axial loading

{{Short description|Force on a structure along an axis}}

Axial loading is defined as applying a force on a structure directly along a given axis of said structure.{{Citation |last=Yang |first=King H. |title=Chapter 1 - Introduction |date=2018-01-01 |work=Basic Finite Element Method as Applied to Injury Biomechanics |pages=3–49 |editor-last=Yang |editor-first=King-Hay |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128098318000015 |access-date=2024-06-11 |publisher=Academic Press |doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-809831-8.00001-5 |isbn=978-0-12-809831-8|url-access=subscription }} In the medical field, the term refers to the application of weight or force along the course of the long axis of the body.{{Cite web |title=axial loading |url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/axial+loading |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=TheFreeDictionary.com |language=en}} The application of an axial load on the human spine can result in vertebral compression fractures.{{Cite journal |last1=Raniga |first1=Sameer B. |last2=Menon |first2=Venugopal |last3=Al Muzahmi |first3=Khamis S. |last4=Butt |first4=Sajid |date=June 2014 |title=MDCT of acute subaxial cervical spine trauma: a mechanism-based approach |journal=Insights into Imaging |language=en |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=321–338 |doi=10.1007/s13244-014-0311-y |issn=1869-4101 |pmc=4035495 |pmid=24554380}} Axial loading takes place during the practice of head-carrying, an activity which a prospective case–control study in 2020 shows leads to "accelerated degenerative changes, which involve the upper cervical spine more than the lower cervical spine and predisposes it to injury at a lower threshold."{{Cite journal |last1=Dave |first1=Bharat R. |last2=Krishnan |first2=Ajay |last3=Rai |first3=Ravi Ranjan |last4=Degulmadi |first4=Devanand |last5=Mayi |first5=Shivanand |date=2020-03-30 |title=The Effect of Head Loading on Cervical Spine in Manual Laborers |journal=Asian Spine Journal |language=English |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=17–22 |doi=10.31616/asj.2019.0221 |issn=1976-1902 |pmc=7904483 |pmid=32213796}}