Chiropractic is incredibly misunderstood by the public. The consequences of this misunderstanding is that most people fail to utilize chiropractic in ways that would benefit them the greatest. There is no greater misunderstanding than in the value of caring for the upper cervical spine. 

Outside of the brain there is no system or tissue more critical to how you express health than the upper cervical spine. 

Check out a couple of posts I made about the cervical spine:

Your Neck is Key to Your Health

Your Atlas Holds Up Your World

What is Chiropractic About?

Most people I encounter think of chiropractors as back and neck pain doctors. That’s understandable for a number of reasons. And yes, chiropractic can be incredibly effective at helping people overcome debilitating neck and back pain. And truth be told that’s how a great many chiropractors practice.

The real focus of chiropractic really has little to do with the neck or back. I know that might be a bit of a head scratcher but hear me out. Let’s take a brief look at the premise of chiropractic and I think you’ll understand my point.

The philosophy of chiropractic is a vitalistic philosophy. The 4 core premises of this philosophy that guides all we do are:

• The human body is intelligent! How else could it do all that it does?

• The human body is self-aware! If it weren’t able to continuously monitor every aspect of its function you would soon perish.

• The human body is self-regulating! Your body is continuously making adjustments to thousands of chemicals every second of every day; adjustments to things like enzymes, neurotransmitters, heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose, respiration.
• The human body is self-healing! All healing comes from within the body. Sometimes we offer the body some help in the form of medication, sutures, a cast, or even surgery but the healing is regulated from within.

The $1 Million dollar question! What system of the body is responsible for the monitoring, regulating, and healing of the body? What system is the conduit through which that intelligence resides?

The Nervous System! 

We can list out the 4 absolute necessities for human life and take a look at how long we could survive without each one. That will underscore the relative importance of each in our ability to not only survive, but thrive.

• Oxygen: the brain experiences serious damage within 3 minutes without oxygen.
• Water: depending on your hydration level and the temperature and humidity you could survive about 3 days without water.
• Food: the average person could last between 1 and 2 months without food. Some could last a lot longer but they would be starting with a great deal of excess stored energy.
• Nerve Supply from brain to the body: cut off the nerve communication between the brain and the body and death is immediate. 

This is a bit sadistic but if you look throughout human history at the means of executing or killing people the focus has been on the upper neck in martial arts, the guillotine, and hanging.

The Nervous System is the master coordinating system of the body. A healthy nervous system free from adverse tension and interference is an essential for great health. 

Why the Spine if the Focus is the Nervous System?

The Central Nervous System (brain and spinal cord) is so critical and so sensitive and delicate that it is the only system of the body encased in bone. The focus of chiropractic on the spine is because this is the area where the nervous system is most vulnerable to tension and pressure. This is the most direct access to the nervous system. 

I was introduced to chiropractic as a teen experiencing headaches, neck pain, back pain, trouble sleeping, and digestive problems. The experience of having the tension removed from my nervous system was profound. It enabled me to continue with college and led to me exploring chiropractic.

The Advantages of Upper Cervical Chiropractic

We’ve established the critical role that the central nervous system has in monitoring body functions, regulating every aspect of physiology, and healing. Now let’s explore why the upper cervical spine is so critical. 

1. The Brainstem: at the base of the skull is the transition from the brain to the spinal cord. This area is called the brainstem. It controls and coordinates many critical life functions like breathing, consciousness, blood pressure, heart rate, and sleep. Brainstem. 

Any imbalances in the upper cervical spine can impact the brainstem and cause disturbances throughout the body.

2. Autonomic Nervous System: The ANS regulates the functions of your organs. An imbalance of the ANS is related to 90% of all illness and disease. The primary nerve related to wellness and balance is the Vagus Nerve, which is easily interfered with by an misalignment of the upper cervical spine. Removing tension and restoring tone to the Vagus Nerve is critical to restoring health. Imbalances are related to muscle tension, pain, headaches, fatigue, digestion issues, anxiety, and depression. 

3. Tension of the Central Nervous System: Let’s start with an analogy. Think about a guitar. The sound or tone from the guitar is directly related to the amount of tension that the strings are under. The same holds for the nervous system. The degree of tension on the spinal cord has a tremendous impact on the function of the entire nervous system. Upper Cervical Chiropractic is intended to restore normal tension and tone to the nervous system. 

4. Body Imbalance: When the upper cervical spine is out of alignment there is a series of reactions and compensations that take place. If you stand behind someone and look at the level of their head it will be unlevel with an upper cervical misalignment. You can look at your ear lobes in the mirror. There will also be an unleveling of the shoulders as well as the pelvis. These distortions put increased tension on the nervous system and make the body work hard to stay in as much balance as possible. 

This also causes premature wear and tear of the joints. With the pelvis unlevel there is increased pressure on the knees, hips, and lower back. Degenerative arthritis or Degenerative Joint Disease is caused by these imbalances.

5. Whole Body Effect: Every nerve in the entire body outside of a few in the head must pass from the skull through the upper cervical spine. Any distortions in this area can cause problems anywhere in the body. It is common to see a wide range of health challenges improve with Upper Cervical Chiropractic. Some of the more common improvements include:

• Headaches and Migraines
• Sinus Issues
• Allergies
• Vertigo
• Hypertension
• Chronic Stress

The entire cervical spine, not limited to the top 2 vertebrae, is critical to reducing tension to the entire nervous system. Regardless of what someone presents to my office the cervical spine is always a focus. I’ve often told patients that if you told me I could only adjust one or two vertebrae, they would be C1 and C2. 

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