Nucleus pulposus C5-C6

Looks like

The soft, gel-like core of the disc between C5 and C6 in the neck, sitting slightly behind the disc's centre inside a ring of tough fibres.

What it does

Mostly water held in a gel; it spreads load evenly across the vertebrae and acts as the pivot on which this level bends.

Keeping it well

One of the two commonest neck levels for disc bulges. A pinched C6 nerve gives pain or tingling in the thumb side of the forearm, thumb and index finger.

Related conditions

• Axial spondyloarthritis
• Bone metastases and spinal cord compression
• Cauda equina syndrome
• Gout
• Haemophilia & bleeding disorders
• Herniated disc
• Lyme disease
• Marfan syndrome & connective tissue disorders
• Neck pain and cervical spondylosis
• Non-specific low back pain
• Osteoarthritis
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Rheumatic fever & rheumatic heart disease
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Sciatica
• Scoliosis
• Spina bifida & neural tube defects
• Spinal cord injury
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Temporomandibular joint disorder