The spine is our body's central support structure. It keeps us upright and connects the different parts of our skeleton to each other: our head, chest, pelvis, shoulders, arms and legs. Although the spine is made up of a chain of bones, it is flexible due to elastic ligaments and spinal disks.Conditions that involve damage to the spinal cord (which can cause paralysis) usually involve trauma or disease in the cervical spine or thoracic spine, and this is different from the majority of back problems that cause pain. In This Article: Understanding Back Problems. Normal Spinal Anatomy.
