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The cervical spine refers to the entirety of the vertebrae between the head and thoracic spine in humans and is usually the most mobile section of the spine. In healthy people, it exhibits an arch forward, which is called physiological lordosis.

In our modern world, we sit often and for long periods of time. Our body is not designed for this. A healthy ergonomic sitting position is hardly possible over a long period of time, the muscles tire and an upright posture is lost. We sink into ourselves with increasing duration of the day.

The head moves forward or diagonally forward and down, usually with the neck bent to look at the smartphone, we let our shoulders hang down and the upper back becomes rounder and rounder. Once we arrive home, this continues. Everyone can imagine that this is pure poison for the back and neck.

Checking your mobility of the cervical spine therefore makes a lot of sense.

  • Take an upright stand.
  • Close your feet and keep your mouth closed.
  • Keep your shoulders and upper body still.
  • Raise your head and return to the starting position.
  • Turn your head slowly to the right.
  • In the rotated head position to the right, slowly lower the chin.
  • If the chin is above the collarbone (60°-80°) then this would be the green area again.
  • If the chin is in front of the clavicle (40°-60°) then we are in the yellow area
  • if it is below (>40°) then from a functional point of view it is the red area.

If I can touch the collarbone with my chin (without any pain!), then this would be optimal functionality.

Please check both sides. Imbalances often arise, which are clearly visible, due to our daily routines, arm dominance (left or right handed), sleeping positions, etc… One side works well and the other side may not work as well.

This “testing” gives you information about your status quo in a simplified form. A kind of functional diagnosis. It helps you to get a picture of your functionality and quality of movement in order to filter out your strengths and weaknesses and it should help you to develop a feeling whether your body, joints, muscles, certain movements are “rusty” or not. With your results you can determine which areas are more in need of attention or need more attention.

Silvester Neidhardt