Cervical neck brace

A posterior cervical neck brace device for location posteriorly on a user to extend in an inferior to superior direction across a cervical vertebral region, the device comprising:

• a central support;
• an occipital support hingably connected to the central support by a first hinge that is curved at least in part;
• and two activation arms, each activation arm being hingably connected to the central support, respectively, by a second hinge that is curved at least in part,
• the device having a first storage condition wherein the central support, occipital support and activation arms are coplanar or substantially coplanar,
• the respective curvatures of the first and second hinges being configured such that folding the activation arms along the respective second hinges causes the central support to transition from a planar conformation to a curved conformation and causes the occipital support to automatically fold relative to the central support along the first hinge, to achieve a second in-use condition of the device, and
• the central support, the occipital support, the activation arms, and the first and second hinges being integrally formed together as one-piece.

A method of supporting a cervical vertebral region of a user, the method comprising the steps of:

• a] positioning an anterior brace element anteriorly on a user to extend in an inferior to superior direction across a cervical vertebral region;
• b] positioning a planar or substantially planar posterior brace element posteriorly on a user to extend in an inferior to superior direction across the cervical vertebral region, the posterior brace element comprising a central support, an occipital support hingably connected to the central support by a first hinge that is curved at least in part, and two activation arms, each activation arm being hingably connected to the central support, respectively, by a second hinge that is curved at least in part, the device having a first storage condition wherein the central support, occipital support and activation arms are coplanar or substantially coplanar, and the respective curvatures of the first and second hinges are configured such that folding the activation arms along the respective second hinges causes the central support to transition from a planar conformation to a curved conformation and causes the occipital support to automatically fold relative to the central support along the first hinge, to achieve a second in-use condition of the device, and the first and second hinges being integrally formed together as one-piece;
• c] activating the posterior brace element to form a non-planar configuration whereby the occipital support automatically folds towards the user for supporting an occipital region of the user's head;
• and d] engaging the anterior and posterior brace elements to form a rigid or substantially rigid supportive structure across the cervical vertebral region.