spinal stenosis—a degenerative

condition where any combination of bone spurs, enlarged facet

joints or bulging discs constrict the nerve root canals, causing

compression and entrapment of the spinal nerves and

even the spinal cord, called central stenosis (see page 41,

second image from top). It can occur along any area of

the spine: the neck (cervical), upper back (thoracic)

or most commonly the lower back (lumbar).

Spinal stenosis is typically caused by changes

in the spine related to osteoarthritis and

often accompanies herniated discs (page

41, third image), where a portion of

the inner soft center of the disc (the

nucleus) pushes through the harder

exterior (annulus). Symptoms

of spinal stenosis will follow if

the herniation compresses

a nerve.

Since modern

postural

habits