Keep your spine healthy

World Spine Day has been organised by the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) since 2008. The federation is an international consulting body which represents chiropractic to the international health care community. World Spine Day has become a way to focus raising awareness of back pain and other spinal issues by bringing together health professionals, exercise and rehabilitation experts, public health advocates, schoolchildren and patients.

World Spine Day 2021

In 2021 the theme for World Spine Day is Back2Back. The day focuses on highlighting ways in which people can help their spines by staying mobile, avoiding physical inactivity, not overloading their spines and adopting healthy habits such as weight loss and smoking cessation. And there will be special attention for spinal pain and disability at home, in the workplace, in schools and in communities.

World Spine Day is the largest global public health event dedicated to promoting spinal health and wellbeing. The day highlights the burden of spinal pain and disability around the world. With health professionals, exercise and rehabilitation experts, public health advocates, schoolchildren and patients working together, standing back2back, the day is celebrated around the world.

An estimated one billion people worldwide suffer with spinal pain. It affects people of all ages and backgrounds, and is the biggest single cause of disability on the planet. Effective management and prevention is therefore key and this year’s World Spine Day will be encouraging people to take steps to be kind to their spines.

World Spine Day highlights the importance of spinal health and well-being. For example, the day will include the promotion of physical activity, good posture, responsible lifting and healthy working conditions as people are encouraged to look after their spines and stay active.

Fun facts about the spine

Though we use our spine all day, we often don’t know a lot about it or have forgotten what we learned in school. Here are some fun and amazing facts about the human spine.

• The spine has over 120 muscles in it.
  This is why our spine is so flexible, and why it allows us to use it in so many different ways.
• Cartilage in the spine can expand and contract.
  Gravity can cause the cartilage to expand and contract, that is why sometimes when people go to space they come back taller! You are also taller in the morning than at night, because at night you have had gravity pushing down on you all day long.
• The spine has an exceptional memory.
  Your spine will remember and become used to your posture. This is why it can be hard to get out of the habit of having bad posture. But once you do make a habit of good posture, your spine will remember it.
• The spine consists of three parts, each forms a natural curve.
  The curves at the neck (cervical spine) and lower back (lumbar spine) are called lordosis. The curve of the chest (thoracic spine) is called kyphosis.
• Humans and giraffes have the same amount of vertebrae in their neck.
  This is what provides humans with so much flexibility in their neck.
• Baby’s spines begin developing just two months after conception.
  The spine is the first bone to start to grow when we are in the womb.
• The spine is very strong.
  It can hold hundreds of kilograms of weight, which is why you often don’t feel the weight your head, shoulders and upper body.
• Most of the back pain experienced is in the lower back.
  This is because the lower back is constantly twisting and stretching. Some scientists believe that back pain is due to evolution, and it is not preventable in many ways.
• The spine is extremely flexible.
  It can bend far enough back to make ⅔ of a circle.