C2 spinal nerve

Nervus spinalis C2

NervousNervesNeckLeft and right

View left in 3D View right in 3D

What it is
The C2 spinal nerve leaves the spinal canal between C1 and C2. Its sensory (dorsal) and motor (ventral) roots meet just beyond the dorsal root ganglion; the short mixed nerve then splits into a small dorsal ramus for the back muscles and skin and a larger ventral ramus, which joins the cervical plexus.
Function
Carries motor fibres to the muscles of its segment (myotome) and sensation back from its strip of skin (dermatome): the back of the scalp (via the greater occipital nerve).
Size
About 2-3 mm thick; the mixed nerve is only ~1 cm long before it divides
Clinical note
Its dorsal ramus becomes the greater occipital nerve; irritation causes occipital neuralgia - shooting pain from the nape over the back of the head.

Nearby nervous structures C3 spinal nerve, C4 spinal nerve, C5 spinal nerve, C6 dorsal root ganglion, C6 spinal nerve, C7 spinal nerve, C8 spinal nerve