In chiropractic and generally speaking, the cervical spine is the part of your spine anatomy that starts just at the base of your neck, right at that spot where you get sore if you sit too far up in a movie theater. It's a very vulnerable part of the body, housing important vertebrae that can result in serious spine trauma if injured. Understanding your cervical spine anatomy will help to protect your cervical spine area from spine surgery throughout your lifetime.
Your cervical spine has a very distinct purpose and function: to encircle and protect the spinal cord while supporting your skull and allowing your head a wide range of movement. The cervical spine allows your head to rotate, nod forward and backwards and move in a variety of angles from side to side.
Cervical spine anatomy is comprised of seven vertebrae that correspond to eight pairs of cervical nerves. All of the vertebrae in the spine are numbered. The vertebrae grouped into the cervical spine group are number C1 through C7. Many ligaments, tendons and muscles, all of which serve to keep the cervical spine stable and safe, support these vertebrae.
Because important nerve impulses travel through the spinal cord, controlling muscle movement and feelings of pain and pleasure, the cervical spine has an extremely significant role in bodily function. An injury to this area of the body can result in paralysis or severe disability because an injury would interrupt the impulses traveling through the peripheral nervous system. If these impulses are interrupted, pain or numbness may occur, indicating that the path has been interrupted or blocked.
Protect your cervical spine and be careful when participating in high risk sport activities such as diving in shallow water, parachuting from an airplane or scaling mountain sides. Even the impact from a car accident can injure this vulnerable area, so keep safe.
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