Wife and Mother of 6: The Skeletal System

Fun fact: There are 206 bones in your body!

The skeletal system is made up of two major divisions: the axial skeleton and the appendicular skeleton. The axial skeleton contains 80 bones. Included in this division is the skull, vertebral column, rib cage, and hyoid bone. It protects the brain, spinal cord, and the organs in the thorax and supports the head, neck, and truck. The appendicular division includes the body's other 126 bones which are the bones of the arms, legs, pectoral girdle, and pelvic girdle.

All of our bones are made up of both compact and cancellous bone and are classified according to their shape. There are 5 different types of bone: long, short, flat, irregular, and sesamoid. Long bones are located in the arms and legs. Short bones are those of the wrists and ankles. Flat bones are found in the skull and ribs. Irregular bones include the vertebrae and pelvic girdle and sesamoid bones are like the kneecap, small and rounded.

In order to have healthy bones, many things influence it. A healthy diet and good nutrition is key for proper bone growth during the early stages in our lives. It plays a big factor in maintaining healthy bones in adulthood. The obvious calcium and vitamin D are needed to keep our bones strong and dairy products, broccoli, kale, spinach, salmon, sardines, egg yolks, whole grains, and fruit are great bone building nutrients. You should also have bone-healthy exercises and a bone-healthy lifestyle. Exercises would include anything weight-bearing and strength training. Jogging, walking, and playing sports will also increase bone density. In order to have a bone healthy lifestyle you would want to avoid smoking and consuming alcohol. Smoking depletes body of calcium and smokers are twice as likely to develop osteoporosis.

The skull is divided into two types of bones. The top, sides, and back of the skull make up the cranial bones and the facial bones form the face. The cranial bones include the frontal bone, parietal bones, occipital bone, temporal bones, sphenoid bone, ethmoid bones, and the eat ossicles as well as external auditory meatus also known as the ear canal. The facial bones include the mandible, maxillae, zygomatic bones, palatine bones, and the vomer.

Fun fact: The male skull is heavier and larger than a females.

Seven cervical vertebrae, twelve throacic vertebrae, five lumbar vertebrae, a sacrum, and a coccyx make up the spinal column. The cervical vertebrae are the smallest and lightest and are located at the neck. Following them are the thoracic and then lumbar. The sacrum is at the bottom of the lumber vertebrae is where the scrum and coccyx are located. They are both triangular- shaped bones. The sacrum consists of five vertebrae fussed together and the coccyx, more commonly known as the tailbone, consists of three to five vertebrae fused together.

Twelve pairs of ribs and the sternum make up the rib cage. The first seven pairs of ribs are called true ribs because they attach directly to the sternum or breastplate. Rib pairs eight, nine, and ten are considered false ribs because they are attached to rib pair seven instead of to the sternum. The last two pairs of ribs are called floating ribs because they do not attach to the sternum or to any other structure.