Joint · Neck

Cervical facet joints

Articulationes zygapophysiales cervicales

The small paired joints at the back of the neck, where each vertebra sits on the one below. They are true synovial joints with a capsule and joint fluid, and their flat surfaces are angled at roughly 45 degrees — a slope that lets the neck turn and bend freely, which is exactly why the neck is the most mobile part of the spine. They also guide and limit movement, so they take load whenever the head is held forward or the neck is held at an end range for a long time. They are richly innervated, which is why they can be a genuine source of neck pain and of pain referred up into the head or out to the shoulder.