Heavy Purses Can Cause Head & Neck Misalignment?

Putting Bricks in Your Purse and Wearing it on Your Shoulder = BAD

This post is primarily for the female readers of this blog, though if you are a man and wear one of those “man-bags” or “murses,” I suppose this is for you, too.

If your purse is heavy please don’t wear it on your shoulder if at all possible. I know habits are hard to break and you need your hands free, but when you put that added weight on one shoulder instead of equally distributed across the upper back (or not at all), it pulls down on that side of your upper body. This causes you to lean more to one side, putting added and unnecessary weight and strain on that side of your body, which only adds to the body imbalance you may be experiencing if you haven’t been under Upper Cervical Chiropractic care.

If you have been under Upper Cervical Chiropractic care, then this sort of strain on one side of your body on a repeated basis will undoubtedly contribute to you losing the restored alignment of your spine, causing you to need another adjustment sooner rather than later. And as you know, when your spine is out of alignment, it often causes stress and tension on the spinal cord, this will ultimately affect your entire body i.e. organs, glands, blood vessels, nerves, muscles, and joints.

So you see, having a heavy purse, and then wearing it on one shoulder, might actually be putting a damper on your health.

Could Heavy Purses Cause Head Neck Misalignment Over Time? #HeadNeckMisalignment #HeavyPurses #Pain #UpperCervical https://t.co/hhhHbkUt8c

— Travis Robertson (@theuppercblog) April 21, 2016

Regaining Smell and Taste with Upper Cervical Care

From the Journal of Upper Cervical Chiropractic Research comes a study published on Jan. 16, 2014, which documents the case of a woman who regained her senses of both smell and taste due to chiropractic care. Anosmia, the loss of the ability to smell, and ageusia, the loss of the ability to taste, affects between 1 and 2 percent of the American population under the age of 65 years.

The authors of the study report that approximately 200,000 people visit physicians each year for smell and taste related disorders. According to studies, one of the most common causes of smell and taste disorders is a previous injury to the head and/or neck. Because these conditions are not life threatening, the authors note that there is little medical attention or treatment for these problems.

In this case, a 64-year-old woman went to a chiropractic clinic with complaints of neck pain, right sided knee pain, and a loss of the ability to taste and smell. She reported having lost the ability to smell and taste nine months prior to her visit to the chiropractor.

A chiropractic examination revealed sensitivity in the upper neck upon palpation, as well as thermal scan irregularities. There was also a reduction of the woman's range of motion in her upper neck. Postural abnormalities were also noted and spinal x-rays confirmed misalignments of her neck vertebrae.

Specific chiropractic adjustments were begun to correct the subluxations that were determined to be present. According to the case report, within 48 hours of the woman's first adjustment, her sense of taste and smell had started to return, and her pain symptoms improved. By the third month of care, she had completely regained both her sense of smell and taste.

In their conclusion the authors wrote, "This case described the successful resolution of anosmia and ageusia following the introduction of upper cervical chiropractic care. This case study suggests that there may be a role for the use of precise upper cervical chiropractic care in the management of patients with smell and taste disorders in patients with a history of head and neck trauma."

(Editor's note: Remember the objective of upper cervical care is to correct head neck misalignment that is interfering with proper brain to body communication. When this is corrected the body functions at a higher level and can often correct other problems more efficiently on its own. Please do not confuse upper cervical care as a treatment for any condition, disease or symptom.)

Falls, The Elderly And Upper Cervical Care

Falls among elderly lead to early death and disability

By Dr. Marcella Ziska

Falls are a leading cause of accidental death and disability among older Americans. In fact, over 60% of all accidental injury deaths in the elderly are the direct result of falling. Of the seniors who end up hospitalized as a result of a fall, 40-50% will end up entering a permanent care facility and lose most of their independence.

As more Americans are getting older, accidental falls are taking a costly toll on our health care system, and on the family members who must care for those who are injured.

The estimated cost of health care directly related to a fall is $6-8 billion annually.

The reasons why seniors fall can be complex and confusing for doctors, family members, and for the victim of the fall. Many times it's difficult to figure out what happened.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other leading health authorities state that prevention is the best way to protect ourselves and our aging family members from being harmed in a fall.

Why are the elderly at risk for falling?

Declining vision.

Mix of Rx medications and over-the- counter medications, including alcohol, leads to impaired movement and ability to think clearly.

Weakness in lower limbs from lack of activity, or from certain diseases.

Chronic pain and reduced range of motion (arthritis) affecting body balance.

Blood pressure too low when moving from seated to standing.

Balance control by the nervous system declines (Vertigo).

Improper footwear.

Obstacles left in common walking areas, or slippery walking surfaces.

Middle of the night bathroom trips.

Forgetting to use walking aids, or using them improperly.


Falls in the aging: what's the common theme? Posture & Gait

Almost all falls are caused by multiple problems. But the body's control of posture and gait (walking) play a role a majority of the time.

Posture control involves a complex system of signals from the brain to the body, and from the body back to the brain. It includes: spinal reflexes, information from vision, information from the equilibrium system of the body (the vestibular system) and information from the "sensing" systems in our skin and muscles.

Posture can also affect our gait, which is how far we stride, how fast, and the rhythm (speed) at which we move.

For many different reasons, the control of our posture, and the control of our gait begins to break down as we age. That doesn't mean falling is "normal," it just means it's more likely to happen.

Anything that improves our body posture, strength, and symmetry can potentially help improve our balance. Improving balance can help reduce the risk of falling.

What improves balance?

Strengthening muscles: specific exercises that work the leg and feet muscles involved in standing and walking can help our balance.

Stimulating the "sensing" part of the nervous system: Unique approaches to stimulating the "sensing" part of the nervous system are being used across the United States. Vibration boards and unique exercise pads stimulate the proprioceptive part of the nervous system, the system that knows our position.

Improving spinal balance: Misalignments in the spinal column, especially in the balance between the head and the neck, force our bodies to adapt to an unbalanced and stressed position. Signs of this disturbance include:

a head tilted to one side or carried too far forward

uneven shoulders

uneven hip height

uneven leg length

straightened curves in the neck

carrying more weight on one side of the body than the other when checking on bilateral digital scales


We can unlock this "lockdown" by correcting the way the neck is carrying the heavy weight of the head with gentle upper cervical chiropractic care (NUCCA). The goal is to get the "head on straight" and take stress off the spinal column. With this approach to spinal balance:

leg length balances

hip heights even

the head is straighter

balance is more equally carried by the feet


Upper cervical chiropractic as a solution for fall prevention

Due to the gentle nature of the upper cervical chiropractic adjustment, it is usually indicated for senior adults. Because of its to ability to improve spinal balance and motion, and because it often results in less pain and better range of motion, this form of chiropractic care represents an important tool in fall prevention for the elderly.

Dr. Marcella Ziska is an upper cervical chiropractor in Omaha, NE (Body in Harmony Chiropractic Center) who uses the gentle method of the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association to analyze and adjust the upper cervical spine. She greatly enjoys serving senior adult patients with upper cervical chiropractic (NUCCA) care.

Are You One Surge Away From Sickness?

Adapted from "Surging Your Way to Sickness" by the Weekly Sticky

What would happen if you plugged 10 appliances in one outlet and turned them all on at the same time?  You'd blow a circuit, right! Well, the same thing could happen if you surge your 'nerve circuits' with too much STRESS...

Picture your nerve system as an electrical outlet with multiple stresses plugged in. Turn on all those stresses at the same time and POW, you'll quickly overload your system, blow a circuit and fry your state of health! Upper Cervical Chiropractors call this head/neck misalignment. Depending on what nerves (circuits) are involved, you can experience symptoms from mild aches and pains to more significant health problems like High Blood Pressure (Journal of Human Hypertension 22,1 G Bakris, MD et al). So how can you avoid the dangers of stress surge?

Although it's impossible to eliminate all stress from your life, you can increase your odds of  staying ahead of their negative, accumulative effects with regular upper cervical care.  Your Upper Cervical Chiropractor performs his or her job much like an electrician... skillfully checking your nerve system for overloaded circuits and turning them back on so you won't experience an interruption in your state of health and wellness. When it comes to basic, preventative care, nothing beats 'keeping your Power on.'

Chronic Pain, Brain Plasticity And Upper Cervical Care

By Dr. Davis, N.U.C.C.A. Chiropractor 

Brain Plasticity also called Neuroplasticity is the ability of your brain to reorganize neural (nerve) pathways in the brain. In simple terms, every time you learn how to do something, you are unconsciously memorizing the process of how it’s done and what the outcome will be. As you learn, your brain is making subtle changes to accommodate the new information and ability.  Neuroplasticity is generally a good thing and allows us to survive. However, there can be negative consequences.

When a person suffers a head or neck injury as a result of a car crash, fall or other accident, the tissues around the spine are stretched and torn.  This damage creates a weakness which allows the spine to break down and lock into a stressed position.  One of the hips will be higher than the other in the standing position.  One of the shoulders will be higher and the head will generally lean to one side.  If this acute injury is not corrected a chronic pattern will develop.  Just like shaping something made of plastic the nervous system begins to develop a fixed pattern. Think of this like a bad habit.  If you do the same thing all the time your brain and your body begins to develop that pattern and the longer you have had that habit the harder it will be to break.

In the same way with these chronic spinal patterns…the longer it has been there the more difficult is will be to break the pattern.

What does chronic pain have to do with neuroplasticity?

As research techniques become more refined, researchers are able to study the human brain and its function in living people, rather than waiting for an autopsy. Up to now, researchers have been able to establish the existence of a network of pain-transmitting areas within the central nervous system (CNS). This was first demonstrated with animals and, more recently, by performing brain studies with humans.

Chronic pain is pain that has been present, either continually or off and on, for at least three to six months.  Chronic pain is complex and often difficult to pinpoint and treat by the medical profession. Acute pain is a sudden pain that can usually be identified and treated, such as a toothache, stubbing your toe, or having surgery.  Chronic pain is very common among North American adults. Data from 1999 demonstrated that about 50 million people seek help for chronic pain. Chronic pain affects people’s lives because it can cause other physical problems, affect the ability to work and enjoy life, and it can affect the social and economic status of people. Chronic pain causes lost productivity and increases health care costs.

Where neuroplasticity comes in is when acute pain develops into chronic pain. Your body reacts to acute pain as it warns you that something is wrong. Usually, once the acute pain has been dealt with, the pain goes away and becomes a distant memory. However, if the cause of the acute pain is not dealt with over the course of a few weeks, months, and sometimes even years, your brain’s “wiring” may reorganize itself and tell your body that the chronic pain should be there and will stay there.  How this change occurs is different from person to person.

Chronic back pain, particularly of the lower back, is the most common complaint of pain in the developed world, even more than headaches and migraines. It’s estimated that 70 to 85 percent of people in developed countries have had, have, or will have chronic lower back pain at some point in their lifetime.  The connection between back pain and brain function has interested researchers for quite a while. In 2004, A.V. Apkanian and colleagues analyzed 17 patients who complained of chronic back pain. After examining the patients’ brains, the researchers found that the patients had some brain atrophy (wasting away of tissue) in the brain.

“Other researchers, such as T. Schmidt-Wicke, agreed with Apkarian when that team studied 18 patients and matched them with controls, people without chronic back pain. The researchers found the same decrease in brain tissue among those patients who had pain, but not in the controls.”

Eight studies that looked at the shape and changes in brain tissue point to the issue that there is a connection between neuroplasticity and chronic pain. It appears that no matter what is causing the chronic pain, the same changes are taking place in the brain and in the same areas.

What is actually causing the brain cell shrinkage or loss?  That’s the key issue.

New research relating to the blood flow to and from the brain may provide a connection.  Phase contrast MRI of the veins and arteries from the brain to the body are showing that when a person has a misalignment of the upper neck (Atlas vertebrae) the blood flow from the brain is altered.  Once the atlas is restored to it’s normal position the blood flow is normalized.

So if someone suffers an injury that causes a misalignment of the atlas at 25 and does not find the underlying structural problem for 10 years…the brain has not had normal blood flow for 10 years! That may result in the atrophy that the researchers are detecting.  And why so frequently we see patients with Lower Back Pain or Sciatica respond so well to an upper neck adjustment with the NUCCA procedure.

If you are experiencing chronic pain an underlying Atlas Misalignment could be the reason.  To have your brain stem and upper cervical spine evaluated for an undetected injury go to  www.nuccawellness.com if you are not in the San Diego County area go to www.nucca.org

References:

http://www.spineuniversity.com/files/Journal_Watch/spineU_neuroplasticity.pdf

http://ucrf.org/projects-funding/project-descriptions#cerebral

Baby's Low Apgar Improves With Upper Cervical Care

Apgar Score, Respiratory Rate, Distress and  Inability to Cry Helped with (Upper Cervical) Chiropractic

The Journal of Pediatric, Maternal and Family Health published a case study on November 5, 2012, documenting the improvement of an infant who was born suffering from Transient Tachypnea of Newborns (TTN), causing a high respiratory rate, and a lowered Apgar score.

According to the study authors, "Transient tachypnea of newborns (TTN) is a benign, self-limiting respiratory disorder presenting in the first 1-2 hours after delivery and usually resolving within 2 to 5 days of age." TTN is defined by the authors as including an infant with a respiratory rate exceeding 60 breaths/min, nasal flaring, grunting, retractions, cyanosis, poor feeding, and a lowered Apgar score.

In this case, the baby was born weighing 8.1 lbs. and measuring 21 3/8 inches. The labor and delivery were at home with a Certified Practicing Midwife (CPM) present. The birth occurred at  39 weeks 2 days of pregnancy, and the child was born vaginally with no medical interventions or surgical procedures. The delivery was natural without any complications.

At one minute after birth, the respiratory rate was 93 breaths per minute, with normal for a newborn being between 40 and 60.  The study records that at two and a half minutes after birth, the baby was showing obvious signs of distress and was grunting, flaring nostrils, and making gurgling sounds. The baby's Apgar score at 1 minute after birth was recorded at a 6 due to weak respiratory effort, bluish color, and grimacing reflex stimulation. Apgar scores are rated between 1 and 10 with 10 being optimal. It is considered a good normal to have an Apgar score between 8 and 9.

An upper cervical doctor who was on site was asked to examine the infant for head/neck misalignment. Based on a pediatric chiropractic evaluation performed, the doctor determined that a misalignment was present at the upper cervical (neck) area and, with the consent of the mother, a specific form of chiropractic adjustment for an infant was performed.

At 10 minutes after the birth, and following the (upper cervical) chiropractic adjustment, another examination was performed that showed the Apgar score had returned to a normal score of 9. Additionally, the respiratory rate had also lowered to 80 breaths per minute, and within one hour had lowered further to 74 breaths per minute. The report notes that at 12 hours after birth, the respiratory rate was at 60 breaths per minute and all other findings were within normal range.

The authors of the study summed up the success of upper cervical care in helping this infant by saying, "The case of a newborn diagnosed with Transient Tachypnea of Newborn is presented. Respiratory rate, Apgar score, and other signs of TTN improved dramatically following an upper cervical adjustment to reduce vertebral subluxation."

(Editor's note: Remember the objective of upper cervical care is to correct head neck misalignment that is interfering with proper brain to body communication. When this is corrected the body functions at a higher level and can often correct other problems more efficiently on its own. Please do not confuse upper cervical care as a treatment for any condition, disease or symptom.)

What Can An Upper Cervical Doctor Do For You?

by Drs. Molina and Salera

Click here for source article

What Do Upper Cervical Doctors Do?

Simple! The nervous system is responsible for the regulation and coordination of all the actions of the human body - including keeping you alive, happy and healthy. Your nervous system knows how to heal a cut, how to give you a fever when fighting an infection, how to give you a cough when you need to clear your lungs, and it even knows how to rid your body of cancer. Our only job is to keep your nervous system functioning properly and allow life to flow freely through your body! A healthy nervous system leads to a life of optimal health, increased human performance, and maximum human potential.

What is Upper Cervical Care?

Since the late 1920s, a small group of Chiropractic specialists have abandoned typical 'full-spine adjustments', limiting their practice to precise adjustments of two vertebrae, the Atlas and Axis; these specialists are referred to as upper cervical doctors. Unlike the other bones of the spine, which are anatomically locked into a certain position, the Atlas and Axis are located at the top of the neck (upper cervical spine) and are free to move around and therefore are uniquely vulnerable to misalignments. This small group of upper cervical doctors were committed to making the care as scientific, specific and efficient as possible, and realized that a misalignment of the Atlas and/or Axis may be one of the causes of decreased health and performance.

Understand: We care for, and maintain, the entire human frame (from the top of the head to the bottoms of your feet), but we only adjust the upper cervical spine. We have found, and the scientific research supports that correcting misalignments of the upper cervical spine improves function throughout the entire human body.

Why Is The Upper Cervical Spine So Important?

The central nervous system is responsible for all functions of the human body and is divided into three parts: the brain, brain stem, and spinal cord. The Atlas and Axis surround a portion of the nervous system referred to as the brain stem. Simply put, the brain stem is responsible for keeping you alive. It controls your immune system, emotions, vision, consciousness, hearing, balance, breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, muscle tension, posture, hormones, and many other functions. Also, almost every single nerve that travels from the brain to the body has to pass through the brain stem.

               

Misalignments of the Atlas and/or Axis may potentially injure, impair, compress, and/or compromise the function of the Brain Stem. In other words, an Atlas and/or Axis misalignment can decrease the function of the nervous system. Without proper brain stem function, the human body could ultimately reach a state of sickness or disease but at the very least it will decrease human potential/performance. Upper cervical doctors are committed to detecting interference to brain stem function and, if present, removing the interference to the brain stem and improving health and function!

Can Upper Cervical Care Help Me?

Yes! Upper cervical care can help everyone - newborns to seniors, "sick" or healthy. Everyone will benefit from proper brain stem function. If you are sick, and we detect irritation to your brain stem due to an upper cervical misalignment, we can help you! If you are not "sick", and we detect irritation to your brain stem due to an upper cervical misalignment, we can help you reach your optimal potential!

               

Regardless of which condition you may have, or not have,

you need a good nerve supply.

Regardless of whether you're an athlete, or a couch potato,

you need a good nerve supply.

Regardless of whether you eat organic food, or eat junk food,

you need a good nerve supply.

Regardless of whether you drink water, or drink whiskey,

you need a good nerve supply.

Regardless of whether you have cancer, or back pain,

you need a good nerve supply.

And upper cervical doctors can help with that, they can help you attain and maintain a good nerve supply and that is important to anyone who want to reach closer to their potential in life.  

Avoid the Flu…Upper Cervical Care Can Help

The first line of defense against the flu or any contagious dis-ease is a healthy, fully functioning immune system. The immune system is affected by the nerve system through the connections with the endocrine and the autonomic nervous system. Stressful conditions lead to altered measures of immune function, and altered susceptibility to a variety of diseases. Many stimuli, which primarily act on the central nervous system, can profoundly alter immune responses. The two routes available to the central nervous system are neuro-endocrine channels and autonomic nerve channels. Upper cervical care improves this function by removing nerve interference and allowing brain to body communication to be resumed.

We encourage you to explore the wonders of upper cervical care if you currently know little about it. Who can benefit? – Everyone, from infants to seniors, mothers-to-be, athletes, and accident victims will benefit from a healthy spine and nervous system.

A Simple Concept

Upper Cervical Care is based on the universal law of cause and effect. For every effect or symptom (physical or mental), there must be a cause. Upper Cervical doctors focus their efforts on locating and correcting interference to the nervous system and this may be the cause of your health condition. Correcting this interference can allow the body to heal itself naturally. An Upper Cervical Correction is gentle and there is no forceful pulling, twisting or jerking motion of your neck. The correction is applied using a precise and controlled touch that allows the head, neck, and spine to return to their proper positions, restoring balance to the body and removing the interference.

What Is Upper Cervical Care?

Upper Cervical care is a rapidly growing form of chiropractic that focuses on the intimate relationship between the first two bones in the neck, called the Upper Cervical spine, and a vital portion of the nervous system, known as the brain stem. This relationship is essential to the body’s ability to preserve and restore health. Think of the brain stem as the control center that extends down an opening in the base of your skull, making it vulnerable to injuries or irritation around the upper neck. The brain stem works like a telephone cable with thousands of individual wires or nerve fibers sending signals back and forth between the brain and spinal cord to every cell, organ and system in the body. Every nerve impulse between the brain and the body must pass through the brain stem. The nervous system is responsible for all communication within the body. It coordinates and maintains your immune system, emotions, vision, hearing, balance, breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, muscle tension, posture, hormones, and every other function. Irritation or pressure within the central nervous system can interrupt communication between the brain and the body, thus contributing to a variety of health problems.

The top vertebrae, the Atlas, is especially vulnerable to injury or misalignment because it is the most mobile segment of the spine. If neglected, an Upper Cervical misalignment may lead to irreversible spinal degeneration and chronic ill health. Upper Cervical misalignments can be caused by falls, auto accidents, sports, job injuries, concussions, physical or emotional stress, poor posture, or even birth trauma.

To learn more about Upper Cervical Care, please visit www.uppercervicalcare.com or www.upcspine.com.

Amazing What The Living Body Knows

Your Body KNOWS

by Dr. Jason Watts

In today’s world, there is a doctor or specialist for every part of your body. The best doctor ever created works to keep us healthy and alive 24 hours a day. It is inside of us and it is referred to as the innate intelligence. Regardless of your beliefs, it is self evident, and we could all agree that life is intelligent.  This intelligence within us…

■Draws the blueprint and organizes every living organ for your body

■Regulates, directs and controls the body all of the time

■Knows when something is wrong inside of you and how to fix it.

■Rebuilds all tissues, organs, muscles and bones

■Tells you when to sneeze, when to blow your nose, when to go bathroom, when to sweat and when to shiver

■Raises the skin into a blister when the skin is burned

■Heals a broken bone or cut on the skin

■Tells you when to blink your eyes

■Grows your toe nails, fingernails, and hair

■Beats your heart and puts air into your lungs

■Regulates your body temperature

■Tells you when you are tired, thirsty or hungry

■Gets any sick organ or part of the body well

■KEEPS YOU ALIVE!

This intelligence uses our nerve system to coordinate and maintain us in a living and hopefully optimally healthy state. If there is an interruption or disturbance to your body’s inborn wisdom, odds are you are Subluxated.

SUBLUXATION is a condition that occurs when the top two vertebrae in your spine misalign causing the messages from the brain to the body to become distorted due to the pressure placed upon the Brainstem. Living in this state, your body is breaking down and beginning to malfunction.  The longer you live in this state, the less of your potential your body will express.  Sickness and/or disease can result.

I Don't Think Upper Cervical Care Is For Kids

Children and Upper Cervical Care

by uppercervicalcare.com

Some adults may wonder why more and more children are starting to see Upper Cervical Doctors. That’s a good question and the answer is simple: whether we have a large spine or a small spine, if that spine is creating nerve distress then our bodies will not be able to operate properly.

The Nervous System is the Master Control of the Body

The nervous system is the master control system of our body and the messages exchanged between the brain and body (through billions of nerves) guide the transformation of a newborn child into an adult. Each message provides instructions to the child's growing body to provide for growth and repair of tissues, coordination of muscle activity, immune function, respiration and digestion among others.

As with adults, an upper cervical (neck) misalignment can have significant effects upon the nervous system’s ability to transmit information to and from a child’s body. If communication channels become fuzzy, distorted or damaged then we experience all sorts of communication errors. For babies and children, this ineffective communication may play out as colic or irritability, an inability to suckle and breastfeed, poor sleep and immunity, frequent ear infections, developmental delays, digestion issues, asthma, behavioral problems, low energy, inability to concentrate, headaches, etc – the list is endless. In fact, regardless of what the end result or symptom may be, all roads lead back to the body’s ability to self-regulate and function at a peak level.
While upper cervical care may be able to help with a number of health issues, our focus is not treating conditions; rather, our focus is on ensuring the nervous system has every opportunity to work efficiently and effectively.

How Do Children get Nerve Irritation?

Nerve irritations (or vertebral subluxations) occur as a part of normal daily life. They result from physical, chemical and emotional stressors or ‘insults’ to our health, such as knocks and falls, bad posture, prolonged postures, stomach sleeping, poor food choices, dehydration, exposure to chemicals and toxins, and stress and anxiety.

Even before these lifestyle stressors have an impact, nerve irritation can occur in the uterus from awkward positioning, restriction of movement, and exposure to toxins, and from birth complications such as long labors, very fast labors, forceps or cesarean delivery. Even during the gentlest of births, presentation of the baby’s head through the birth canal requires physical pressure exerted by the mother. This can force the baby’s neck to twist or bend causing misalignment of the upper cervical vertebrae.

A study published in the Journal of Manual Medicine revealed that nearly 80% of all children are born with blocked or reduced nerve impulses due to a misalignment of the top bone in the spine called the Atlas. Dr. Gutmann, the medical doctor who performed the research, concluded that the blocked nerve impulses can cause motor and developmental impairments, as well as lowered resistance to infections, especially ear, nose and throat infections.

If the newborn makes it through the birthing process unaffected, the inevitable tumbles and falls of childhood increase the risk of injury to the upper cervical spine potentially compromising brain-body communication.

When we appreciate how important the nervous system is and how easily it can be hindered and impaired it makes sense that more parents are having their child’s spine and nervous system assessed.

10 Reasons Parents Take Their Children to See Upper Cervical Doctors

1.   To maximize the child’s brain and nerve development (neural plasticity).

2.   To enhance their child’s overall health and well being.

3.   To strengthen immunity and reduce the incidence of colds, ear infections and general illness.

4.   To help with colic and irritability.

5.   To help with asthma, breathing difficulties and allergies.

6.   To improve spinal posture.

7.   To improve their child’s ability to concentrate.

8.   To assist with behavioral disorders and enhance emotional well being.

9.   To help alleviate digestive problems.

10. To assist with bed-wetting and sleep issues.

Because the upper cervical spine is the most mobile area of the entire spine, it is particularly vulnerable to injury, making it the most common location for spinal problems to occur. Get your children checked for head/neck misalignment today!

(Editor's note: Remember the objective of upper cervical care is to correct head neck misalignment that is interfering with proper brain/body communication. When this is corrected the body functions at a higher level and can often correct other problems more efficiently on its own. Please do not confuse upper cervical care as a treatment for any condition, disease or symptom.)

What Does Upper Cervical Care Cure?

Adapted from "Chiropractors Do Not Cure Anything!" by Dr. Jason Watts

Upper cervical care doesn't cure anything; not headaches, not asthma, not stomach disorders or even back pain.  Then what does upper cervical care do?

Upper cervical care is based on a very basic scientific fact.  Your brain is responsible for every bodily function you ever perform from before you were born until the time you die.  Your brain sends those instructions through a vast telephone network (known as the nervous system) to every cell, tissue and organ in your body.  If those telephone lines are interfered with in any way, those instructions coming from the brain can get distorted and the result is lost function.

Your spine is designed to protect the telephone lines.  If the spine has been injured (even very slightly and especially where the head and neck come together) it can become a major irritant to the nerve system, this is what upper cervical doctors call head/neck misalignment (vertebral subluxation).  How serious is this problem?

“Vertebral subluxation changes the entire health of the body by causing structural dysfunction of the spine and causing nerve interference.  The weight of a dime on a spinal nerve will reduce nerve impulse transmission by as much as 60%.” - Chang H. Suh, Spinal Biomechanics Specialist, University of Colorado

“Nerve dysfunction is stressful to the visceral nerve and other body structures and the lowered tissue resistance modifies the immune response and lessens the overall capability of the immune system.” - The Journal Science, 1981

“The quality of healing is directly proportional to the functional capability of the nerve system to send and receive nerve messages.” - J Edwards, MD, PhD., Journal of Neurological Science

Knowing how important the role of the nerve system is, it should become clear how vital the job of the upper cervical doctor is.  The objective of upper cervical care is to correct head/neck misalignment that is interfering with proper brain to body communication.  Considering another medical study which states that 80% of newborns receive their first spinal trauma during the birth process, when do you think is a good time to begin checking the spine for head/neck misalignment?  Perhaps at birth, just a thought.

And at what point in life does it become acceptable to have head/neck misalignment distorting your nerve system?  Hopefully never.

This is why periodic care throughout life makes so much sense.  Not to treat or cure any disease or disorder, but to maintain your nervous system function at optimal levels.  Allowing your brain and your body to communicate with maximum efficiency every moment of your life, that is the real definition of wellness and that is what upper cervical care seeks to provide, not a cure for a specific disease.

When people have head/neck misalignment reduced or corrected and their nervous system is able to function better, do some diseases and disorders and other symptoms go away?  Frequently, but in every case their body is able to function at a higher level.

Diabetes, Brain Stem and Upper Cervical Care

by restorationspecific at Health Restored Blog

How can Upper Cervical Care help with Diabetes?

“The medulla oblongata is the lowermost portion of the brain, continuous with the spinal cord, that is responsible for respiration, circulation and the body’s autonomic reflexes, including function of the pancreas.”

Recent studies done by Dr. Peter Jannetta, MD the leading advocate and developer of microvascular decompression surgery has discovered a possible link between the vascular compression of the Medulla Oblongata (a portion of the brain stem) to metabolic disease such as Diabetes. Dr. Jannetta, MD has performed more than 6,000 microvascular decompression operations and he believes that inadequate blood flow to the brain stem is vital to insulin resistance and poor autonomic nervous system function. 7 out of 10 patients in Dr. Peter Jannetta’s latest study had improved glucose control without additional lifestyle changes.

When there is a misalignment in the upper cervical (neck) area, vascular compromise of the Brain stem is one of the most devastating possible consequences. Unlike most tissue that would die without proper blood flow, tissues in the central nervous system lie dormant until blood flow can be restored. With upper cervical care, the correction releases the torque on the Brain stem which decompress the vascular network that Dr. Jannetta’s believes contributes to metabolic diseases including Diabetes. In essence, the upper cervical correction reawakens the dormant tissues in the Brain stem area without expensive and invasive surgery. 

Do you know anyone with Diabetes? Please share this information with your friends and family.

(Editor's note: Remember the objective of upper cervical care is to correct head neck misalignment that is interfering with proper brain to body communication. When this is corrected the body functions at a higher level and can often correct other problems more efficiently on its own. Please do not confuse upper cervical care as a treatment for diabetes or any other condition, disease or symptom.)