Upper Cervical Care Isn't For Back Pain?

Chiropractic isn’t for back pain?

by Dr. Deborah Sesker

What is the biggest chiropractic myth? That chiropractic is for back pain.

Wait–isn’t chiropractic care for back pain? And aren’t chiropractors quite effective at helping people with back problems.

Well, no. And yes. Let’s see why by taking a trip back into history.

Every year right around the middle of September, many chiropractors and chiropractic colleges celebrate the birthday of chiropractic. September 18^th is the date that D.D. Palmer gave the first chiropractic adjustment in Davenport, Iowa in 1895.

D.D. Palmer, was a self-taught anatomist, grocer, hobby-farmer, and magnetic healer. He claimed to be the first person (at least in the modern era) to use a short, gentle thrust to adjust a mispositioned vertebra back into position.

(Physicians and healers of all kinds have used the spine to create healing, from the time of the ancient Greeks.)

At this time, D.D. had a large magnetic healing practice in one of the tallest buildings in Davenport, Iowa. Before the era of modern antibiotics and safe and effective surgery, many people turned to magnetic healers for chronic health problems.

D.D. Palmer had many patients as a magnetic healer, but Harvey Lillard was his first patient using what would be become chiropractic care.

And Mr. Lillard, as the first chiropractic patient, wasn’t healed of back pain. Here is a testimonial from Harvey Lillard printed not long after his first chiropractic adjustments.

I was deaf 17 years, and expected always to remain so, for I had doctored a great deal without any benefit. I had long ago made up my mind not to take any more ear treatments, for it did me no good.

…Dr. Palmer told me that my deafness came from an injury to my spine. This was news to me: but it is a fact that my back was injured at the time I went deaf. Dr. Palmer treated me on the spine. In two treatments I could hear quite well. That was eight months ago. My hearing remains good.

–Harvey Lillard

Based on Mr. Lillard’s healing, Dr. Palmer thought he had found the cure for deafness. He didn’t. But after experimenting with other patients, D.D. learned that he had found something better.

D.D. Palmer had discovered a way to remove nervous system stress and irritation coming from the spine. In Harvey Lillard that stress had caused deafness. In others it causes vertigo, migraine, or seizures. Still in others, it affects their mood, their sleep, and their hormones.

And yes. For many, it creates spine tension and back pain.

So chiropractors, especially with their long education on the anatomy, physiology, and mechanism of injury in the spine, are quite good at helping people with back pain. But chiropractic care isn’t only about back pain. It’s ultimately about having a healthy spine, and therefore a healthy nervous system. And all the good things that happen when the nervous system is communicating as it should be.

How To Misalign Your Head And Neck...Let Me Count The Ways

(Editor's Note:  Fifty to be exact and this is far from a complete list but it gets you thinking about why it is important to be checked periodically.)

by Dr. Deborah Sesker

In a perfect world, none of us would have been born by forceps, or by Cesarean, or with the doctor pulling with too much force on our heads.

In a perfect world, none of us would have fallen off the side of the bed when we were two, tripped down the stairs at age eight, or rolled our car in the ditch at eighteen.

But these things happen. And when they do they often stress the muscles and ligaments of the upper neck to the point where the bones misalign and lock-down, placing stress on the spinal column and the delicate nervous system inside.

If we were lucky enough to have our parents take us to an upper cervical doctor at a young age, we might have only lived with our neck misalignment for days, weeks, or maybe a few years before having it properly corrected.

But most of us aren’t, which means many of us live one, two, or six decades before we ever have our atlas unlocked by our upper cervical doctor. By this time ligaments are tightened, muscles have developed amnesia, and we have patterns of movements which place stress on the top of our spine without us even knowing.

All of this is to say, that even a really good upper cervical correction may not hold very well, especially in the beginning of our care. And if we want to make the most of our upper cervical  care, we’re going to need to be careful what we do on a day to day basis.  Here are 50 simple ways you could lose your upper cervical alignment.

    Sleeping on your stomach.

    Sleeping on your side without proper neck support.

    Reading in bed with a book on your chest.

    Watching television in bed with your chin on your chest.

    Falling asleep on the arm of the couch.

    Falling asleep upright in a chair.

    Falling asleep upright in a chair and waking up with an ear resting on one shoulder.

    Falling asleep anywhere other than your bed.

    Propping your head up on your hands, fist or palm under your jaw, for more than a few seconds at a time.

    Looking up for more than a minute at a a time, be it stargazing, birdwatching, or painting a ceiling.

    Stretching your neck by pushing it forward, backward, or pulling it to the the side with your hands.

    Having anyone else push or pull your head to stretch your neck.

    Stretching your neck by rolling your head in big circles.

    Staring down at a Smart Phone screen or tablet for hours everyday.

    Gripping a phone between your ear and your shoulder, instead of using headset or speaker phone.

    Having a small child hang from your neck.

    Having a small child jump on your head while wrestling in the living room.

    Having anyone hang from your neck or jump on your head.

    Whipping your head to the left or right or up and down while dancing, head-banging, or whatever it is you might be doing.

    Flipping your hair repeatedly to remove it from your face.

    Shaking your hair out to help dry it after a shower.

    Turning your head without moving your shoulder to look behind you while driving.

    Driving and hitting anything going more than five miles per hour.

    Driving and getting hit by anyone else going more than five miles per hour, for that matter.

    Getting into your small sedan by craning your neck to one side to sit down over and over again, instead of sitting down facing outward, and then rotating your body inward.

    Getting elbowed in the face while playing basketball, volleyball, tag, or any other amateur sport.

    Standing on your head.

    Heading a soccer ball.

    Smacking your own forehead.

    Falling on an outstretched hand.

    Doing a somersault improperly.

    Doing a cartwheel improperly.

    Doing certain yoga positions improperly.

    Doing ab crunches with your hands behind your head.

    Landing on your head from any height.

    Boxing.

    Martial arts with bad form.

    Bench pressing and watching your biceps, not the bar.

    Squatting and lifting your chin as you fatigue.

    Lifting without tucking your chin at work, at home, or anywhere.

    Getting dental work.

    Popping your own neck.

    Having someone else pop your neck.

    Chewing gum all day.

    Cracking a tooth.

    Deep tissue massage in the neck.

    Getting your hair washed, dyed, or dried backward in a salon sink.

    Getting into a pillow fight.

    Getting placed in a head-lock

    Getting up, turning over, or moving your body by leading with the head and neck, and not with the pelvis.

Does doing any one of these 50 things mean you’re going to need another adjustment? Not necessarily. Everyone is a little bit different. (Some kids have played high school football without losing their alignment.)

But they are common ways that you can set your upper cervical care backwards, and they’re worth considering if you’re having a hard time holding your alignment.

Ten Reasons To Try Upper Cervical Care

Ten reasons to try NUCCA upper cervical care

By Dr. Deb Sesker

 

1.

In the united states, upper cervical care has helped hundreds of thousands of people overcome health challenges and live fuller, more enjoyable lives—even when other health strategies have not helped.

2.

While upper cervical care is not a treatment for any one particular condition, a new alignment of the head and neck can remove subtle pressure from the nervous system that results in greater body healing. Over 100 different human conditions have responded to upper cervical care. You can read about some of them on the patient created site called UpCSpine.

3.

Upper cervical doctors work with a powerful area of the body, where the head and neck come into balance with each other. Unlike the stronger areas of the spine which have an inter-vertebral disc, there are weaker interlocking joints at the top of the neck. The whole thing mostly stays in balance from strong muscles and ligaments. Like any other muscles and ligaments, these upper cervical muscles and ligaments are subject to accidents and injuries which can threaten the normal balance of the head-to-neck area, and disrupt the body’s normal functions.

4.

Upper cervical care is gentle, and does not yank, pull, or twist the head and the neck.

5.

Most upper cervical doctors use a non-invasive technique for improving health, which does not include any drugs, surgery, or repeated manipulations of the spine.

6.

Your upper cervical care works with other health care options, so you can continue with your prescribed medications, your physical therapy, your nutritional supplementation, acupuncture, or other body work—just so long as your other practitioners do not manipulate the head, neck, or joints of the spine. If there are any questions about whether your other health care will interfere with the upper cervical protocol, just ask us.

7.

Upper cervical care has been featured on TheDoctors, ABC’s Good Morning America, Discovery Health, and PBS’ Chicago tonight for its ability to help with multiple sclerosis symptoms, head injuries, and high blood pressure.

8.

Upper cervical doctors and research organizations are involved in some of the most interesting studies on the importance of the spine to human health. For a sample of these projects, which look at more than just back pain, visit the Upper Cervical Research Foundation.

9.

Upper cervical doctors are often dedicated to advanced education in caring for the upper cervical spine, and will pursue certification in their upper cervical protocol.

10.

Upper cervical doctors are passionate about their work, and care deeply about helping people get well. With only a few percent of practicing chiropractors using a specific protocol for head-to-neck balance, upper cervical doctors are dedicated to technical excellence, and patient satisfaction with their care.

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(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.)

A Letter From A Skeptical Patient Of Upper Cervical Care

Editor's note: Today's post is about a patient's experience while under Upper Cervical Care. The method used was NUCCA.

A letter from a patient

by Dr. Deb Sesker

Note: This letter comes from a patient named Robyn, who has received NUCCA care for the last five years. She sent this to us via email in January of 2011.

Deb Sesker and NUCCA has completely changed my life. I have had chronic back pain since I was 9 years old after I was kicked behind my right ear by my horse. Then, at 15, I fell on the ice and broke my tailbone. Between the ages of 16 and 21, I was in five major car accidents where all vehicles were totalled. At 36, I was rear-ended by a teenage driver talking on her cell phone, and suffered whiplash.

I have spent thousands of dollars at conventional chiropractors, hours at acupuncturists and physical therapists, and even considered back surgery.

The surgeon refused to operate on me because he said I had a herniated disc and degenerative arthritis in my lower back. He said, “If I operate on you, you will be in a wheelchair within 5 years. You just need to learn how to live with the pain (and, by the way, here are some pain pills).” I walked away from the pain pills but was very depressed that I was still unable to find a cure.

My life was an everyday struggle because of the pain in my lower back. I literally cried every single day because I still had to work and make a living, and sitting at a computer all day was excruciating. I taught aerobics and rode on RAGBRAI and lived my life but suffered through it the whole time. I was determined I wasn’t going to let this pain ruin me, but I still suffered terribly.

One day a friend of mine told me that a coworker had come to work literally exclaiming with joy that he had found a miracle! Jumping up and down! The coworker told my friend that Deb Sesker and NUCCA had changed his life. He had been in constant back pain for five years and was now miraculously pain free! My friend called me immediately and the minute I hung up the phone with him I called Deb at Balance First. I begged her to see me the next day.

I have to admit I had a tremendous amount of skepticism about all of this because I had tried so many other avenues of relief to absolutely no avail. Quick fixes that gave me a few days of relief and then back to the chiropractor again; always worried that I couldn’t do any activity to my full potential for fear of aggravating my pain. I had been disappointed so many times that I was incredibly skeptical.

BUT, without hope there is nothing, so I always kept the faith that I would find the fix. And I found her!

I have lived a very different life after my first visit five years ago. Except for the occasional visit back to Deb for an adjustment because of self-injury (mistakenly shoveling snow, haphazardly climbing trees, or lively yard work), I live virtually pain-free. I, too, have had a miracle!! I can do all the activities I love to do; gardening, hiking, biking, sitting pain-free at a two-hour concert, or just watching a movie on my couch. Life is good.

Make sure to look at the diplomas on her walls. She was valedictorian of her class at Palmer College of Chiropractic at the wonderful age of 39. She is the epitome of what a doctor should be. She genuinely cares for her patient’s health and well-being, and is also a Take Shape for Life Regional Director. She cares about the whole person and will be able to counsel you in many different areas of your life.

I believe in Deb and NUCCA so much that every member of my family has been adjusted by her and THEIR lives have been changed, as well. In my line of business, I have had an inordinate number of opportunities to talk to complete strangers, and in the course of conversation, I discover that these people are in back pain. Maybe it is because I am so aware of how it affects everyday life, or I can see pain in their face when I am talking to them; for whatever reason, I discover they are in back pain. In the past five years, I would estimate that I have encouraged, and literally begged at times, 100 people to visit Deb. I KNEW she could change their lives. Quite a few of those people have contacted me later and thanked me for sharing Deb with them. They, too, had found a miracle!

–RLW

(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.)