Cervical spine loading during asymmetrical non-injurious physical activities

Cervical spine loads associated with non-injurious physical activities that involve notably asymmetrical coronal motion of the head and neck have not to date been reported in the literature. In the current study, three-dimensional forces and moments are calculated at the upper cervical spine from the head accelerations recorded from 30 healthy volunteers (15 male) performing simple, non-injurious physical activities with notable left-right asymmetry (e.g. rapid side-to-side head turning and shaking the head as if to expel water from the ear). The findings reported here provide quantified examples of loading that the cervical spine can be expected to withstand without reported injury and/or discomfort. These findings provide useful context for the evaluation of loading recorded during potentially injurious events with asymmetrical cervical spine loading.