Alice Roberts

Our long, flexible lumbar spines are great in many ways - they help us to run efficiently, for instance. But they have their drawbacks. The lumbar vertebrae are under great strain, and as we age, the ligaments that hold the pulpy centres of the intervertebral discs in place dry out.

English Scientist

Nadya Suleman

Four out of the five discs in my lumbar spine are ruptured, herniated fully. Think of a jelly doughnut being squashed, and it hits nerves, causing bilateral sciatica. And I have irreparable sacral damage. And I have peripheral neuropathy.

American Celebrity

Lumbar refers to the anatomical region in humans and some animals, not general lower areas.

Anatomy Specific

Using 'lumbar' specifies that the discomfort is in the lower spine, so don't use it for general back pain.

Pain Location

Don't confuse 'lumbar' with 'lumber', which refers to wood. They sound similar but mean different things.

Common Misuse

 She needed to have a lumbar puncture to get a final diagnosis and treatment plan. But the needle for this procedure wasn't available. I was in Venezuela at that time, and I was seeing my mom getting worse in front of me every day.

Johanna Figueira:...

 And some some little boy hit this guy in his back, in his like lumbar spine area. So she brought him over last week, and he couldn't move his back legs at all or his tail.

Relax With BBC Earth PIPE...

 in the shot silver crunchy right down here how that's the lumbar come and say hello scratch on the neck this is too