WHAT IS UPPER CERVICAL CHIROPRACTIC?
3 Fundamental Principles:
1. The body is a self healing, self regulating, self adapting organism.
2. The central nervous system is the master control system of the body.
3. Interference in the central nervous system decreases your bodies ability to heal, grow and adapt.
As upper cervical chiropractors, we recognize that healing comes from within. While conventional treatments focus on symptoms, sickness, and disease, we look at the primary cause of your health concerns. The ENTIRE FOCUS of upper cervical care is to remove interference from the nervous system so the natural intelligence of the body can restore balance and health to the best of its ability.
Upper cervical chiropractors focus on the top two bones of the spine called the Atlas and Axis. Because it houses and protects the brainstem, this area of the spine is extremely important. Being that every signal exiting the brain passes through the brainstem, a misalignment can disrupt the normal messages from the brain to any part of the body. Over time, this can cause a variety of secondary conditions. If either the atlas or axis gets out of its normal position it will cause the head to be off balance. The brain is designed to keep the eyes on the horizon at all times and will send messages through the body to shift, bend, and twist until the head becomes level again. As a result, the body frame can become torqued, causing nerves exiting the spine to become compromised interfering with the nerve supply to every organ, cell, and tissue of the body. This can result in secondary conditions including, but not limited to common disorders such as: asthma, allergies, digestive problems, infertility, behavioral disorders, sleep disturbances, hormonal imbalance, musculoskeletal pain, and degeneration. By correcting alignment of the top two bones of the spine, the body is able to right itself and the rest of the spine is able to find proper alignment, relieving pressure from the brainstem, spinal cord, and nerves exiting the spine. The body is then able to return to homeostasis, where all systems work harmoniously together. The body is then able to function as it was designed and heal itself.
State of the Art Technology
As an objective measure to help determine if you need an upper cervical correction, we utilize Infrared Tytron Thermography on every visit. This technology assesses the autonomic nervous system and its relationship with skin temperature regulation from side to side in your neck, to identify if your correction is holding.
INSIGHT Scanning Technology
We don’t guess about your health, we test. Utilizing INSIGHT thermography, surface EMG, and HRV, we are able to establish a baseline of your overall health and wellbeing, and track changes over time.
Digital X-Rays
Clear and precise x-rays are essential in determining if you have a misalignment in your spine affecting your overall health. The 3-D digital x-rays allow the doctor to analyze how your C1 and C2 vertebra has misaligned and develop a specific upper cervical correction customized to your body.
The Adjustment
There are 274 ways that the top 2 bones in your neck can misalign. Each correction is crafted to your exact misalignment. The adjustments are safe and gentle, either done by hand or with an instrument. The adjustments are so gentle, that the amount of pressure used to adjust a newborn is about the same pressure you would use to check the ripeness of a tomato.
Stabilization Room
After a specific upper cervical correction, you will rest in our quiet and relaxing stabilization room for 10-20 minutes. This rest time is critical to allowing the correction to settle in and the surrounding tissues to process the adjustment. You are going to absolutely LOVE our Zero Gravity chairs!
Why Upper Cervical Chiropractic is Different
By making x-ray guided specific corrections to the upper cervical spine, upper cervical doctors are able to have a direct effect on nerve supply, blood supply, and cerebral spinal fluid flow. These three components are essential for a healthy brain and overall function of a healthy body.
Nerve Supply
Your nervous system is the master control system of the body. If there is pressure on your brainstem or the nerves exiting spinal cord, this will compromise your health. As specific upper cervical chiropractors, we look to remove the misalignment interfering with the communication from your brain to your body, so that your body can heal, grow, and adapt like it was designed to.
Blood Supply
90% of blood flow to the midbrain is from the vertebral arteries, which pass through the atlas vertebra. Any misalignment of the atlas or axis compromises the blood flow TO the midbrain. The midbrain is most important part of the brain for survival, including control of heart rate, respiration, hormones, and sleep centers. By correcting misalignment we are able to impact the blood flow to the midbrain, providing it with the oxygen and nutrients essential for healthy function. This in turn has a systemic effect on the body. A misalignment to the upper cervical spine also effects the blood flow coming FROM the brain. A decrease in blood flow from the brain back to the heart can have an effect on blood pressure and is commonly a cause of the diagnosis high blood pressure.
Cerebral Spinal Fluid Flow
Our brain and spinal cord are suspended in cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). With every respiration, a constant pumping mechanism from our sacrum up to our brain circulates CSF to clear wastes, protect, and maintain homeostasis around the brain. Research shows that upper cervical misalignments may obstruct the fluid flow dynamics of CSF which can cause pressure and toxic buildup in and around the brain tissue. Ultimately, blocked CSF flow can affect brain health and neuroimmune function.