Question
Hello, I am a 22 year old south asian woman who has spent a majority of her life living in the north east coast. Back pain tends to run in my family however, up till now, I have been unaffected. Recently I noticed that the spinous process of one of my thoracic vertebrae is malformed or not properly formed. The protrusion of the spinous process usually creates little bumps down my spine but, slightly above midline - I don't know what number vertebrae it is - there is a gap, no bump at all. If I touch the gap it feels strange. It doesn't hurt exactly, just feels strange. And sometimes I feel a sort of pointed pain in that area. I don't know if this is a conditions that has gone unnoticed since birth or if this is a recent development, I've never had any spine related injuries, and it hasn't caused me any major trouble. I'm simply concerned. Is this something worth getting checked out or just some inconsequential anomaly?

Answer
Hi Sonia;

Sorry it took a while to answer you; I was on vacation.  

So the worrisome spinous process isn't something I would necessarily worry about.  Malformations and deformations are very common in all animals, and a short or long spinous process isn't a deal breaker for perfection.   You may very well have a short spious process, and the easiest way to diagnose it os to get a simple plain film xray of the area, specifically a lateral view.

So there you have it:  get it checked if it's really disconcerting to you, but otherwise I'd disregard it and move on to other problems.