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Your Neck
1. The Neck or Cervical Spine Of the 33 total vertebrae or bones in your spine, 7 are labeled as C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7 denoting that they belong in the cervical region. This area starts at your skull and ends at your shoulders; the area known as your neck. The Thoracic spine bones are labeled T1-T12 and the low back vertebrae L1-L5. Your spine also has what are called facet joints, these are on the back or posterior side of your back/vertebrae. These joints are what help you move and play a very important role in your flexibility or lack thereof. As we have mentioned before, the spine is a very complex structure and composing it is another bone structure that is called pedicle. Pedicle are on either side of your vertebrae, and they comprise part of the what is called the walls for your spinal canal. Separating each of your vertebrae you have discs. Your discs act as pads between each vertebrae. If you did not have these discs or if they are damaged, bones can rub together and produce extreme pain. All of your vertebrae and discs are shaped so that they form a protective cover or spinal canal that houses your spinal cord and its various spinal nerves. The nerves exit the spinal canal at various points and run to other parts of your body, where they provide you with feeling. Your body also contains muscles, ligaments, tendons and blood vessels. These all work in unison to help you move. Neck pain symptoms can occur with injury to any of these body parts. Muscle, ligament and tendon injury can result in sprains or strains producing short term but not long term pain. However injury to blood vessels, bones, nerves can be more serious as can tears or cracks to discs any of which can produce long term pain in your neck or other areas of your body. |
