8-910:

You were given a painkiller at a site in your back near your spine.

The vertebrae form the vertebral canal on the rear of the spinal column. The spinal cord runs in the vertebral canal. Nerve fibers run from the brain into the body via the spinal cord and form nerves there. Every nerve is responsible for a particular part of the skin and for certain muscles. These nerves are important for instance in enabling you to feel and move the muscles.

Around the spinal cord there is a layer consisting of fatty tissue and connective tissue. Through this layer certain nerves run from the spinal cord to the body. Nerves are important, for instance, in enabling us to feel touch and temperature and to move our muscles. Each nerve is responsible for particular parts of the skin and for certain muscles. If medication is administered to the layer of fatty and connective tissue, problems in specific areas of the body can be treated as a result.

Your skin was pricked with a needle so that the medication would be delivered in the right place. The needle was inserted into a particular place in your back. The medication can then be injected through the needle itself or a drip can be attached.