Uncovertebral joints

The uncovertebral joints are small joints at the side edges of the vertebrae in the neck. From the third neck vertebra down, each vertebral body has a raised lip on either side of its upper surface, called the uncinate process. It meets a matching notch on the underside of the vertebra above, and together they form an uncovertebral joint (Yilmazlar et al., 2003; Protas et al., 2022). They are also known as the joints of Luschka, after the 19th-century German anatomist Hubert von Luschka (Tubbs et al., 2011).

Where are the uncovertebral joints?

They exist only in the cervical spine (Hartman, 2014), on the vertebrae from C3 to C7. Each sits at the side edge of a vertebral body, next to the intervertebral disc it helps support (Margetis & Dowling, 2025). The back part of the uncinate process lies right next to the vertebral artery, the spinal nerve and its nerve roots (Yilmazlar et al., 2003). That location explains most of their medical importance.

What do the uncovertebral joints do?

They are barely formed at birth and develop with age. They help keep the neck stable and guide its movement (Hartman, 2014), and they reinforce the discs and add stability while still allowing motion (Margetis & Dowling, 2025).

How uncovertebral joints change with age

Like the discs and the facet joints, the uncovertebral joints wear with time. In CT scans of 93 hospital patients, the degree of uncovertebral joint degeneration was linked with age and with disc height (Liu et al., 2026). This wear is part of what the NHS calls cervical spondylosis, which it describes as a normal part of ageing that many people have without symptoms (NHS). The disc side of the same process is covered in degenerative disc disease.

When the joints wear, they can thicken and grow bony spurs. That becomes a problem mainly when it presses on what lies next to them, most importantly the spinal nerve root and the vertebral artery (Hartman, 2014):

• Arm symptoms. A spur that narrows the opening where a nerve root leaves the spine can cause cervical radiculopathy: pain, pins and needles or weakness in the arm. In a population study of 561 people with cervical radiculopathy, 68.4% of cases were related to spondylosis, a disc problem or both (Radhakrishnan et al., 1994). When surgery is needed, removing the overgrown part of the joint is one of the techniques surgeons use to free the nerve (Clifton et al., 2019).
• A locked neck. Swelling in these joints has been linked with wry neck (Hartman, 2014).

What it means if your scan report mentions them

Phrases such as “uncovertebral hypertrophy” or “uncovertebral arthropathy” describe this thickening and wear. On their own, they don’t explain pain. Age-related changes on neck scans are common in people with no symptoms: in 1,211 adults without symptoms, 87.6% had bulging discs on a neck MRI (Nakashima et al., 2015). What matters is whether the finding matches your symptoms and examination.

We know of no research linking desk work to uncovertebral joint wear. The NHS lists a previous neck injury and a family history as factors that make cervical spondylosis more likely at any age, and advises gentle neck exercises and keeping up usual activities (NHS). Neck exercises are shown on neck stretches, and the wider desk picture is in neck pain from desk work.

When to see a doctor

See a GP if neck pain or stiffness hasn’t gone after a few weeks or is worse when you move. Ask for an urgent appointment or contact NHS 111 if you have pins and needles in an arm along with neck or arm pain, heaviness or weakness in your arms or legs, or severe neck pain that starts suddenly. Call 999 for new problems walking, a sudden lack of co-ordination or loss of bladder or bowel control (NHS).