When the average person thinks about Chiropractic, chances are they don’t understand what Chiropractic really is. Who can blame them? The Chiropractic profession has done a bad job of explaining itself to the public.
For decades it was the doormat of the AMA, subject to constant persecution and ridicule. Most of the stigma from that time has lingered alongside the profession.
The Chiropractic profession has done its best to conduct research to prove its effectiveness. Nearly all of that research, though, is directed into one of two areas: back pain or neck pain.
It’s hard to fault Chiropractic researchers though. Especially when only about 70 full-time researchers exist within the profession, compared with the drug company Pfizer which has 12,000 researchers by itself. There just isn’t enough manpower or money to conduct the amount of research chiropractic needs.
But because of this, as well as the inability to effectively communicate what we do, most people think Chiropractors only specialize in back pain or headaches. Who wouldn’t think that? We’ve all seen the ads in the Yellow Pages depicting a wincing man or woman, supporting their arching back, as lightning bolts radiate away from their injured spine. Obviously Chiropractors specialize in pain relief, right? Now don’t get me wrong, Chiropractic does offer pain relief, but at its fundamental core, Chiropractic is so much more than just that.
What is Upper Cervical Chiropractic?
Chiropractic, plain and simple, is all about restoring proper function to the nervous system. The way that is accomplished is by removing vertebral subluxations. These are bony misalignments of the spine that result in nervous system interference. They come about in one of three ways: Physical trauma, emotional trauma, or chemical trauma. Vertebral subluxations can be very devastating. Over a period of time such as weeks, months, years, or decades, vertebral subluxations can wreak havoc on our bodies, especially if they occur in the upper cervical spine. A vertebral subluxation can lead to decreased output to nerves throughout your body, rapid degeneration of the spine, and many other debilitating conditions.
The way these subluxations are removed is with a gentle, yet specific upper cervical adjustment. Upper Cervical Chiropractors determine specific angles in which the top two vertebrae in the neck are misaligned. The adjustment itself is based on these angles and is very gentle and without any cracking, popping, or twisting.
What Makes Up the Upper Cervical Spine?
The top two vertebrae in our necks are known as C1 and C2, respectively. Chiropractors know these two bones more intimately as the atlas and axis. The atlas is a little 2 oz doughnut-shaped bone that supports the base of our 16 lb skull. If you look at Greek mythology, you’ll find that Atlas was the Titan who held the weight of the world on his shoulders, of which this bone was aptly named.
The spinal cord exits the base of the skull and passes through the atlas and axis all the way down through your spinal column. Every nerve that travels through the body passes through the atlas via the spinal cord. Not only that, but the brain stem is at the top of the spinal cord, near the atlas. This area can characterized almost like “mission control” within your body. The nickname seems appropriate when you realize that this is the area that regulates our heartbeat, our blood flow, and our breathing, among other things.
When someone develops a disease, chances are they have a vertebral subluxation in their upper cervical spine. I’m not saying a specific upper cervical adjustment will cure a disease. What it will do is put that atlas or axis back in place so that the nervous system can function properly. If the nervous system is functioning properly, then the body will receive life-restoring nerve transmission at its full and complete capacity.
And that is when our bodies can begin the healing process.
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That was a really informative post! I can’t believe chiropractic only has 70 active researchers and ONE pharmaceutical company has 12,000!!! Try to wrap your head around that! This post is a great reminder for those of us who already know and believe in what chiropractic truly is and also great to educate those looking for an answer!
This sentence is so true…
“Now don’t get me wrong, chiropractic does offer pain relief, but at its fundamental core, chiropractic is so much more than just that.”
Very well said. Too many chiros go one way or the other, instead of stating the reality of it.
Thank you for sharing the clear differences about the philosophy of chiropractic care. As more research is done and published about the benefits of consistent chiropractic care, the public’s understanding of care may shift from pain to health.
January: Yeah, that is nuts, huh?
Dr. Michael: Thanks for stopping by. I’d love for more chiropractors to integrate the two, as opposed to being only pain-based.
Charlotte: That’s our goal. Now we just have to get more research that isn’t pain-based and we can make some headway.
Thanks for contributing this information article about the benefits of chiropractic to Take Charge of Your Health Care Carnival. Chiropractic is certainly a lot safer and natural than what passes for allopathic medicine.
I actually enjoy treating low back pain in my practice. For me it is one of the more rewarding things about my day at the office, and back pain relief is of the things that give me the most accolades from my patients.
However, there is something sublime about having other things seemingly not connected to the spine clear up too. It’s a wonderful thing.
As long as rumors about the safety of chiropractic exist, we must work to educate the general public. The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress is doing a great job with campaigns by Jerry Rice and others. Articles and blogs such as this one help educate the public, one patient at a time. In time, the public will come to know that chiropractic is the safest and most effective health care system available.
Upper cervical chiropractic care has done so much for those who are suffering without answers. It’s definitely about more than just back pain and neck pain. But it’s also done a ton for those who aren’t sick…especially those who concerned with sports performance and human wellness. While healthy people don’t seek upper cervical chiropractic care as often as “sick” people do, I think that that seeing a CrossFit athlete or an avid golfer dramatically improve their game/workout after an upper cervical chiropractic correction is just as fun as seeing other kinds of chiropractic miracles.
Good post.
There isn’t a profession more misunderstood than Chiropractic. Most people, when asked, think a Chiropractor is a “back doctor”. While this is true in part, there’s a whole lot more to the art and science of Chiropractic.