Think Like a Nerve, Part 1: Upper Cervical Ecology

About this event

Think like a Nerve is an advanced series of 3 classes for manual therapists (LMT, PT, DO, DC's) seeking clearer strategies for assessing and treating peripheral nerves. Each class is 2 hours of anatomy and technique (online or in-person), and can be taken on its own or all together as a discounted bundle .

about part 1: upper cervical ecology

The upper cervical spine is mobile in everyone, more in some than others. Whether that mobility becomes dysfunction depends largely on how nimbly muscular and autonomic feedback loops regulate it. This class surveys the region's mechanics and its nerves: the suboccipital and occipital nerves, the dura and the myodural bridge, vertebral dynamics, and the brainstem nuclei through which this region can shift motor tone, autonomic balance and pain. We assess in relation to meaningful tasks rather than range of motion alone, and review when a headache calls for referral. In practice, we palpate the C1–C3 transverse processes, observe how C1 rotates as the head moves into flexion and extension, and use whichever motion relieves that coupling to locate the part of the suboccipital musculature that is holding on.

about this series

A headache that cascades upward from a cranky neck, the burning ache along a shoulder blade, the knee that still twinges after its tissues should have healed: these cases fill our treatment rooms. We tend to focus on posture, motor control and repetitive stress, but the health of the nerves in these tissues deserves a central place in our reasoning. We regularly find inflammation far more robust than the state of the tissues would predict, and tenderness or guarding that surprises us. Where inflammation persists without clear cause, or pain seems mistuned, we need to understand how to navigate the local nerve ecology.

That takes much more than the classic wiring diagram of spinal levels and target tissues. We need to understand what keeps a nerve healthy, what irritates it, and how to help it return to a calmer, better-resourced state. That clarity makes every method we use safer, and sometimes it decides whether our work helps at all.

Each two-hour class focuses on one region: its major nerves, how they move and what irritates them, and the common conditions where neuritis or neuropathy may be involved. Then we practice neurodynamic positioning, careful palpation of the nerve sheath along its length, and graded hands-on treatment strategies.

Class 1 · upper cervical ecology · Nov 7. The nerves, dura and vertebral dynamics of the suboccipital region, and their part in headache and neck pain.

Class 2 · nerves of the shoulder blade · Nov 21. The nerves supplying the scapula, clavicle and glenohumeral joint, and their role in pain, scapular dyskinesia and rotator cuff dysfunction.

Class 3 · nerve ecology of the knee · Dec 5. Navigating the saphenous, common fibular and tibial nerves, and the cutaneous nerves of the lateral and posterior knee.

Take the classes separately or as a discounted trio. Join in person, live on Zoom, or by recording. We're excited about this new format and hope you can join us.