CERVICAL VERTEBRA WHERE ARE THEY? They are situated at the top of the vertebra column towards the top of your head, there are seven in total going up to join the base of your skull called the occipital. WHAT DO THEY DO? They are mainly responsible for holding the head in the upright position. The top two vertebra are very mobile, and this allows for greater flexibility than the other parts of the vertebra column. This enables you to move your head in greater range of movement. HOW THEY ARE INJURED A sudden movement of the head eg. whiplash injury when hit in a car from behind

Excessive swimming especially breaststroke

Stress can also cause problems

Lack of mobility or bad posture can cause stiffening of the vertebra WHAT TO LOOK FOR Limited movement in the neck

Muscles in the area being sore to touch

Headaches

In severe cases pain is felt down the arm coming from the nerve which runs from the cervical vertebra

Loss of grip is also a sign of vertebra or a nerve problem RE-HAB See a doctor for inflammatory tablets or advice

See a therapist to manipulate the vertebra

Massage the surrounding muscles and administer heat to help reduce the spasm

Once the spasm has subsided start to do mobility exercises, administered by the therapist

When things settle down the vertebra will still be stiff so some light mobilisation techniques should be used

If there is still referred pain down the arm see the doctor for referral to an orthopaedic specialist