Your neck consists of the top seven vertebrae in your spine. The bony parts on your cervical spine surround and protect the spinal cord, which are the nerves that run from your brain down to your tailbone.
At each level in your cervical spine, there is a disc (cushion) between the vertebral bodies, and joints on the right and left side of the spine, which help your spine move. As well, nerves come out from the spinal cord at each level and run to the skin and muscles upper body and arms.
What is different in your cervical spine than the rest of your spine?
There are two arteries called your vertebral arteries which travel through special holes in the cervical vertebrae up to the brain to bring oxygen and blood to certain parts of the brain.
Reasons for cervical pain:
Patients commonly complain of neck pain; muscle pain and tension; nerve pain (referred pain) running into the arms; numbness and tingling into the hands; headaches; and stiffness. There are many structures in the cervical spine that can cause cervical pain. Cervical pain can occur from poor posture, resulting in neck tension and headaches. Straining to lift something or being involved in an accident can strain the soft tissue, joints and discs of your spine, causing a disc to bulge or herniate. Turning suddenly to look at something can strain a muscle or lock a joint and cause severe pain and loss of movement (torticollis). You may have some degenerative changes or arthritis, which will cause stiffness and loss of movement. If you have degenerative changes of the bones and joints in your cervical spine, the nerves in your neck can be pinched, causing severe arm and neck (cervical) pain. Degenerative change in your spine is a normal aging process; however; your involvement in certain sports, repetitive or heavy work may contribute to this process occurring sooner.