But First, Let’s Talk About the Spine The human spine (what most of us call “our back”) is the bony column that runs from the base of our skull to the top of our pelvis. It includes 33 vertebrae and a variety of muscles, nerves and other soft tissue structures that combine to protect our spinal cord and stabilize our body’s weight distribution. Of course, the spine also allows us to flex and rotate as needed. Twenty-three discs separate the majority of the spine’s individual vertebrae; these discs are important …