Your skeleton is 206 living bones and the joints between them. It holds you up, lets you move, guards your brain, heart and lungs, makes your blood, and keeps your body's calcium in the bank. In Guruji's teaching, strong bones begin in a good gut and a little morning sun.
Overview
What is the skeletal system?
Your skeletal system is the frame of your body: the bones, and the joints, cartilage and ligaments that hold them together. An adult has 206 bones, from the thigh bone, the longest, to a tiny bone in the ear smaller than a grain of rice.
Bone is not dead chalk. It is living tissue with its own blood supply and nerves, which is always being broken down and rebuilt. Inside many bones is marrow, the factory that makes your blood cells.
Bones and joints are among the commonest reasons people seek help — back pain, joint pain and thinning bones above all. In LMNT teaching, bone health begins with digestion: calcium in food is of no use until the body absorbs it.
🖼Illustration coming soonA complete adult skeleton from the front with its main bones labelled
The adult skeleton: 206 bones, from the skull to the toes.
Function
What does the skeletal system do?
The skeleton does far more than hold you up. It is a frame, a set of levers, a suit of armour, a blood factory and a mineral bank, all at once.
Support: gives the body its shape and holds it up against gravity.
Movement: bones act as levers that muscles pull on; joints let them bend and turn.
Protection: the skull guards the brain, the ribs the heart and lungs, the spine the spinal cord, the pelvis the bladder and womb.
Blood making: red bone marrow makes red cells, white cells and platelets every second of your life.
Mineral bank: stores about 99% of the body's calcium and most of its phosphorus, and releases them when the blood runs short.
Energy store: yellow marrow inside long bones holds fat.
How does the skeletal system work with other organs?
Muscular system — Muscles pull on bones through tendons; without them the skeleton could not move, and without bones the muscles would have nothing to pull on.
Intestines — Calcium and phosphorus reach the bones only after the small intestine absorbs them from food.
Parathyroid glands — Its hormone, PTH, draws calcium out of the bone bank when the blood level drops.
Thyroid — Its hormone calcitonin helps put extra calcium back into bone; thyroid hormones also drive bone growth in children.
Kidneys — The kidneys make the final, working form of vitamin D, and hold calcium back from the urine.
Skin — Sunlight on the skin starts the making of vitamin D, the hormone that lets calcium into the body.
Blood — Blood cells are born in the red marrow, and blood carries calcium to and from the bones.
Nervous system and brain — The skull and spine house the brain and spinal cord; nerves tell the muscles when to move the bones.
Doctors divide the skeleton into two parts: the central axis, and the limbs that hang from it. Then there is what is inside each bone, and the joints between them.
The two divisions
Axial skeleton — 80 bones — The central column: the skull (22 bones), the six tiny ear bones, the hyoid bone in the neck, the spine (26 bones), and the ribs and breastbone (25 bones).
Appendicular skeleton — 126 bones — The limbs and the girdles that attach them: the shoulder girdles (collarbones and shoulder blades), the arms and hands (60), the hip bones, and the legs and feet (60).
🖼Illustration coming soonA skeleton colour-coded blue for the central axis of 80 bones and amber for the limbs and girdles of 126 bones
Two divisions: the axial skeleton (blue) protects and supports; the appendicular skeleton (amber) moves you.
Inside a bone
A long bone such as the thigh bone is built in layers, like a well-made pipe.
Periosteum — A tough skin over the bone, full of nerves and blood vessels — which is why a bone bruise hurts so much.
Compact bone — The hard, dense outer wall that gives strength. It makes up about four-fifths of the skeleton's weight.
Spongy bone — A light honeycomb of struts inside the ends of long bones and inside the spine's bones. It is where bone loss shows first.
Bone marrow — Red marrow makes blood cells; in adults it is found mainly in the hip bones, spine, ribs, breastbone and skull. Yellow marrow, mostly fat, fills the shafts of long bones.
Articular cartilage — A smooth, glassy white layer over bone ends inside a joint, so they glide instead of grind.
Growth plate — A disc of cartilage near each end of a child's long bone where new bone is added. It turns to bone and closes in the late teens or early twenties, and growth in height stops.
Bone cells — Osteoblasts build new bone, osteoclasts dissolve old bone, and osteocytes, buried inside, sense stress and direct the work.
🖼Illustration coming soonA thigh bone cut lengthwise showing its outer covering, dense wall, honeycomb ends, red and yellow marrow and cartilage cap
A long bone is a strong hollow tube with honeycomb ends — light, tough, and full of life inside.
Five shapes of bone
Long bones — Longer than wide, act as levers — the thigh, shin, arm and finger bones.
Short bones — Cube-like bones that give strength with a little movement — the wrist and ankle bones.
Flat bones — Thin, curved plates that protect — the skull, ribs, breastbone and shoulder blades.
Irregular bones — Odd shapes for special jobs — the bones of the spine and the hip bones.
Sesamoid bones — Small bones that grow inside a tendon to protect it — the kneecap is the largest.
🖼Illustration coming soonFive bones in a row showing long, short, flat, irregular and sesamoid shapes
Shape follows job: levers are long, shields are flat, and the kneecap grows inside a tendon.
Joints and their helpers
A joint is any place where two bones meet. Some do not move at all; others move freely.
Fibrous joints — Bones knitted together by tough fibre, with almost no movement — like the wavy seams (sutures) of the skull.
Cartilage joints — Joined by a pad of cartilage that allows a little give — like the discs between the bones of the spine.
Synovial joints — The moving joints — knee, hip, shoulder, fingers. The bone ends are capped with cartilage and sealed in a capsule filled with slippery joint fluid.
Ligaments — Strong bands that tie bone to bone and keep a joint stable.
Tendons — Cords that tie muscle to bone, so a muscle's pull moves the bone.
🖼Illustration coming soonThree panels: a skull seam, a spinal disc between two vertebrae, and an opened knee joint with cartilage, fluid and ligaments
From fixed to free: skull seams barely move, spinal discs give a little, and synovial joints glide on cartilage and fluid.
The journey
Before birthFrom about the 6th–8th week of pregnancy
The skeleton begins as soft cartilage and membrane, which slowly starts turning to bone.
NewbornAt birth
About 270 bones, with soft spots in the skull so the head can mould during birth.
Childhood and teensUp to the late teens
Growth plates add length; many small bones fuse; the teenage growth spurt lays down bone fast.
Growth stopsLate teens to early twenties
Growth plates close and height is set at 206 bones.
Peak bone massAround age 30
Bones are at their heaviest and strongest. What is built by now is the savings for later life.
Slow lossFrom the late thirties onward; faster after menopause
A little more bone is dissolved than is built each year. Exercise, sun, food and good digestion slow the loss.
Where is the skeletal system located?
Everywhere. The skeleton runs from the top of your skull to the tips of your toes. It sits deep, under the skin, fat and muscles, but in places — the shin, the collarbone, the knuckles, the elbow — the bone lies just under the skin and you can feel it.
The skeleton is built around the organs it protects. The skull wraps the brain; the ribs form a cage around the heart and lungs; the spine forms a tunnel for the spinal cord; and the bowl of the pelvis cradles the bladder, the womb and the lower bowel.
Many LMNT treatments are given along bones and between them — beside the spine, over the sacrum, down the thigh — but one rule stands throughout: the foot steps over a joint, never onto it.
🖼Illustration coming soonA see-through mannequin showing the skeleton wrapped around the brain, heart, lungs, spinal cord and bladder
The skeleton is built around what it protects: brain, heart and lungs, spinal cord and the pelvic organs.
Living bone is not white like a museum skeleton. It is a pale ivory to pinkish colour, covered in a thin shiny skin with tiny blood vessels on it. Where bones meet inside a joint, their ends are capped with smooth, glistening white cartilage.
Cut open, a bone shows a hard outer shell, a honeycomb inside its ends, and soft marrow — deep red where blood is being made, yellow where fat is stored.
How big is the skeletal system?
An adult has 206 bones; a newborn has about 270, many of which fuse together as the child grows. The skeleton makes up roughly 15 percent of body weight.
The longest and strongest bone is the thigh bone (femur), about a quarter of your height. The smallest is the stirrup bone (stapes) in the middle ear, about 3 mm long. More than half of all your bones — 106 of 206 — are in your hands and feet.
🖼Illustration coming soonA thigh bone beside a ruler, a tiny ear bone beside a grain of rice, and the bones of a hand and foot with their counts
From the femur to the stapes — and more than half of all your bones in your hands and feet.
Conditions and disorders
What conditions and disorders affect the skeletal system?
Problems of bones and joints can come from thinning bone, worn or inflamed joints, trouble in the spine, injuries, or from how the body grew before and after birth.
Bone strength and growth
OsteoporosisBones become thin and porous and can break from a small fall — often with no warning.
Avascular necrosis (AVN)Part of a bone, often the top of the thigh bone, dies because its blood supply is cut off.
Spina bifidaPart of the spine did not close around the spinal cord before birth.
Club foot (talipes)A foot turned in and down at birth, treated best when started early.
What are common signs of a bone or joint problem?
Pain in a bone or joint, at rest or on movement
Stiffness, especially in the morning or after sitting
Swelling, warmth or redness around a joint
Creaking or grinding with a reduced range of movement
Loss of height, a stooping back, or a bone that breaks from a small fall
A deformity, or a limb that cannot bear weight after an injury — see a doctor
Bone pain at night, with fever or weight loss — see a doctor soon
What tests check the health of bones and joints?
X-ray — The basic picture of bone — breaks, wear, spurs and alignment.
Bone density scan (DEXA) — A low-dose scan of the hip and spine that measures bone strength and diagnoses osteoporosis.
Blood tests — Calcium, vitamin D, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase; uric acid for gout; RA factor, anti-CCP, ESR and CRP for inflammatory arthritis.
MRI scan — Shows soft parts — discs, nerves, cartilage, ligaments and bone marrow — in detail, without X-rays.
CT scan — Detailed 3D pictures of complex bones and fractures.
Joint fluid test — A little fluid drawn from a swollen joint is checked for crystals or infection.
How are bone and joint conditions treated?
Exercise and physiotherapy — Strengthening, stretching and balance work — the base of care for most back and joint problems.
Food, calcium and vitamin D — Enough calcium, protein and vitamin D — from food and sun, and supplements if a doctor advises.
Medicines — Pain relief; bone-strengthening medicines for osteoporosis; medicines that calm the immune attack in rheumatoid arthritis; uric-acid-lowering medicines for gout — prescribed by a doctor.
Casts, splints and braces — Hold a broken or injured bone still while it heals.
Surgery — For example fixing a fracture with plates or nails, or replacing a worn-out hip or knee.
Neurotherapy (LMNT)
In LMNT teaching, a bone is only as strong as the gut that feeds it. Calcium in milk or sesame is useless until the small intestine absorbs it — and that needs the body's own working vitamin D hormone, 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, made step by step by the skin in sunlight, the liver, the parathyroid and the kidneys. So the order is: first put right the digestion (undigested food in the stool comes first), then the 1,25 DCC formula, whose points follow that same chain, together with ten to fifteen minutes of gentle morning sun on the back. Joint pain is read at the bedside — the two kidney points, Liv° and Mu°, and the middle joint of both ring fingers — and the Star formulas are chosen by those findings. Thin bones are treated with the hands only, never with the feet. This is support alongside a doctor's care, never instead of it.
Points
(4) Para — Works through the parathyroid hormone (PTH), which keeps blood calcium steady. Inside the full 1,25 DCC formula it helps keep calcium in the blood; given alone, it lifts calcium out of bone — so in osteoporosis it is never given alone.
Liv — Opens the 1,25 DCC chain: the liver makes the first step of active vitamin D.
Liv° — With Mu°, the two kidney points on the back — the kidneys make the final, working vitamin D and hold calcium back from the urine. They are also read in every joint patient.
Mu° — The left kidney point. The teaching links pain at Mu° with the acid side, and with joint pain without cause.
B₁₂ — On the left hip bone. The teaching notes that after about the age of twenty the pelvic bones are among the places where red blood cells are made, and pain here goes with signs of vitamin B₁₂ shortage.
(10) Pan — The insulin point, which the teaching also uses for joint pain of many years.
(4) Ku — Given at the base of the spine for stiffness. Not during menstruation or in low blood pressure.
Fracture Point — For the low back: a heel pump over the sacrum, then a walk down the thigh held up by a helper. Despite its name it is not given over a fresh, untreated fracture — a suspected break goes to a doctor first.
Guruji's formula built from the physiology of calcium: points for the liver, the parathyroid, the two kidneys and the chest, following the body's own chain for making vitamin D. The form is chosen by the stool that day, and because the body takes about two days to build its calcium-carrying protein, it is not given every day without thought.
Very light palm rubbing at every joint from the fingers to the shoulder, with one minute's rest between joints — the time for about sixteen breaths, so the acid loosened from the joint can leave through the lungs.
“In this therapy we do not treat the disease; rather, we improve the body.”
— Dr. Lajpatrai Mehra
“It is not enough that one eats protein. The thing that matters is that it is digested.”
— Dr. Lajpatrai Mehra
“Every person, from a one-day-old infant up to the age of a hundred years, can take this treatment.”
— Dr. Lajpatrai Mehra
Never do this
A suspected broken bone — after a fall, a twist or a blow, with sharp pain, swelling, deformity or a limb that will not bear weight — goes to a doctor and an X-ray first. In older people and anyone with thin bones, even a small fall counts. How to say it
Osteoporosis: hands only — never treat with the foot, not even gently. No jerk techniques (Katka, Motor neuron point, P point, the Pradeep jerk, or Abdomen setting where a spinal bone has collapsed), and no Shukla. Osteoporosis
Never give (4) Para on its own in osteoporosis — alone, it lifts calcium out of the bone. It is given only inside the full 1,25 DCC formula. (4) Para
A single hot, swollen joint with fever or shivering needs a doctor the same day. Both ring fingers sore, or joints swollen on both sides with long morning stiffness: see a doctor within the month. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and rheumatism
New bone or back pain in anyone who has ever had cancer, or pain that wakes you at night, needs a doctor before any treatment. If the person has cancer, (10) Pan, Thymus, Pit, Lu + Sh, Rt. Ov / Lt. Ov and (30) Medulla are never given. Cancer care: Neurotherapy (LMNT) support
Keep taking the medicines your doctor prescribed, including bone and arthritis medicines. Neurotherapy (LMNT) works alongside your medical care, never instead of it.
Care
How can I keep my bones and joints healthy?
Bone is built mostly before thirty and protected after it. It is never too early — or too late — to help.
Take the morning sun
LMNT teaching: ten to fifteen minutes of gentle morning sun every day on the back, over the spine. Sunlight on the skin is the first step in making vitamin D. Avoid the harsh midday sun.
Eat for calcium
Milk, curd, paneer, jaggery and sesame — black sesame most of all. Leafy greens and ragi help too. Protein matters as much as calcium.
Keep digestion right
Calcium and protein that are not absorbed never reach the bone. Regular meals, chewing well and a clean bowel come first.
Load your bones
Walking, climbing stairs, dancing and light strength exercise tell the bone cells to build. Bones that are not used grow thin.
Prevent falls
Good light at night, no loose rugs, firm footwear, and balance exercise. Most broken hips in older people start with a fall.
Say no to tobacco, go easy on alcohol
Both thin the bones and slow their healing.
Common questions
How many bones are in the human body?
An adult has 206. A newborn has about 270, but many of them — in the skull, the spine and the pelvis — fuse together during childhood and the teens.
When do bones stop growing?
Growth in length stops when the growth plates close, usually in the late teens or early twenties. But bone never stops changing: it keeps being dissolved and rebuilt all your life, and reaches its greatest strength at around 30.
Does cracking my knuckles cause arthritis?
Studies have not found that it does. The pop is a gas bubble forming in the joint fluid. If a joint cracks with pain, swelling or locking, though, have it checked.
Is milk the only way to get calcium?
No. Curd, paneer, sesame (especially black sesame), jaggery, ragi and leafy greens all give calcium. But calcium only helps if it is absorbed — which needs vitamin D and a working gut.
Why does an LMNT therapist ask about my stool when I came for joint pain?
Because in LMNT teaching the digestion is corrected first. If food is passing undigested, calcium and protein are not reaching the bones and joints. The form of the stool also decides which version of the calcium formula is given that day.
Can Neurotherapy (LMNT) be given if I have osteoporosis?
Yes, with care. In thin bones LMNT is given with the hands only, never the feet, with no jerk techniques, and (4) Para never on its own. Keep taking the bone medicines your doctor prescribed.
What should I ask my doctor or therapist?
Should I have a bone density (DEXA) scan, and when?
What are my calcium and vitamin D levels, and do I need supplements?
Is my joint pain wear-and-tear, inflammation, or gout — and which tests will tell?
Which exercises are safe for my bones and joints, and which should I avoid?
Do any of my medicines, such as long-term steroids, thin the bones?
(To the therapist) Are my bones strong enough for foot treatment, or should it be hands only?
Surprising facts
1You were born with about 270 bones
A newborn has about 270 bones. As a child grows, many of them fuse — the plates of the skull, the five bones of the sacrum, the three parts of each hip bone — until an adult is left with 206.
Source: Cleveland Clinic, 'Skeletal System'; Gray's Anatomy (ossification and fusion of the skull, sacrum and hip bone).
2More than half your bones are in your hands and feet
Each hand has 27 bones and each foot has 26. Together that is 106 of your 206 bones — the reason hands can thread a needle and feet can balance on uneven ground.
Bone cells are always at work: osteoclasts dissolve old bone and osteoblasts lay down new. In an adult this remodelling replaces roughly a tenth of the skeleton each year — so over about ten years, most of it is renewed.
🖼Illustration coming soonA magnified view of bone with one cell dissolving old bone and a row of cells laying down new bone
Bone is always being rebuilt: one crew dissolves, another crew builds.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bone Health and Osteoporosis: A Report of the Surgeon General (2004), ch. 2 — adult skeleton replaced about every 10 years.
4Your bones make about 200 billion red cells a day
The red marrow inside your hip bones, spine, ribs and breastbone is the busiest factory in the body. Most of the cells your body replaces each day are blood cells made here — red cells alone at a rate of millions every second.
Source: Sender R, Milo R. The distribution of cellular turnover in the human body. Nature Medicine 2021;27:45–48 (≈330 billion cells/day, ~86% blood cells; red cells ≈2 × 10¹¹/day).
5A bank that holds 99% of your calcium
About 99 percent of the body's calcium is stored in bones and teeth. The blood keeps a small, tightly controlled amount — about 9 to 11 mg in every 100 mL. When it drops, the parathyroid hormone withdraws calcium from bone; when it rises, calcitonin helps deposit it back.
Source: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, 'Calcium — Health Professional Fact Sheet' (99% in bones and teeth); Guyton & Hall — parathyroid hormone and calcitonin. LMNT text 28.9-5 gives the same 9–11 mg/dL range.
6Sunlight makes the hormone that lets calcium in
Vitamin D is really a hormone. It starts in the skin when sunlight falls on it, is changed once in the liver and again in the kidneys into its working form, 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D. Without it, most of the calcium you eat passes straight out. LMNT's 1,25 DCC formula takes its name from this very hormone.
🖼Illustration coming soonFive stations from sun on the skin through liver and kidneys to calcium absorbed in the gut and laid into bone
From sunlight to bone: skin, liver and kidneys make the hormone; the gut lets the calcium in; bone stores it.
Source: Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med 2007;357:266–281. LMNT: wiki_db 28.9 and 28.9-1.
7One bone touches no other bone
The small U-shaped hyoid bone in the front of your neck, just above the voice box, is the only bone in the body that does not form a joint with any other bone. It hangs in a sling of muscles and ligaments and anchors the tongue.
Source: Gray's Anatomy — the hyoid bone does not articulate with any other bone.
8The stirrup and the thigh
Your smallest bone, the stapes in the middle ear, is about 3 mm long and passes sound to the inner ear. Your longest, the femur, is roughly a quarter of your height and can carry many times your body weight when you run or jump.
Source: Gray's Anatomy (stapes ~3 mm; femur length); femur-to-stature ratio ≈ 0.26–0.27 used in forensic anthropology (e.g., Feldesman MR et al., Am J Phys Anthropol 1990).
A day in the life of your skeleton
206bones at work in an adult
~200 billionnew red blood cells made in the marrow
99%of your calcium kept in the bone bank
~10%of the skeleton renewed each year
10–15 minof gentle morning sun, as LMNT teaching advises
Yoga
Mountain pose — standing tall Tāḍāsana
🖼Illustration coming soonA grey mannequin standing tall from the side, with a dotted line showing ear, shoulder, hip and ankle in line
Tāḍāsana: stand tall so the skeleton, not the muscles, carries your weight.
Benefits
Teaches good standing posture, with the bones stacked over each other.
Gentle weight-bearing on the legs and spine.
Builds awareness of balance — a first step in preventing falls.
How to do it
Stand with feet together or slightly apart, weight spread over both heels and the balls of the feet.
Gently firm the thighs and lengthen up through the spine.
Relax the shoulders down; let the arms hang loosely.
Keep the chin level and breathe slowly for 30 to 60 seconds.
If you like, raise the arms overhead and rise onto the toes for a few breaths.
Take care
If you feel unsteady, stand next to a wall or hold a chair. Skip rising onto the toes if you have poor balance or dizziness.
Tree pose — with a chair Vṛkṣāsana
🖼Illustration coming soonA grey mannequin standing on one leg beside a chair, one hand on the chair, the other foot resting on the inner calf
Vṛkṣāsana with support: foot on the calf, never on the knee, one hand on a chair.
Benefits
Trains balance, which lowers the risk of falls and broken bones.
Puts healthy load through the hip and leg bones of the standing leg.
How to do it
Stand beside a chair and rest one hand lightly on its back.
Shift your weight onto one leg.
Place the other foot against the inside of the ankle or calf — never against the side of the knee.
Stand tall and breathe slowly for 5 to 10 breaths, then change sides.
Take care
Always keep the chair within reach if you have thin bones or poor balance — a fall is the real danger. Skip it with a recent hip or knee injury or replacement unless your doctor or physiotherapist agrees.
Gentle cobra Bhujaṅgāsana
🖼Illustration coming soonA grey mannequin lying face down, lifting the chest a little on bent elbows with hips on the mat
Gentle cobra: a small lift of the chest, the hips resting down — a back-strengthening bend.
Benefits
Strengthens the muscles along the back that hold the spine upright.
A backward bend, which is gentler on thin spinal bones than deep forward bending.
How to do it
Lie face down, legs straight and together, forehead resting on the mat.
Place the hands under the shoulders, elbows bent and close to the body.
Breathe in and slowly lift the head and chest a little, using the back muscles more than the arms.
Keep the hips on the mat and the neck long. Hold for 2 to 3 breaths.
Breathe out and lower slowly. Repeat 3 to 5 times.
Take care
Keep the lift small and pain-free. Avoid it in pregnancy, after recent back or belly surgery, or if bending back causes leg pain or numbness. With osteoporosis, avoid deep forward bends and twisting under load, and learn exercises from a physiotherapist.
Watch
(2) Para vs (4) Para — One Point, Two Powerful Actions | LMNT Neurotherapy Explained
This video explains the Para point and how (2) Para differs from (4) Para, in relation to low calcium, bone pain and blood pressure.
L5 S1 GHISAI
A demo of L5–S1 ghisai in its three parts, given face down with the front of the foot over the lowest part of the back and the buttocks, followed by the Fracture point with the legs raised on pillows. It is used for relief in low back pain.
Could Neurotherapy Help Ankylosing Spondylitis ? क्या एंकिलॉज़िंग स्पॉन्डिलाइटिस में न्यूरोथेरेपी?
A short Hindi podcast conversation with a senior neurotherapist: what ankylosing spondylitis is, who gets it, its symptoms and complications such as bamboo spine and eye inflammation, and how Neurotherapy (LMNT) looks at it through acid–alkali balance and the parathyroid.
The talk calls Neurotherapy (LMNT) an “alternative medicine”. In LMNT teaching it works alongside your rheumatologist's care, never instead of it — keep your medicines and your exercises.
Test yourself
Research
Strong evidence
Researchers added up how many cells of each kind the body replaces. About 330 billion cells are renewed every day, and most of them are blood cells made in the bone marrow.
A large review found that the bone built in childhood and the teens — helped by physical activity, calcium and vitamin D — sets up bone strength for life, reaching its peak by about the late twenties.
This page explains how the body works; it does not diagnose. Neurotherapy (LMNT) works alongside your medical care — keep taking the medicines your doctor prescribed, and see a doctor for any new or severe symptom.
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