Landsbullock

Dan T. - I am a newby contributor, however I am a Registered Nurse. The spine is divided up into the Cervical, Thoracic, Lumbar, and Sacral regions for anatomical land-marking or guideposts if you will. For discussions on Range of motion (ROM), the only moving parts of the spine are the cervical (makes your head nod and swivel), the Lumbar (allows you to bend forward and for some - backwards). That is all the motion you get from the spine. The thoracic region is connected to the ribs and does not move very much. HOWEVER, in the case of disc bulge, spinal cord compression, or damage to the thoracic region that causes pain (mostly chest and radiating pain to lower regions (thoracolumbar, lumbarsacral)). If you have noted pain in the Thoracolumbar (between the Thoracic and Lumbar region), or the Lumbarsacral (previous called lumbago- but is between lumbar and sacral region) then these terms are for identification of the area for treatment. In your case, and based upon the information from 38 C.F.R (as provided by broncovet) the cervical spine should be rated at 30%, the lumbar sacral should be 40% and the thoracic would remain at 10% UNLESS you have radiculopathy (pinched nerve or nerve pain) in the thoracic area that would decrease you depth of breathing, weight you can carry, or pain that travels from the mid-back to the lower back and buttocks. If the xrays only show degenerative disc disease or arthritis in the thoracic area, without symptoms then you would remain at the 10%. Hope this helps. Thanks for allowing my input.