The Thoracic Spine

The Thoracic Spine, commonly referred to as your middle back, consists of 12 vertebrae, (T1 - T12). This is the longest portion of your back. Each of these vertebrae has a pair of ribs attached to them. The nerves that exit out between these vertebrae go to muscles and other surface tissues as well as internal organs.

Some of the surface areas these nerves go to include parts of the arms from the elbows down, the hands, and fingers. Also the muscles of the middle back, the chest muscles, and muscles of the rib cage are supplied by nerves that exit out from this area of the spine.

Pain or numbness and other musculoskeletal problems may be just some of the possible results from subluxations affecting these areas and tissues.

The internal organs supplied by nerves from the thoracic spine include much of the body parts supplied by the sympathetic nervous system. This portion of the nervous system innervates many of the organs in the chest and abdomen including, the heart, lungs, bronchial tubes, gallbladder, liver, stomach, pancreas, spleen, adrenal glands, kidneys, and small intestines. Subluxations affecting these organs can lead to a large list of functional and systemic problems including, asthma, certain heart problems, bronchitis, blood pressure problems, ulcers, allergies, kidney trouble, and digestive problems, to name only a few. Most subluxations affecting these areas go undetected for a long time before a health problem is ever noticed.