NeckCare

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NeckCare NeckCare is innovating how cervical spine conditions are evaluated and treated.

10/20/2026

When the UFC Performance Institute looked at its concussion return-to-play process, it identified a gap: the neck.

The UFC PI has now integrated NeckCare into its "fit to fight" concussion protocol, using sensorimotor assessment to get objective findings on how an athlete's neck is functioning before they return to competition.

It didn't start there. It started with clinicians like performance acupuncturist Jack Fonderwhite, who began tracking changes in neck function after head trauma in the fighters and endurance athletes he treats.

The broader lesson applies well beyond combat sports: in concussion care, the neck is too often the unmeasured piece.

What does neck assessment look like in your concussion protocol today?

https://f.mtr.cool/5jbtyl5xsm

A baseline is only useful if the next measurement is taken the same way.If a range of motion number shifts depending on ...
10/19/2026

A baseline is only useful if the next measurement is taken the same way.

If a range of motion number shifts depending on who measured it or how, it becomes hard to tell whether the patient changed or the measurement did.

Two things worth knowing:
→ The AMA guidelines recommend measuring ROM three times per movement for consistency and reliability.
→ During a single movement, the head can also move in other planes. Those accessory movements can hide compensation.

Sensor-based ROM captures all three planes, records repetitions automatically and compares results with normative data, so progress is something you can show, not just say.

Save this before your next re-evaluation.

A whiplash patient can regain their range of motion and still have a neck that's sending the wrong information.Why? The ...
10/18/2026

A whiplash patient can regain their range of motion and still have a neck that's sending the wrong information.

Why? The neck is a sensory organ. Its mechanoreceptors (mostly muscle spindles) report head position and movement, and injury can disrupt that input in four ways: direct damage, altered muscle function, pain, and, in chronic cases, structural change in the muscles themselves.

Musculoskeletal treatment matters. But on its own it may not resolve sensorimotor deficits, and current evidence supports combining both approaches.

That's why a whiplash assessment that stops at range of motion can miss part of the picture.

Adapted from our Medical Lead, Dr. Hilmar Leonardsson. Save this for your next MVA intake.

10/15/2026

Keep your eyes on the target. Move only your head. Move only your head. Stay with it.

That's the instruction your patient hears at the start of the Butterfly Test®, a sensorimotor control assessment that measures how accurately a patient can control fine head and neck movement. The path is unpredictable, so it can't be learned, and every moment is scored against normative data.

It started as a research method more than 20 years ago. Today it's used by 250+ providers across North America.

Would your patients stay on target? Tell us in the comments.

New series: Read the Report. Each edition takes one NeckCare assessment and shows you exactly how to read it.First up, t...
10/13/2026

New series: Read the Report. Each edition takes one NeckCare assessment and shows you exactly how to read it.

First up, the Butterfly Test®, which measures cervical movement sense by having the patient track an unpredictable moving target using only their head.

The four numbers:
→ Deviation: average distance from the target
→ On Target Ratio: % of time on the target
→ Ahead Ratio: % of time leading it
→ Behind Ratio: % of time lagging behind it

Each is color-coded against normative data, and always best read alongside your other clinical findings and the patient's baseline.

Want to click through a real one? There's a live, interactive Butterfly Test report here: https://f.mtr.cool/mqd9ibom1q

Save this for the next time you're reviewing results with a patient.

The suboccipital muscles have the highest muscle spindle density of any muscles in the body. That fact explains a lot of...
10/11/2026

The suboccipital muscles have the highest muscle spindle density of any muscles in the body. That fact explains a lot of the patients in your clinic who "don't have a neck problem."

Cervical proprioception doesn't work in isolation.It's integrated with the visual and vestibular systems that control balance and vision. When neck input is distorted by injury, pain or chronic dysfunction, the symptoms can show up far from the neck: dizziness, unsteadiness, headaches, visual fatigue.

If a patient presents with dizziness or visual symptoms and has a history of neck pain, whiplash or concussion, the neck belongs in the assessment.

Adapted from our Medical Lead Dr. Hilmar Leonardsson's article on cervical afferents https://f.mtr.cool/nwwwcm07j6

Send this to a colleague who treats dizzy patients.

Some of the patients who need a neck assessment most never mention their neck.Impaired cervical joint position sense is ...
10/08/2026

Some of the patients who need a neck assessment most never mention their neck.

Impaired cervical joint position sense is associated with dizziness, unsteadiness, headaches and visual disturbances. Symptoms that are easy to attribute somewhere else when the patient reports little or no neck pain.

Dr. Mark Heisig, ND, Concussion Specialist at Arizona Vitality, described the challenge this way: before objective testing, connecting dizziness or headaches to the neck was hard, "especially for patients without neck pain." With data in front of them, his patients could see the connection for themselves.

Pain is one signal. Function is another.

How do you currently screen the neck in patients with dizziness but no neck pain? Tell us in the comments.

Your patient has full rotation and a pain score of 2/10. It's tempting to call that a good neck.But range of motion only...
10/06/2026

Your patient has full rotation and a pain score of 2/10. It's tempting to call that a good neck.

But range of motion only tells you how far the neck moves. It doesn't tell you whether the neck knows where it is (joint position sense) or how well it controls movement (movement sense).

Research comparing cervical sensorimotor tests suggests they each measure a different skill, so a patient can be impaired in one and normal in the others (de Zoete et al., 2020). That's why one good number doesn't clear the whole neck.

Three questions worth asking when assessing the neck:
→ How far does it move?
→ Does it know where it is?
→ Can it control the movement?

Which of the three do you measure routinely today?

Asking clinicians to rely on objective data means that data has to be trustworthy.NeckCare is built on more than 20 year...
10/04/2026

Asking clinicians to rely on objective data means that data has to be trustworthy.

NeckCare is built on more than 20 years of published research, with validated reliability and diagnostic accuracy behind the Butterfly Test®.

It's FDA listed, patented, and used by 250+ providers, from independent chiropractic and physical therapy clinics to the University of Miami and the UFC Performance Institute.

Want to see the data behind your own patients? Book a demo via the link in bio.

Pain matters. But it's one signal, and on its own it can't tell you how well the neck moves, senses its position or cont...
10/01/2026

Pain matters. But it's one signal, and on its own it can't tell you how well the neck moves, senses its position or controls movement.

NeckCare exists to make neck function measurable, then to connect that measurement to action: assess in clinic, treat with targeted interactive exercises, prescribe and monitor at home, and reassess to show real progress.

It isn't about replacing clinical expertise.

It's about giving that expertise objective data to work with.

Want to see the full loop in action? Book a demo via the link in bio.

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