Can Upper Cervical Care Help Patients With Dizziness?

Can Neck Problems Cause Dizziness?

by Dr. Bill Davis

Vertigo, dizziness, disequilibrium and many other of these types of conditions can be directly related to old head and neck injuries that have never been properly addressed and the underlying damage to the upper neck has led to dysfunction in the ears, the balancing system of the body or both.

When the head or neck is injured the upper neck (Atlas & Axis) frequently become twisted and misaligned leading to a slight displacement of the head…sometimes by as little as 3/4 of a degree.  Once the heavy head (10-14 lbs) is tilting to the side the brain has to compensate for that change through the righting reflex to keep the eyes and ears level with the horizon at all times.

The entire structure of the body will twist and tilt in order to compensate for those upper neck misalignments and head tilt.  Eventually leading to pressure building up into the nerve system.  The area that is first impacted by these problems is the brain stem area, which is just basically a part of the brain that extends down into the spine and connects the the spinal cord.

The brain stem area is a key to the balance of our bodies.  This upper neck area has more pressure sensors the anywhere else in the body that feed information into the brain stem and the brain.  Also the brain stem send messages via the cranial nerves to the ears for balance as well.  Blood flow is also effected when the brain stem function is altered.

When someone is suffering from vertigo, dizziness, or disequilibrium, the brain stem is frequently involved.  Upper neck misalignments alter the brain stem function and lead to these types of problems.  When these old injuries are dealt with by the correction of the head position by a precise upper cervical corrective procedure such as NUCCA, the healing process can begin.

Holding the corrections is the key to healing, not having your spine adjusted 1000′s of times!

Now here is an example…Terry is in property management and is also an avid Bicyclist, riding up to 100 miles per week.  When he began to develop vertigo it was about 2 years after he had taken a pretty significant fall from his bike and had a motorcycle accident that seemed to make the dizziness and vertigo attacks much worse.  To the point that he was concerned even about going up on a ladder at one of his rentals.  Here is his story…

I have been suffering from vertigo (dizziness) for 6-7 years, getting more constant as the years progressed.  I tried everything…Every doctor that I could think of, EENT, general doc, vertigo specialist and finally my last hope, a NUCCA (upper cervical) doctor.  Dr. Davis helped me almost instantly.  I have not been dizzy for 8 weeks!  Thanks Breath of Life for giving me my health back!!!

Now not all dizziness, vertigo and disequilibrium is related to head and neck traumas.  But if you have a history of those types of accidents then an evaluation with a qualifiedupper cervical specialist is very important.  If the underlying cause can be identified, what a difference it can make for your life!

(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 dizziness or any other condition, disease or symptom.)

Upper Cervical Care, Anxiety And Panic Attacks

Adapted from Question Answered

By Dr. Myron Brown

I received this question in an E-mail today. I thought that others might be interested in this subject, so the question and answer are copied below (the person’s name is omitted). This person has anxiety and panic attacks and asks if Upper Cervical Care will help that condition.

Answer:

Upper Cervical Care benefits people by correcting interference that can occur in the body’s central nerve system.

The brain is responsible to control and coordinate the function of the body and it uses a vast network of nerves, like a wiring system, to communicate with the various cells, tissues and organs of the body. The spinal cord is the main “cable” that carries messages from the brain through the movable bones of the spinal column. Those bones are intended to protect the nerves passing through them. However, if the head and neck get misaligned it can have just the opposite effect. Instead of protecting the nerve system, head/neck misalignment can become an insult to the spinal cord and nerves passing through it.

The resultant nerve interference can disturb function in ways that are both predictable and unpredictable. But either way, interference due to head/neck misalignment is damaging to the performance of the body. Simply put, it interferes with the function of the body.

Since communication between the brain and other body parts is essential to regulate body chemistry, deleterious effects are inevitable, while remaining difficult to forecast. When an upper cervical doctor identifies head/neck misalignment, he or she will endeavor to correct it, not to treat any particular condition or disease, but because good nerve supply is essential to the function of the body.

To address your question most specifically, I would not offer upper cervical care to treat anxiety, panic attacks or any other condition. Yet an important question needs to be asked. Who needs a good nerve supply more than someone who is experiencing anxiety and panic attacks? Precise upper cervical corrections allow for better performance. In my practice experience patients have reported positive changes in many conditions that were not predictable, yet through the correction of head/neck misalignment, they observed pleasing improvements in many facets of their family’s health and performance. So the right answer to this question is that upper cervical care is not for treating conditions, but to improve function. Every family member benefits from improved nerve system function. I would recommend finding an upper cervical doctor who can provide a precise spinal analysis and correction of head/neck misalignment to allow proper brain to body communication.

What is Atlas Orthogonal?

Atlas Orthogonal is a very effective and modern form of upper cervical care, using state-of-the-art technological advances. In fact, it is so advanced that many medical neurologists in Europe are trying to emulate the method. However, they are still 30-40 years behind a trained Atlas Orthogonal doctor.

Atlas Orthogonal is very safe, gentle, painless, and has shown to be extremely effective for a wide variety of health problems.

Your body has an amazing natural ability to heal itself, so in most cases, there is no need for drugs or surgeries. Those alternatives should be considered last, not first, resorts. Many health problems are can be caused or contributed by “short circuits” within the nervous system. The Atlas Orthogonal doctor is highly trained at detecting and safely correcting nerve interference due to head neck misalignment.

The corrections are done with a gentle and safe percussion instrument. The instrument is non-intrusive, non-threatening and low force. Depending on the specific misalignments and nerve interference (determined through proper examinations), the instrument is placed specifically and accurately. Once the patient is properly positioned, a gentle percussive force is generated at the site of the misalignment.

Sometimes, patients are surprised that the corrections is so gentle. Once the nervous system starts working better, the body starts to heal, and the symptoms often start to go away, which is when patients truly begin to appreciate the healing nature of Atlas Orthogonal upper cervical.

An Atlas Orthogonal doctor is a specialist in the brain stem and upper cervical area. The brain controls the body’s functions through the brain stem. The Atlas Orthogonal doctor can positively affect the body’s function and health by properly aligning the Atlas, which is the first cervical bone also called C1.

Because this specialty demands more schooling beyond chiropractic school and because of the focus and accuracy needed from an Atlas Orthogonal doctor, not many chiropractors continue to seek accreditation in this procedure. There are approximately 300 Atlas Orthogonal doctors in the whole world!

What is important to remember is: Atlas Orthogonal (Upper cervical care) does not treat any particular disease or symptom. It's goal is to correct nerve imbalance and restore the body’s proper function and health, and then the symptoms usually alleviate naturally. The nervous system controls all of the body’s functions. This is a natural method of health care. First, try to remedy your pain or cause of the problem naturally through upper cervical care. Then, if needed, seek prescription drugs second and surgery as a last resort.

For more information on Atlas Orthogonal Care or to find an Atlas Orthogonal Doctor in your area, visit www.GlobalAO.com.

13 Benefits Of Upper Cervical Care: Part 1

Upper cervical care has many potential benefits and we often get lost in the symptom relieving aspect of the care but what are the other larger picture benefits? Today we will discuss the first of these many benefits.

#1 More Energy

Why is it that some people seem to be able to go like the Energizer bunny and others can’t drag themselves out of bed in the morning? It is because all of us naturally have a varied amount of energy or vitality. Some of us were born with a "12-volt battery" and some with only a "six-volt". Some people simply have more energy than others. Often we classify these with a lot of energy as “Type-A personalities” or say they are “hyper,” but the fact is most of us would love to have the energy that they have, if only to be more productive. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done about that situation. It would seem though, with few exceptions, that everyone should have the potential to get out of bed in the morning and carry on the activities of a busy day without feeling like they are dragging an anchor behind them. Some people maintain that their lack of energy is due to not being able to get to sleep early enough. They just cannot get all their tasks done by a reasonable hour. For many of them, that inability is due to a lack of energy throughout the day that causes them to go at half speed. So the cycle continues until and unless they get more energy.

There are a few things one can do to have more natural energy. Most of those things are activities that we should be doing every day in order to be healthy. Eating good, nutritional food supplies the fuel that the body makes into energy. Proper rest allows the body to rejuvenate and recuperate from the day’s activities. Exercise is also important. There is one more less known but equally necessary component to having the maximum amount of energy your body can have, that is a nerve system that is free of interference.

Whether you have a 12-or 6-volt battery running your body you will want to make sure that all the voltage available is getting through. You can put high-octane gasoline in your car but unless the electrical system is working properly, you car is not going to have any more power. Eating good food supplies the fuel but your nerve system enables it to be turned into energy.

Maintaining head/neck alignment with periodic upper cervical care is extremely helpful in order to have a properly functioning nerve system. When the head and neck misalign it can interfere with the important message/energy flow to the organs and cells of the body. There is no way you can expect to have all the energy you were meant to have. Can your car get along on six cylinders instead of eight? Sure it can. Do you want it to? Probably not or you would have bought a six-cylinder car. Can your body get along with less than a full complement of natural energy? Sure it can but do you want it to? Like your car, a body that is not working as it should will eventually break down or develop some problem. Keep your nerve system free and keep your energy level high.

Upper Cervical Care And Better Performance

Performance can be defined as the degree to which anything functions as intended. When it comes to one’s performance as a human being (human performance) many factors are involved. Unfortunately, in today’s busy society with so many factors, most people are looking for a quick fix or a shortcut. Naturally then, when the average person is looking to improve their performance in any aspect of life, they tend to seek out the single key factor for the best results. So what is the single most important aspect in improving or maintaining a high level of performance in any aspect of your life? Factors such as adequate exercise, good nutrition, positive mental attitude, and a good nerve supply are all very important. But which one is the key to better performance?

The truth is, none of them is the answer, but here is the answer: The key to better performance is commitment. What good is exercise if you don't commit to doing it regularly? How much value is nutritious food when it is only talked about and you do not take the time to properly prepare it? If you just consider having a positive attitude, you might end up depressed. Simply agreeing with your upper cervical doctor that it's a good idea to have a good nerve supply just doesn't get it done.

Done sparingly, all of these measures are positive. Exercising only on the weekends is better than doing nothing at all. Some good nutrition is better than eating junk food all the time. Being positive only when things are going your way is probably better than being negative all the time. Having your spine and nerve system checked once a year is better than never.

However, making and following through on a commitment to improve your life is what really brings about better human performance. Sure, it may take more time and cost some money, but aren't you worth it?

Upper cervical care is committed to helping you with one aspect of improving your performance -- having a good nerve supply by correcting head/neck misalignment. That is the area in which he/she is an expert and can help you. To get the most from upper cervical care, just like anything else, you need to commit to it. Everything in an upper cervical care office, from office hours to the fee system, has been carefully thought out to make fulfilling your commitment that much easier for you.

Is Upper Cervical Care The Fountain Of Youth?

You would think that the idea of a fountain of youth would have ended years ago, but every few years, someone comes up with an idea, a drug, or a gimmick which can assure people eternal youth. There is no secret to perpetual youth. Researchers of these gimmicks are quite willing to admit that their findings “won’t make people any younger or allow them to live forever.” By the time you finish reading the article on the new miracle whatever you realize that the researchers are really not promising anything.

What they have found is that a cell divides about 70 times over a lifetime. Each time it divides, the protective end of the chromosome, called a telomere, is shortened. Eventually it is too short to protect the cell and the cell dies. The researchers believe that by inserting a gene into the cell this shortening will not occur.

There are other substances, vitamins, herbs and “natural ingredients” that are supposed to keep you younger. Most of it is just Madison Avenue hype. No one is going to discover anything that will enable you to live forever. We all know that. What they are saying or should be saying is that these substances may enable you to live a better quality of life and perhaps even live a little longer. But then that is nothing new. We have known for years that doing the things necessary to be healthy will increase your chances of living a longer, more productive and healthier life. You may not always have the stamina of an 18 year old but you will be better off than you would if you did not do those health enhancing things.

When it comes to upper cervical care, we have to be the most honest people in the scientific community. We do not offer a fountain of youth. We do not promise cures for disease, we do not even promise that you will be healthy or live longer. No one can make those kinds of promises. What we can and do promise is that if we can correct head/neck misalignment and the resulting nerve irritation and keep it corrected as much of the time as possible that you will lead a healthier more productive life than you would if you were walking around with a misalignment interfering with the proper function of your nerve system. How much healthier? Sorry, we cannot even make a guess. Perhaps it will be imperceptible. Perhaps it will make all the difference in the world, more than anything else you do in your life. We have no way of knowing. But the fact that your body will work better is based upon logic and common sense. Proper function depends upon the nerve system. If there is an interference in the nerve system, the organs and parts supplied by those nerves will not function as they were intended to. If those parts are vital organs or if they produce necessary chemicals, then the entire body will be affected. In fact, any breakdown of function anywhere in the body has a universal detrimental affect on the entire body, for each part of the body is dependent upon every other part and all parts contribute to the whole.

You will hear many claims for many products in the years to come, miracle cures, instant relief and fountains of youth. For some there may even be seemingly dramatic results. But for most of us, the thing to do is to realize there is no easy way to a full productive healthy life. We can wander through life looking for the magical elixir of life or we can recognize that a healthy fulfilling life depends on what we do in the way of taking care of our body and doing what is best for it. The latter approach seems to me to be the one that makes the most sense.

Building Health Or Treating Disease?

Man is either alive, or he’s dead.
If he’s alive, there’s a reason.
If he’s dead, there’s a reason.
Man is either healthy, or he’s sick.
If he’s healthy, there’s a reason.
If he’s sick, there’s a reason.
If he’s healthy, there’s a logical,
reasonable, and consistent explanation.
—Dr. B.J. Palmer

The above statement is the essence of Upper Cervical Care because it bases its practice on clear, logical reasoning. While there must be a reason, or perhaps many reasons for disease, it is more important to find the logical, reasonable and consistent reason for health. Addressing health is far more important than addressing disease. If you get rid of a disease but do not restore health, a void remains. Into that void will come another disease or perhaps the same one will return. You must have health, it is prerequisite to getting well and to the prevention of disease.

The logical reason for a lack of health is that the body is not functioning as it should. In fact, that may very well be the true definition of health, a state in which each and every cell in the body is working as it should. If we follow the logic of this thinking, it would make sense to examine the body and determine if the body is working properly and if it is not, why it is not. We in the upper cervical work believe that we have found a cause. We admit that we have not looked further for other reasons why the body may work at less than perfect efficiency. There may be others, we just have not looked for them. The reason is that the cause we have found involves the nerve system, the master system of the body, which is concerned with the organization of every activity, the production of every chemical, and the running of every cell. Further, we have found that interference in this nervous system can occur in just about everybody and occur in the spine where the head and neck join. This is enough to keep us busy.

What is the reason for sickness? That is the job of the medical doctor to determine that reason or reasons. It may be that one of the reasons for a disease, a major one, is a lack of health. The problem is that medicine is not looking for a lack of health, which is inside the person. They are looking for outside causes, bacteria, viruses, the environment, the weather, stress, as well as things you put into your body. It may be that there is some importance to those things but a lack of health, a body not working properly, is present in every situation. The medical doctor does not look for that. He cannot be expected to. He was not trained to do that. The role of the upper cervical doctor, to find one possible cause, an interference in the nerve system where the head and neck join. In correcting this interference to the nerve system, the body will work better in all situations under all circumstances. That is a prerequisite to a healthy body.

You Are Smarter Than You Think

In upper cervical care we often talk about how wonderful this body of ours is. We have an inborn wisdom resident within each of us that runs our body twenty-four hours a day, every day of our lives, and it can do it perfectly if there is no interference present. It is the innate intelligence and at this very moment it is creating thousands of chemicals out of the food that we ate last. Not only is our body making these chemicals, but they are being made in exactly the right quantity, at precisely the moment they are needed. When the body is allowed to function as it should, it will never make too much or too little of any chemical substance. We truly have an amazing and intelligent body. We are all equally intelligent when it comes to this inborn wisdom. No one’s innate intelligence is smarter or becomes smarter than anyone else. The principle is the same in the newborn as it is in the eighty-year old. It has nothing to do with your I.Q.

There is, however, an educated intelligence, which is that body of knowledge we gain from experience and from formal and informal education. We recognize that there is a wide disparity between the educated intelligence of different people. Some of us are rocket scientists and some of us have an I.Q. that is room temperature. While there is a great difference in the amount of knowledge in most academic endeavors, when it comes to knowledge about the human body, there is little disparity between people. There may be a difference between the amount of knowledge about the human body and its proper function between different people, however, when it comes to what is known in relation to what is capable of being known, there is very little difference. For example, there may be a great difference between the smartest and the dumbest kid in the first grade. But that difference is nothing when comparing both of them to a college graduate.

When it comes to the knowledge of the human body, it has been estimated that we know perhaps 1/10 of 1% that there is to know about its anatomy and physiology in health and disease. Can you see the point? Even if you know next to nothing, it is not much less than the guy who knows all that is to be known, and nobody knows that. Even specialists, who are considered to be the smartest people in a particular field, only have a great amount of knowledge in one small area. It has been humorously suggested that a specialist knows more and more (knowledge) about less and less (more specific areas of the body). And that he has finally arrived when he knows everything about nothing. But the fact is that none of us knows very much compared to what needs to be known about the body to be qualified to run it. The high school dropout is no more or no less qualified to run the human body than is the valedictorian from the best medical school in the world. The difference in what they know compared to what there is to know is insignificant. That is why the really smart people recognize their limited knowledge and do not try to run the body or to assume the role of the innate intelligence, which knows 100% about keeping the body healthy. They understand that the best thing they can do for the body is to remove obstacles or interferences to the innate intelligence and then stay out of the way. Upper cervical care removes one of these interferences, Head neck misalignment, which prevents the nervous system from functioning properly.

Upper Cervical Care: The Basics

It is important to us that you not only understand what upper cervical care does for you but also why we are doing it. One of the biggest reasons why people do not refer others for care is because they are not exactly sure what we do. Either they misunderstand or they are simply unable to communicate it. The basic principles upper cervical care (UCC) are actually quite simple, so simple in fact, that anyone should be able to explain them to family, friends and associates if they wanted to.

A few of the basic concepts are important and people under UCC should have an understanding of them. One such concept is called the “Safety Pin Cycle.” This is a simple illustration of how the body works. The brain sends out messages to all of the cells of the body. The cells then report back to the brain about their condition and needs. In this way, the brain regulates and coordinates all of the functions of our bodies. While this illustration is not exactly physiologically or anatomically correct, it is adequate to describe the transmission of the nervous impulse throughout the body.

If there is interference in this communication, it reduces the body’s ability to act and react. The tissue cell cannot remain in perfect organization if there is an alteration in the communication in this cycle. This is exactly what can occur in the case of head/neck misalignment. This misalignment can interfere with and alter the message from the brain to the cells of the body. This ultimately changes the function of the cells, and over time, the condition of the entire body.

Of course, we would not expect that our patients would discuss efferent and afferent pathways with their friends and family, One way the patients could explain UCC to family and friends is the following:

“Small misalignments of the head and neck can cause interference in the nervous system and keep your body from working as effectively as it should or could. Everyone knows that the brain controls the entire functioning of the body. It does this by sending messages from the brain down the spinal cord and out along all of the nerves to every cell in your body. Head/neck misalignment can interfere with this communication and keep your body from working the way it should.”

It is important to share what you know about UCC with the people around you so their bodies can work as effectively as possible. You do not need to give them some lengthy, technical explanation about how the nervous system works, just that the body will always work better without interference. That’s not only what upper cervical doctors do but also why they do it.

Upper Cervical Care Revisited

This comes to us from www.seeonedoc.com

What is Upper Cervical Care?
by Dr. Autumn Monteiro

Upper Cervical Care is a unique system of finding and correcting nerve interference in the upper neck area.

Upper Cervical Care 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. Almost 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 regulates 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 creating a variety of health problems. The top two vertebrae, the Atlas and Axis, are especially vulnerable to injury or misalignment because they are the most mobile segments of the spine. If neglected, an Upper Cervical misalignment can 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 Intervene Or Not To Intervene

When it comes to a health care professional addressing the health care needs of a person, there are essentially two approaches. The first and most common is intervention care. In this approach, the doctor or health care professional intervenes in the function of the body. That intervention may be as minimal as giving over-the-counter medication or as drastic as major surgery. The assumption on the part of the one who is intervening is that their professional expertise has given them the ability and the right to determine what is best for the body. There are, no doubt, occasions when intervention is necessary. First-aid measures save lives that would otherwise be lost. However, there are other situations when the need for intervention is not so clearly demonstrated. In these situations, the health care practitioner may or may not be doing more harm than good. In still other situations, intervention is clearly NOT called for. Whenever there is intervention, harm is done to the body, even if it is only taking an aspirin for a headache that will be gone after a good night’s sleep. You can see that intervention may be dangerous, that it takes great knowledge (perhaps more than any human being has), often is an educated guess and is always accompanied by an uncertain outcome to some degree.

A second approach is non-intervention. It involves doing something FOR the body rather than TO the body. Its objective is to remove an obstacle or interference to the proper function of the organism. With this approach, the practitioner does not determine what the body needs, how much or in what quantity. He/she only determines what the body does NOT need and seeks to remove that interference. The desire is not to add anything to the body nor to take away anything that it was designed to have. Practitioners of non-intervening approaches believe that the less that is done to the body, the better off it is. They acknowledge that on occasions it may be necessary to intervene, to do something to the body, but that is not their objective.

Upper cervical care is a non-intervening approach. The upper cervical doctor recognizes that head/neck misalignment interferes with the function of the nerve system and as such, causes a lack within the body-that of proper nerve flow. They do not intervene in the function of the body. They do not try to increase or decrease its function. They do not try to add anything or take anything away. Their sole objective is to introduce a slight force, which the body can use to correct the misalignment and the resulting interference. In this day when there is so much intervention, so many people trying to run the body, trying to supersede nature, trying to alter physical function to conform to their idea as to what it should be, it is nice to know that there is at least some professionals that want to do nothing more than remove interference to the perfect expression of the body’s inborn wisdom.

"There is nothing that I can do about what is wrong with you, what I can do however is address what is right in you. You cannot fight darkness you must turn on the light. You cannot fight disease, you must turn on life." -Dr. Jean Belaval

If It’s Not Broke Don’t Fix It

Most of us rarely think we have the expertise to fool around with a complicated piece of machinery especially if it is already working well. We would be afraid to try to improve upon the inner workings of an electric dishwasher for example. Yet that very situation happens all the time relative to the human body.

Our body has a built-in mechanism to heal itself, factory installed, if you will. The human body is more complex, more intricately and more perfectly designed than anything built by Hoover, Panasonic or General Electric. Despite knowing that, we are constantly trying to improve upon it. We believe that a drug can make it work better, heal faster or function properly. The Upper Cervical Care idea is not to do any of the above but simply to remove an interference to the body performing its function in a perfect and timely manner.

The sad part is that we are often able to make the body work faster or perform functions better by the use of drugs, but we also suffer the consequences of that approach. We have all seen and read of the damage that the “bigger, faster, better” drugs can have on people, sometimes even death. For example, athletes take steroids to build muscles faster and bigger to increase their performance but suffer complications with their hearts because it too is a muscle. Our bodies build muscle at their own pace. We are all different; some have the natural ability to build muscle faster and some slower. If we try to exceed that ability, harmful effects will be the result.

There is another aspect to this “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” philosophy. Often people will use this as an excuse for getting checked by and upper cervical doctor on a periodic basis. This is another way of saying, “There is nothing wrong with me, I feel fine.” The fact is that if there is interference in your spine, due to head/neck misalignment, you are not fine. There is something “broke.” In fact, the most important system in the body, the nerve system, is “broken.” The inborn wisdom of your body, which controls and coordinates the function of every cell in the body, is not free to do its job. Your body is simply not working as it should. The results of that will eventually be disastrous.

Just because it is not noticeable at first does not mean that dysfunction is not occurring or that the damage is not accumulating within the body. When your car just begins to burn or leak oil, you do not notice it. Further, if the warning system is not working properly, you may continue driving the car, completely unaware, until your car is permanently damaged. That is why it is smart to have the oil level in your car checked regularly. For that same reason, it is idea to have your spine checked periodically for head/neck misalignment and the resulting interference even if it does not appear to be “broke!”

Upper Cervical Care: It’s About Your Life!

Too often we just do not take advantage of good things that are available to us. We may stay at a hotel and never use the pool or exercise room because we do not have time. We may never use the cruise control on our car because we only ever drive around town. We may feel like we have wasted money staying at a hotel with those features or buying a car with extras that we may never use. But the real tragedy is not taking advantage of something because we just do not know about its advantages.

Imagine having a television set that you could turn on and off but having no idea it also had a channel selector. You would never get the maximum enjoyment out of a television with an 181-channel hookup if you did not realize you could get anything more than C-Span! I usually cannot handle more than 10 minutes of C-Span so that would be a real tragedy.

Not utilizing its full potential is exactly what some upper cervical patients do. They go to an upper cervical doctor for a back problem and never realize that the care is so much more than a mere treatment for a musculoskeletal problem. When the head and neck become misaligned, probably the least important thing that happens is that back pain may result. It may be important to the person with pain, just as C-Span is important to someone who enjoys that type of programming, but there is a whole lot more to television than that one channel. Likewise there is a lot more to upper cervical care than problems with the back.

Upper cervical care addresses head/neck misalignment which interferes with the vital messages that travel over the nervous system between the brain and every organ, tissue and cell in the body. This interference seriously impairs the body’s ability to carry on all its normal and natural functions. The body’s chemistry is upset, organ function is affected, resistance is lowered and all coordinated activity is decreased. The digestive system does not work 100%. You cannot think clearly and you can not get all the benefit from your rest and exercise that you should. Even the food that you eat will not be utilized properly by the body if there is nerve interference.

When nerve interference occurs, the body begins to function in an abnormal manner. The individual in this state may be totally unaware of what is happening in his or her body. Unless someone tells them about the benefits of upper cervical care, they may never know until it’s too late to regain their health. If all you could ever watch on television was C-Span, you could just find other forms of entertainment, like reading a good book. Unfortunately, there are no alternatives to correcting head/neck misalignment and keeping the life channels open so your body’s nerve system works at its maximum. Consequently, it makes sense to have your spine checked periodically and to have it corrected when this interference is present.

Being Thankful for Upper Cervical Care

Not sure who wrote this but I came across it a while back and thought it would be fun to share today.

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A
P roperly functioning nervous system
P uts
Y our

T otal
H ealth
A t a much higher state of vitality & resistance.
N erve interference is caused by head/neck misalignment,
K nown as
S ubluxations. These subluxations
G reatly reduce the
I nherent natural healing ability of the body. Few things are more
V aluable than your health. Make a decision to
I nvest in an optimal spine and an optimal
N ervous system. In this holiday season, be sure to give the
G ift of Health, by telling your family & friends about Upper Cervical Care.

What is Health?

Let's work this one out logically:

The definition of health is, "optimal physical, social, and emotional well being not merely the absence of disease or symptoms.” Obviously, health has little to do with symptoms and a great deal to do with how well you function. Health is optimal function. Health is the body function exactly as it should.

So how do you know if you are healthy?

Well, you have to have some way of determining if you are functioning optimally or not.

What System within us coordinates and regulates ALL functioning of the body?

The Brain and Nerve System

So, if the function of the nerve system is interfered with is that a good thing or a bad thing?

A bad thing.

Would you want to have this interference to proper body function removed as soon as it occurs or when it gets so bad that you have pain or are very sick?

Hopefully you said as soon as it happens.

If we could determine the functional state of the nerve system do you think it would be a valuable tool in determining if you are truly healthy?

Yes

Such tools and tests do exist and we use them in Upper Cervical Care. But, remember the functional state of your nerve system, your health, is not measured by symptoms so you can’t “feel” the interference any more than you can “feel” you have high cholesterol. You are tested and then told whether it is present or not.

We test for, and if present, remove the interference so that normal function resumes (a.k.a. health).

So who do you think should be checked for interference and when?

Everyone and as soon as possible!

Upper Cervical Corrections by Hand or Instrument?

I think this is a fair assessment of the question above.

HOW GREAT IS THY ART?
Cecil D. Laney, D.C.

Chiropractic is a philosophy, science and art. The philosophy is our core beliefs which maintain that optimum nerve function is vital to good health and that the nerve function can have interference and this interference can be removed.

The science is the mathematical determination of the structural integrity of the human body. It also addresses the postural standards as to what is normal and optimum to achieve normal nerve function.

The art is the skill with which we render service to the patient in restoring nerve function in the pursuit of better health.

Without data, everything is just an opinion. Therefore, I will offer opinions after over 50 years of observation. I am saying that our greatest failure has been our poor achievement in the art of chiropractic.

Someone estimated that there are over 150 different techniques in the country. I think that there are really two major procedures, the manipulators and the specific adjusters. There is a difference. To manipulate, you move structure randomly. To adjust, you move structure from a given place to a different given place. Unfortunately, the vast majority of chiropractic practices consists of manipulation.

The time is here when the powers that be, the government, insurance companies, etc. are asking: "What do you chiropractors do?" Our answer is: "We correct spinal distortions." But do we? Can you prove it? Do you take pre and post x-rays? If not, what is your method of evaluation?

Dr. B.J. Palmer said the subluxation can only exist in the cervical area. My experience leads me to agree with him. In this area, palpation and postural observation are helpful, but the only reliable performance monitoring method is precision pre and post x-rays. This is the only method I accept.

I have heard claims of everything up to 100% on nearly all cases. I have yet to see proof of this kind of performance. Dr. John D. Grostic told me his father had about 87% overall average correction. This was a surprise to me in view of the fact that adjusting me, he hit 100% almost every time.

It doesn't tell us much if you show a case of 100% correction, but it will give a picture of your performance if you show a dozen consecutive cases with close proximity dates on the film.

In discussions with some of our best hand adjusters, I have come to the conclusion that their overall average is in the nature of 50%. This is good, a far better performance than the manipulators. It is about twice as good as I was ever able to do. I applaud anyone who is training themselves to hand adjust. Maybe someone will come up with a modification of the procedure that will make it more doable.

My observation is that an average 50% correction will eventually build a referral practice even if the doctor has a sour disposition. A 70% average correction will build you an overflow practice.

We are entering a new era in the art of chiropractic. I have designed, built and delivered to Life University a new table mounted cervical adjusting instrument, giving them all rights to it. It has functions that to my knowledge, has never been utilized before. It is being evaluated in the Research Department. We expect to achieve 80 to 90 percent average corrections. This kind of performance will make miracle cases commonplace. The instrument uses the Grostic analysis and adjusting vectors. We urgently need for it to be placed in a few Grostic proficient doctors' offices to accumulate data.

If my opinion is wrong and you can document a correction performance of 70% or above, I want to be a student of yours. If you are averaging much less than 50% with hand adjusting, I would recommend you move to the use of adjusting instruments. It is not fair to your patients to do otherwise.