Why Does Your Back Hurt SO Much? 🩻

Morning Back Breakers!

Back pain is coming for all of us..

If you live long enough, eventually you’re gonna get a bad back.

Ah… but that's only partially correct.

See the funny thing is, this doesn't happen in other animals.

Even super close relatives like chimps and gorillas. You don't hear them complaining about a sore back:

(okay, not just because they can't talk)

Humans specifically have really sh*tty spines…

Here's a quick little list of back related problems that humans get but other mammals don't:

Fractured hips, fallen arches, herniated discs, fractured vertebrae, spondylolysis, scoliosis, kyphosis and, of course, osteoporosis.

So what the f*ck gives?

Most likely: walking upright.

Look.

We are vertebrates, which means we have a spinal cord that's protected by bone.

But we also wanna move around and stuff, so it can't be solid bone.

Evolution's solution to this was to split the spine up into a bunch of little parts called vertebrae.

And in between those vertebrae are these hard but also kinda squishy disc things called intervertebral discs.

Imagine it as trying to stack 26 tea cups and 26 saucers on top of one another and then balance a big fat human head on top of that.

Pretty difficult.

If we take a look at chimp spines you’ll see they are rigid and straight, whereas our spines are bent and wiggly.

This is because we need a bent and wiggly spine to help us balance those big fat heads and walk upright.

Unfortunately for us, this wiggliness creates weak spots just BEGGING for failure.

Failure could be caused by general use, injury, sitting down, slouching, pretty much anything that isn't standing up straight.

And THIS is what causes the problems.

Take the T8 vertebrae for example, the most commonly fractured part of the spine:

It's right on a bent bit so it's already in a mechanically weak location.

As we age all these engineering faults in our spine start to cause some damage, wearing down our discs and joints.

And usually T8 is the first to go.

And once it does it totally changes the load bearing of your spine, which causes even more weak points at T12 AND L1.

Usually it's not long until they break too…

Which is why your Grandma is so short and hunched over now.

Human backs are just poorly engineered.

Stay Cute,
Reece, Henry & Dylan 🌈

P.S if you enjoyed this lesson, forward it to a friend.

If you’re that sexy friend, subscribe here.

‍