How many joints does the human spine have?

Taking normal adult males as an example, the human spine is divided into cervical vertebrae, thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, sacral vertebrae and coccygeal vertebrae. There are 7 cervical vertebrae, 12 thoracic vertebrae, 5 lumbar vertebrae, 1 sacral vertebrae, 1 coccyx vertebrae, a total of 24 vertebrae, but this number is finally formed after growth and development.

During the growth and development of babies and young people, their spines are much more. The sacral vertebra in the spine has 5 segments at birth, and the caudal vertebra is generally composed of 3-5 small vertebrae, so the number of spines at birth can reach 30-32 segments.

Extended data

The front of the spine is formed by the accumulation of vertebral bodies, and it is adjacent to the internal organs of the chest and abdomen, which not only protects the organs themselves, but also protects the nerves and blood vessels leading to the organs, with only a thin layer of loose tissue between them. When the vertebral body is destroyed, in the neck, pus can gather behind the pharynx, or go down the neck to the subclavian fossa, or along the brachial plexus to the armpit; In the chest, it can follow the intercostal nerve to the chest wall and also spread to the mediastinum.

The posterior part of the spine consists of the pedicle, lamina, transverse process and spinous process of each vertebra. They are connected with each other through ligaments, with shallow surface, only covering muscles, close to the body surface and easy to touch. Lesions at the back of the spine can easily pierce the skin.

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