Hunchback – is there a way to prevent it?
August 15, 2008 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
When was the last time you saw someone, most often a woman, with a hunched back? This hunched back is called kyphosis, a condition that’s caused by the bones in your spine, the vertebrae, caving in and compressing onto each other.
Imagine a pile of buttons on a table. Put a thread through the pile of buttons and hold the string taut. Those buttons are the vertebrae in your spine. Now, imagine the thread being pulled towards you; the pile of buttons start to bend so one side – the one closest to you – is compressing one button on top of the other. The other side is opening wider as the pile bends away. This is very similar to what is happeing to the spine when kyphosis occurs.
Do you remember any adults telling you to stand up straight when you were a child? Hopefully you listened to them, because your posture can play a role on whether you develop kyphosis. If you’d like to learn more, head on over to Medical News Today: Preventing Kyphosis — A Hunched Back
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Tags: kyphosis, hunched back, vertebrae, chronic pain blog, pain blog
