Patient education
3D Spine Simulator
Your nervous system runs through your spine. Click any level below to see what it supplies and which complaints are traditionally linked to it.
Interactive
Click a vertebra to see what it connects to
Every function of the body is coordinated by the nervous system, which sends and receives signals through the spinal cord and the nerves branching from it. Where a spinal joint loses its normal position or motion, the nerves passing that level can be irritated.
Select any level in the column to see the anatomy of that nerve, the areas traditionally associated with it in chiropractic practice, and the complaints most often connected to it.
- Cervical
- Thoracic
- Lumbar
- Sacral
Choose a level from the spine to begin.
This tool is for education only. It does not diagnose a condition and it is not a substitute for an examination. The associations shown come from the traditional chiropractic nerve chart; the anatomical descriptions follow standard references. If something here matches what you are feeling, call the office at (860) 225-9925 and let Dr. Vesci examine you.
Posture
Common posture patterns — and how to set yourself up
Posture is the everyday load on your spine. Small, repeated positions matter far more than any single moment, which is why we photograph and measure posture at your first visit.
Forward head
The head sits ahead of the shoulders rather than stacked over them, most often from screens and phones.
What it does to the spine
Every inch forward multiplies the effective load the neck muscles carry, which is why this pattern so often shows up as neck ache and headaches.
- Sitting
- Hips and knees at about a right angle, feet flat on the floor, and the low back supported so it keeps its natural curve. Bring the screen up to eye level rather than looking down at it, and get up to move every half hour.
- Driving
- Sit back into the seat rather than reaching for the wheel, keep the headrest behind your head rather than your neck, and use a small support behind the low back on longer drives.
- Sleeping
- On your back, a pillow under the head and shoulders with a small roll under the neck and a pillow under the knees supports all three curves. On your side, keep the pillow thick enough to hold your head level with your spine. Sleeping face down twists the neck for hours and is best avoided.
- Standing
- Weight even through both feet rather than parked on one hip, knees soft rather than locked, and the ribcage stacked over the pelvis instead of pushed forward. If you stand in one place for long stretches, resting one foot on a low step for a while and swapping sides takes some of the load off the low back.
- Using your phone
- Bring the phone up toward eye level rather than dropping your head to meet it. The lower the phone sits, the further forward the head travels and the harder the neck muscles work to hold it there. On longer calls, use speaker or headphones rather than pinning the handset between ear and shoulder.
- Lifting
- Squat to the object with one foot slightly ahead, keep your back straight and bend at the knees and hips, hold the load close, and turn with your feet rather than twisting your spine.
Degeneration
How spinal degeneration progresses
When a spinal joint stays out of position or stops moving properly, the tissues around it adapt. Left alone that adaptation follows a fairly predictable course, and the earlier it is addressed the more of it can be reversed.
Phase one
Loss of normal position
Alignment and motion change first. Muscles work harder to compensate and may feel tight or fatigued, but discomfort is often mild or absent — which is why this phase is so easy to miss.
How far this has gone in your own spine is something an examination can answer — including the computerized postural analysis we take at your first visit.
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