ABSTRACT
The above review suggests that in a normal healthy person the major load on the ligamentous spine is axial compression followed by A-P and lateral shear forces and bending moments, especially when the muscle function that protects the ligamentous spine is suboptimal. In addition to this the spine is exposed to chronic vibration and loads that are repetitive in nature. The next section describes the manner in which these types of loads may lead to degeneration from a mechanical perspective.
