Upper Cervical is a chiropractic technique that is designed to make changes to the entire spine from the top down, and to remove any interference/irritation to the nervous system that a head/neck misalignment may cause. It is named after top bones of the upper neck, which balance and support the weight of the head. Misalignments in this area have a devastating effect on the body, both structurally and neurologically.
Structural Problems
In anatomy 101, we learn, “It’s all connected.” Misalignments at the top of the neck cause the weight of the head to shift off center. This imbalance of weight causes a domino affect through the rest of the spine. Low back pain, neck and shoulder pain as well as hip and knee pain is often just an unfortunate side effect of the entire spine being out of balance. In most cases, the area in pain is not the primary cause. This is NOT “just a neck thing.”
Neurological Problems
The upper part of the neck is the only part of the spine that is physically attached to the central nervous system. This means that when it misaligns, that misalignment puts pressure on nerves. Now when pressure happens to be put on a “pain” nerve, then it causes pain (i.e. headaches, carpal tunnel, low back pain, etc). It’s like having a pebble in your shoe…that pebble hurts because it is putting pressure on a “pain” nerve. But 90% of the nerves in your body are “function” nerves. This means that they don’t ever hurt; they control a function (i.e. breathing, healing, digestion, etc). If you put pressure on a function nerve, it will start to cause functional problems (i.e. Allergies, Asthma, IBS, Chron’s, Sleep Trouble, etc). Most often, people are not even aware of the nerve pressure until the damage to their body and its functions is quite extensive.
