Our flexible spine

   Maybe you thought your backbone was perfectly straight up and down. Well, it isn't. From a side view, you can see a long, S-shaped curve. The curve helps the spine stay strong, absorbs jolts when we walk and run, and makes the spine more flexible.

   The Human Spine is made of 33 bones or vertebrae

Neck — seven vertebrae
Upper back — twelve vertebrae
Lower back — five vertebrae
Sacrum — five vertebrae often fused together into one bone
Coccyx — four vertebrae frequently joined to one another
Total number of vertebrae = 33