From NUCCA and Dr. Marshall Dickholtz
C1-THE BASIC SUBLUXATION
Throughout the history of chiropractic, the tendency has been to locate and adjust the "major" vertebra, or vertebrae thought to cause neurological harm to spinal nerves. This procedure was called "full spine adjusting" and is still widely practiced. In the 1920's B. J. Palmer, the developer of chiropractic, concentrated his research on the upper cervical spine as the predominant subluxation. This research was conducted at the Palmer Chiropractic Clinic at Davenport, Iowa for several years.
The move of chiropractic to the cervical spine (neck), although not too widespread in the profession, is justified if only for the reason that vertebral malposition in this area can detrimentally affect the brain stem and the upper spinal cord. This leads to detectable signs of postural defects in the subluxated body. If normal nerve supply cannot pass from the brain down through the brain stem and spinal cord, it is not logical to adjust lower vertebrae to restore this nerve flow at the top. The properly aligned Atlas (C-1) is the gateway to this restoration of nerve flow.
NUCCRA (National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Research Association) research findings confirm that the top vertebra, called the Atlas or C-1, of the spinal column is the predominant subluxation (Figure 2). The reasons for C-1 being the predominant subluxation are numerous.
SUMMARY
The NUCCA doctor's work is based on the Restoration Principle. This is his/her concern for the patient. While medical doctors base their treatment on making an exact diagnosis, the NUCCA doctor bases his/her services to the patient on an accurate analysis of the Atlas subluxation and its restoration to normal position, a process that helps the sick body to effectively combat its disease processes. This is the process of self-healing and is evident in every and any disease which the body contracts.
It has been truly said that man is his nervous system. He feels with it; sees with it; hears with it; detects and identifies odors with it; thinks with it, it relates him to his environment; it shapes his personality; he digests his food under its control; circulates his blood under its regulation; breathes because of its influence; it regulates his heart action; causes his organs to work and his body to move; its gray matter is the source of his life. In short, the extent to which man functions and the degree to which he lives depends on the activity of his nervous system.
Misaligned cervical vertebrae at the base of the skull change the electro-chemical flow of impulses through the nervous system, harmfully affecting normal functions at all levels of the body and causing bodily distortions and disease. When these misalignments occur, interfering with the normal electro-chemical nerve energy flow, their correction is essential to a patient's ability to heal.
The examination, analysis, and restoration of these misaligned vertebrae and their harmful effects on the body constitutes the service rendered by the NUCCA doctor.
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