What is the location of the second lumbar vertebra?

The lumbar vertebra is very important to everyone. The human waist needs to support the movement of the whole person. If there is any abnormality in the health of the lumbar vertebra, it will affect the daily life of the human body. However, in life, most people do not have a special understanding of the positioning of the lumbar vertebra, and may not even know how many lumbar vertebrae there are. They just know that the lumbar vertebra is very important to the human body. The following will specifically introduce the positioning of the second lumbar vertebra.

Positioning of the second lumbar vertebra

There are five lumbar vertebrae in total, connected to the thoracic vertebrae above and the sacrum and coccyx below. For general surface positioning, the 4th lumbar vertebra must be located first. The spinous process of the 4th lumbar vertebra is located at the intersection of the line connecting the iliac spines on both sides and the midline of the spine. After touching the spinous process of the 4th lumbar vertebra, touch the spinous process of the 3rd lumbar vertebra along the midline of the spine, and then to the spinous process of the 2nd lumbar vertebra. Generally, the position of the spinous process is slightly lower than that of the vertebral body, so the position of the second lumbar vertebral body is just above the second lumbar spinous process. If you count from top to bottom, you can start from the 12th thoracic vertebra. You can first feel the 12th rib and the 12th thoracic spinous process. Then, two spinous processes from top to bottom are the location of the 2nd lumbar vertebra.

How to locate the second lumbar vertebra?

1. The upper edges of the bilateral iliac spines are horizontal, and the connecting line is level with the lower edge of the fourth lumbar vertebra. The spinous process of the fourth lumbar vertebra can be felt in the middle position. After locating the fourth lumbar vertebra, feel the two spinous processes upwards in turn, which are the spinous processes of the second lumbar vertebra.

2. On the frontal X-ray of the lumbar spine, you can see that the last pair of ribs are connected to the 12th thoracic vertebra, the first vertebra below it is the first lumbar vertebra, and the second vertebra is the second lumbar vertebra.

3. When reading the lateral X-ray film and the lumbar spine CT and MRI films, first find the fifth lumbar vertebra based on the sagittal positioning diagram. The fifth lumbar vertebra is characterized by its large size and the sacrum below it. After determining the fifth lumbar vertebra, proceed upward along the vertebral body to the second lumbar vertebra.

How to find the second lumbar vertebra

The location of the second lumbar vertebra should start from the lower back. Because the lumbar vertebra is close to the back, it can usually be touched by pressing hard with the hand. The specific positioning is that the line connecting the bilateral posterior superior iliac spines corresponds to the second sacral vertebra, the line connecting the bilateral anterior superior iliac spines corresponds to the L4/5 intervertebral space, the navel level corresponds to the L3 level, and moving up about the distance of one vertebra is the location of the second vertebra. If positioned from top to bottom, the twelfth rib generally corresponds to the 12th thoracic vertebra, and moving two vertebrae down is the second lumbar vertebra.