 Hey everybody, Dr. O here and in this video we're going to talk about the curves of the spine. So we're all born, we all start in the fetal position so this forward curvature is the curve we begin with and that's going to be your primary curve. So the two that stay that way are going to be your thoracic curve which is also called a thoracic kyphosis than the sacral curve because you're already in that position. So your primary curves are going to be your thoracic curve and your sacral curve and they are going to be a kyphosis. Then we have our secondary curves are the ones that gradually develop over time and they're going to be a lordosis. So you have your cervical lordosis and your lumbar lordosis. So these start to develop, cervical curve starts to develop first as you start to hold your head up. So think about like tummy time for a baby, how it helps develop the muscles of the head and neck and as they start to hold their head up the cervical curve will develop. The lumbar curve starts to develop with sitting, standing and walking. So your primary curves are the ones you were born with that fetal position, kyphotic curves, thoracic and sacral. The cervical and lumbar curves are going to be a lordosis curve and they have to develop over time. So that's going to be your four key curves there in your vertebral column and which ones are primary and which ones are secondary. Now let's go ahead and look at some abnormal curves. So you have scoliosis, kyphosis and lordosis. Let's start with this kyphosis. So it's kind of weird, right? The thoracic curve is called a kyphosis but then calling it a kyphosis means it's an abnormal curve. So I guess you'd say an excessive kyphosis. These are all often called hunchback or humpback. This is going to be, if you have an excessive primary kyphotic curve there in your thoracic spine, most common cause is as we get older with osteoporosis and bone weakening, our body weight causes the front of our vertebrae to collapse and they're no longer going to be like a square. Let me go ahead and show you. So normal vertebrae are going to be like that box there with bone loss. You're going to see the compression of the front of the vertebrae causing that kyphosis where someone starts to basically look like a question mark. So an excessive thoracic curve is called a kyphosis. Then you have the lordosis. So a lordosis is going to be an excessive lumbar curve usually can be often see it called swayback as well. I just usually call it a lordosis though. This is most common with pregnancy or abdominal obesity where the weight in the anterior of the lumbar spine will actually pull the lumbar vertebrae and force them to sag forward also cause the pelvis to tilt anteriorly. So a kyphosis and a lordosis can be normal curves which we all should have cervical lordosis, thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis and sacral kyphosis. But if they're excessive they can be a problem. Then lastly we have scoliosis which is an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine. So usually it's idiopathic meaning unknown origin why someone has scoliosis usually gets worse during adolescence, during growth spurts. If you have one primary curve you'll almost always have secondary curves that are trying to compensate for the abnormal curve in one way or the other. So if you want to test for scoliosis certainly x-rays will work. You can feel someone or palpate someone's spine and then if you have them bend forward because of what's called coupled motion you can't have this much lateral curvature of the spine without it also twisting. So if someone was scolio maybe in middle school or they had you kind of bend over at the waist if you develop a hump on one side that usually means there's a lateral curve with some rotation. So that's how you would look for a scoliosis if you're doing a quick screening. Alright so those are your normal and abnormal spinal curvatures. I hope this helps. Have a wonderful day. Be blessed.