Health, Gravity And Upper Cervical

adapted from: Health and Gravity

by Dr. Michael D. Thomas, NUCCA doctor

Years ago I had found a quote from Roger Sperry, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine/Physiology in 1981.  Sperry noted that 90% of the brain’s energy is used in relating the physical body to gravity.  Only 10% has to do with thinking, metabolism, and healing.  -Did you have any idea it was such a big percentage?

This means that when we are out of upper cervical alignment and our posture has become disordered, we are using valuable energy to just hold ourselves upright that ideally goes into thinking, metabolism and immune function.

How many of us feel fuzzy headed, or brain fog when we are out of adjustment?

Does your digestion change?

How about sleep patterns?

Most of us already know about the multitude of aches and pains that can be associated with being out of upper cervical alignment.  What you may not realize though, are the real problems that will eventually accumulate when we must chronically use our precious energy to adapt to being out of line.  Upper cervical misalignment can be a progressive and degenerative problem.

Fortunately, many of you also realize the incredible change that can take place when the upper cervical misalignment is corrected.  So many folks who come in for care have told me over the years about the incredible turn around that occurred when they got corrected and made the commitment to stay in alignment.  There are many who tell me they would not be walking if not for upper cervical care.

I find that upper cervical care is truly primary health care.  What I mean by this is that removing nervous system interference at the upper cervical area (top of the neck) is a critical step in the improvement of health.  Many of my patients have been able to wean themselves off not just pain medications, but many other medications that they’d had to take on a long term basis because of the troubling symptoms that may have developed due to long term upper cervical misalignment.  They just didn’t have the debilitating problems anymore.  They could begin to refocus back on their life.  And, the money they were spending on these suppressive drugs could be better spent in other areas of their life!

Some folks use the upper cervical correction like they do the emergency  room.  They only come in when they are in terrible trouble and want a quick and miraculous ‘fix’.  The upper cervical correction can often give them this ‘fix’ but the effects of living out of alignment for weeks and months takes it toll.  The upper cervical misalignment is a problem even more so the longer that it is there.  Once you are out of alignment, problems will slowly or not so slowly, begin to pile up.  Arthritis could be one part of the many attempts by your body to adapt to being twisted and unlevel.  Poor posture is another possibility and tends to wear down the joints and create inflammation and pain.

The upper cervical correction is our Health’s best friend.  Getting checked periodically through out the year is a wonderful and cost effective way to stay healthy and allow your inner wisdom the chance to work to its fullest.

More Energy for Healing?

How to Get More Energy for Healing, Digestion, and Thinking

by Dr. Brandon Harshe

“Better than 90% of the brain’s output is directed towards maintaining your body in its gravitational field.  Therefore, the less energy one spends on one’s posture, the more energy is available for healing, digestion and thinking.”  -Roger Sperry, 1981 Nobel Prize winner for brain research

The first cervical vertebra, Atlas or C1, is the most freely movable vertebra in the spine, and the one most likely to cause irritation or tension to the spinal cord. It pivots around the second cervical vertebra, Axis or C2, connected only by ligaments and tendons, but no disc as in the rest of the spine. This is what allows the majority of spinal rotation to occur, but at the price of instability. In most cases, you will not feel the problem in your upper cervical spine.

When the head and neck misalign, you won’t feel it in most cases, but it will have a number of negative effects on the body. Because it is causing irritation and/or tension near the brain stem, vital organ function can be negatively impacted. Conditions such as high blood pressure, asthma, allergies, and digestive problems can arise. Because of a high number of sensory nerves in the upper neck called mechanoreceptors, head/neck misalignment can manifest itself in various conditions such as neck pain or stiffness, or tension headaches. You could even experience other conditions like migraines or vertigo as a result of having head/neck misalignment.  Or you may have no obvious symptoms at all.  (see editor's note below)

Head/neck misalignment can also cause an overall body imbalance that can result in overall spinal compensation. This will be characterized by spinal curvature, contracted or tight muscles on one side of the spine, postural imbalances such as a tilted head, high shoulder, and high hip, and an imbalance in leg lengths. Over time this could lead to forms of degeneration like bone spurs and fusion of the vertebrae, as well as back and shoulder pain, and even herniated discs.

So restoring proper position to the Atlas and Axis vertebrae have more of an effect on your overall well being than you have ever imagined. If you haven’t had your nervous system and upper neck checked, it’s time you did.

(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.)

Want Better Performance? Try Upper Cervical Care

13 Benefits Of Upper Cervical Care: Part 11

Everyone seems to be attempting to improve their performance these days. The economy has corporations and industry trying to get the most out of their employees. Athletes are doing all kinds of things to improve their athletic performance. Viagra and similar competitive medications are publicly touting enhanced performance in an area that a few years ago was a personal and private matter. Perhaps it is part of the American psyche that we all want to do better at work, at play, and at everything else. We are going to great lengths to improve our performance. Self-help programs, food supplements, drugs, seminars and meditation are just a few of the methods that people are using to attempt to improve their performance in various aspects of life.

One of the easiest and most effective ways of improving performance, generally and in specific areas, is to remove or reduce the interference to maximum performance. Unfortunately, our society is geared toward adding something rather than removing something. Instead of removing the mental and emotional stresses that interfere with our ability to be effective in our job performance, we take mood-altering drugs as if that will make our internal problems go away.

Instead of removing the unhealthy things from our diet, we add supplements assuming that will compensate for a poor diet. Instead of addressing the cause of our lack of energy (often getting enough rest), we take “pep pills” as if they were a substitute for getting the proper rest.

The human body was designed with all that is needed to reach peak performance. Adding things to our body, especially in the form of unnatural chemicals, may stimulate increased performance on a temporary basis but it cannot be sustained and it most often results in harmful side-effects. The best we can do is to live naturally and remove interferences. That may not make us the best that there is but it will make us the best we can be and that should be sufficient.

On the subject of removing interferences to performance, we cannot overlook nerve interference. It is probably the greatest interference, at least the greatest that can be easily removed. When the head and neck misalign due to various activities of daily life, it can interfere with the function of the nerve system. The nerve system is the primary tool by which the innate intelligence of the body controls and coordinates all function. Every function of your body can be reduced in its ability to perform if this type of nerve interference is present. How great that reduction in function will be depends on a number of factors and is different for every person. But without a doubt, you will not be the best you can be. Perhaps the reduction will be imperceptible, perhaps it will be noticeable only to you. Or perhaps it will only be noticeable to others and affect your work and your life. Regardless of who notices or who does not, it would be a good idea to have your nerve system checked periodically, via upper cervical care, for this type of nerve interference so that there is no reduction in your performance.