I have to admit I’m a fan of Pilates. Pilates aims to improve human movement, body balance, and neurological coordination through fitness challenges with specific movements, often with resistance. It has its similarities to upper cervical chiropractic care, and works well within a chiropractic lifestyle. Practiced with good form, Pilates usually keeps the spine in a neutral position, reducing the likelihood of spinal injury.

I got together with Trent McEntire of McEntire Pilates in Rochester, Michigan in order to find out why Pilates is still relevant to everyday people who are looking to improve their lives with a sound body.

Why do Pilates? Why should the general public care about Pilates? Why should exercise and health enthusiasts

McEntire: Three reasons:

• Pilates is a true antidote to the demands of life.
• Pilates is a way to overcome the negative side effects that life’s stressors have on the body.
• Pilates creates a better quality of life.

I see my staff and I as a key member of our client’s health team. We regularly work with Physicians, Chiropractors, Massage Therapists, Occupational and Physical Therapists, Naturopaths and more. Our communication with these professionals within our client’s care circle results in a more thoughtful and in-depth experience.

Joseph Pilates developed his system for mind and body coordination well over 100 years ago. Why do you think Pilates remains relevant when other exercises systems have fallen by the wayside?

McEntire: Pilates remains relevant is because it works!

It works by improving how the body looks, feels and moves everyday. We design sessions around a client’s specific needs and goals. Gathering information and assessment are key to the relevancy of Pilates. Pilates provides you with the opportunity to move your body in ways that creates strength, balance, range of motion and reduced stress. If an exercise system has fallen by the wayside, I would speculate it was not created to accommodate specific goals and works with a limited population of people.

Pilates is for everyone and for me and my staff, we work to address the needs of the widest population possible.

How did you discover the work of Joseph Pilates?

McEntire: As someone that became a professional dancer after rehabilitating my own severe movement restrictions established at birth due to Cerebral Palsy, I understand how the quality of life is affected by how well you can (or can’t) move your body.

At the height of my pain and movement limitations, I made discoveries that would forever improve my situation and eventually help other people reach their individual goals and overcome their own movement limitations.

For the last 13 years, I have been applying my discoveries about the natural physics of the body, key movement principles and physical alignment correction techniques to the program that Joseph Pilates pioneered over 80 years ago.

McEntire Pilates is a modern Pilates program that supports the millions of people that fall into a gap between physical therapy and fitness.

What makes your application of Pilates’ principles unique? What makes McEntire Pilates work?

McEntire: Our mission is to change lives everyday. I have specialized in prevention, performance and recovery since 1998. My additions to the work of Joseph Pilates are designed to make movement and health applicable to a broader population of people.

My staff and I have over a decade of experience with injuries, movement limitations and neurological disease for adults and youth. We apply the latest science and movement techniques and state of the art equipment to our client’s customized programs. Our entire team has experienced injury and limitations which means we can sincerely empathize with your situation while knowing how to provide tangible solutions. We have the education necessary to provide an unexpected level of care and support.

There are 4 key ways that we help our client reach success

1. Safe and effective exercises specific to your individual needs
2. Exercises modified to accommodate special needs and goals
3. Proper breathing techniques, body mechanics and movement principles
4. Appropriate challenge without pain or unnecessary fatigue

Further reason’s to why McEntire Pilates works is because our training and experience is based on the fact that every movement and function of your body is a result of your brain having a map of how to function when called upon. This is true for the simplest to the most complicated movements. By knowing how your brain naturally works we are able to assess what is needed to improve your brain map. By strengthening the neurological pathways in the brain, you will experience higher function, more balance, less pain, better sleep, increased endurance and athletic performance, more flexibility and less stress.

What is your vision for the future of Pilates?

McEntire: My vision for the future of Pilates is that is will grow in popularity while gaining sophistication though higher national education requirements. Additionally, I see Pilates professionals continuing to earn the respect among the healthcare community because Pilates supports all abilities, conditions and ages. Our youth program is growing in popularity and it is exciting to see where that will be in the coming years.

How can someone explore Pilates in your studio?

I would invite everyone to give us a call at 248-651-5567 to let us know you would like to come in and look around. We love to tell people what we do and how we can help them.

Recently some great posts have been placed on a few of our favorite blogs helping to explain the how and why upper cervical care works, and why so many make it a part of their lives.

Satisfaction associated with upper cervical chiropractic care

What information can prospective patients garner from this data? First, that the true Upper Cervical approach doesn’t require dozens of visits before patients see improvement. This is valuable in a number of ways…

Ten reasons to try upper cervical chiropractic care (in Auburn Hills, Michigan)

Although there are other reasons that may be unique to your situation, here are ten good reasons why you might want to make your next consultation with a health care provider in an upper cervical chiropractic office.

Six things upper cervical doctors do differently than other chiropractors

Upper cervical doctors are different than other chiropractors. To help you understand the differences, here are the top six ways your upper cervical doctor will be different than any other doctor of chiropractic that you will see.

How many adjustments do I need (part 1)

Those who choose the third way have gotten the big idea that a healthy life lived to the fullest extent depends on a healthy nervous system, which depends on a healthy spine, and that in this day and age, a healthy spine depends on quality chiropractic adjustments.

How many adjustments do I need (part 2)

Some people think that if you’ve visited one chiropractor, then you’ve visited them all. In reality, chiropractic care and the delivery of the chiropractic adjustment is its own art form. There are multiple ways to adjust the spine, and multiple ways to figure out if that adjustment was successful or not.

Great upper cervical safety study by Eriksen at al.

What’s really remarkable, but not surprising, is that all 83 Chiropractors have delivered over 5 million adjustments with no reported incidence of serious adverse events.

Why I am an upper cervical care advocate

So, when my upper cervical doctor released my wife and me from our pain, I couldn’t just run to freedom without taking my fellow “inmates” with me. Of course, not everyone will be able to go. Fear, and the comfort of “an evil that they know” will make it difficult for some to follow when the door swings open.

Do you love haunted houses?

Do you love haunted houses? Maybe love is too strong of a word. Are strangely attracted to the fright of haunted houses, even though the make-believe gore makes you uncomfortable? If you are like most people, haunted houses make you nervous and make you scream! But at the same time, they remind you how good it feels to be alive!

What is this secret science behind your favorite haunted house? Why does it feel so good to be afraid? Keep reading because I am going to reveal the secret to you. Then, I am going to show you how you can use this strange combination of feelings to actually live a healthier life—one with less pain, better energy, and a greater sense of vitality.

First, the secret of how the scariest haunted house gains control over you.

The secret is the powerful combination of body chemicals that enter your bloodstream when you approach your favorite haunt. They are the very same chemicals that flood your system as you scream your way through a roller coaster. It starts with a feeling of anxiety—that sensation that something bad or dangerous is about to happen. As your anxiety grows, loud alarms ring inside you. Stress hormones start kicking all your survival instincts into high gear.

Those hormones, adrenaline, cortisol, and norepinephrine, start to take over your body—almost creating an out of body experience. You can barely control what’s happening. Your heart beats faster. You start breathing heavier. Your body, being intelligent, says “I need more blood in the arms and legs to run or fight,” and it shuts down your digestion. After all, you don’t need to worry about your last meal when a killer zombie wants you dead. Stress has taken over, and you can feel it. All the sudden you are more aware of everything! You feel more alive than ever.

Then there are the changes you cannot feel. Your body, being intelligent, says “I need all the energy I can get,” and it releases a flood of sugar into your bloodstream. Your brain needs more blood, so your blood pressure rises. The pupils in your eyes open so that you can see the danger lurking ahead. You are at the peak of your fight or flight response.

And then—all of the sudden, it ends. You are at the end of the haunt. Your heart slows, and so does your breathing. The adrenaline burns away. Your blood sugar falls, and so does your blood pressure. The danger has passed, and a wave of relaxation rolls over you. You smile. You laugh. You want to sit down and rest. The stress melts.

A really good haunted house knows how to set up their attraction so you get to experience this internal thrill ride for as long as possible, and then they let you go when you almost can’t take anymore. That is the secret science behind your favorite haunted house.

Now, what does this experience in the haunted house have to do with your health?

Everything if you are suffering from low energy, chronic pain, headaches, type 2 diabetes, or some other chronic problem.

Imagine going through what I just described, over and over again, every day of the week, several times per day. Not to the highest level of your stress response, but a few notches below. And instead of your stress lasting for a few few minutes, it lasts for a few hours. Instead of feeling relaxed when you are out of danger, you just feel exhausted. Absolutely exhausted. In fact, that safe-from-danger feeling does not every really arrive. In a weird twist, you almost need the stress to feel like you have any energy at all. You start becoming addicted to stress. Unlike the fun of the haunt, your body doesn’t know how to let you go.

This is stress, but it is the opposite of the normal haunted house experience. This is like being trapped in a haunted house 24/7. This is the kind of stress that ruins your health.

You see, there are two kinds of stress: good stress and bad stress. Good stress is temporary. It lasts for a short time, gets your heart pumping, your blood flowing, and moves oxygen through your lungs. It’s like a short, intense workout. A brisk walk around the block has similar effects on your sense of well being as a trip through the haunted house. The hormones involved may not be identical, but you get the idea. These are both examples of good stress. And your body thinks this short, controlled stress is okay.

In fact, having a little bit of stress makes you healthier. It’s part of why a small amount of daily exercise is important.

Bad stress, however, isn’t healthy. It doesn’t leave you alone. It’s like one dark dark cloud ruining a day in the sun. It’s always there. It robs you of energy, stops you from sleeping, and enhances your pain sensations, so you’re likely to be locked down in periods of chronic pain. You can’t escape, because you’re too tired too escape. So you drink those energy drinks, or cup after cup of coffee, and you snack on sugary snacks. This raises your stress even more. It’s a vicious cycle.

If you’re experiencing this kind of chronic stress, then after awhile your blood sugar will start swinging up and stay up. Your digestion will be interrupted so much, you may start suspecting ulcers, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Your blood pressure and cholesterol will rise sooner than expected, and the doctor will start talking medication. You may begin to put on weight that you can’t take off, no matter how much you diet.

You feel stressed, but no one can tell you what to do about it.

If this sounds familiar then let me map out an escape plan for you. You can always leave the haunted house if you want, because it’s good stress, it’s temporary. But with this kind of chronic stress, there is only one exit. Medication by itself isn’t it.

First, you have to eliminate all the hidden causes of chronic stress. Most people think that means taking up zen meditation, or learning to “stop worrying so much.” While that might give your mind a little vacation, it only addresses one part of where your stress comes from. You have to work on the other, often hidden, sources too.

What are the major but hidden sources of chronic body stress? Here are three big ones:

• toxins in your food and environment,
• nutrition and hormones that are out of balance,
• and undetected traumas to your spine and soft tissue (oftentimes decades old) that irritate your nervous system.

(FYI: your nervous system is made up of your brain and spinal cord which sends out nerves through the body. This system coordinates all of your body’s important functions, automatically, so you don’t have to. Undetected traumas to the head, neck, and back, which protect the nervous system, can get in way of it working at 100% causing you pain, illness, and chronic stress.)

But, here’s the real kicker, and why you have to deal with these hidden causes of chronic stress now, and not later. Even if you want to open your arms wide to all the benefits of good stress with some healthy cardio or some free weights, you can’t. Not fully. Your body is already taxed to the max. The right activity will help you relax. Temporarily. You may sleep a bit better. Temporarily. But that awesome feeling of being alive and well rested won’t last.

Without addressing the out of balance toxins, nutrition, and spinal trauma, you’re just going to wear yourself out again with enough time. And if you have untreated spinal trauma, new pain patterns are going to surface.

Then you’ll be stuck in pain. Again.

The science of the scariest haunted houses shows you, a little bit of stress can be a good thing. The rise and fall of those stress hormones raises your awareness, and gets you ready to flee or fight for your life. It’s a natural, intelligent part of your body’s biology that’s important when you’re actually in a dangerous situation, and you need to survive.

But this stress isn’t a process you should be living with everyday, when you’re not in danger. Your body shouldn’t think you’re stuck in the haunted house when you’re not. As bad stress is an hidden factor in all kinds of chronic disease, dealing with chronic stress may be the only true exit if your heath is suffering.

Who knew that you could about living a healthy life with a lesson learned from the “undead”? What are you going to do about it, now that you know?

Are you showing signs of undetected spinal stress? Take this short quiz from our Auburn Hills Upper Cervical Chiropractic practice.

Peyton Manning has second neck surgery!

News just broke that Manning had a second neck surgery just yesterday, after a first surgery to repair a bulging disc in the spring of 2011. In fact, this is Manning’s third neck surgery procedure in less than two years, according to ESPN.com. Needless to say, his performance and even appearance in this year’s season may be completely up in the air. Sports writers are finding a silver lining saying Manning may be out the season, but that the surgery hasn’t permanently ended his football career.

While people who care about fantasy football, the NFL, and sports in general keep their eye on Manning’s recovery, all of us can still use this national headline as a “teachable moment.”

And what should we learn from Peyton Manning’s neck surgery exactly?

1. Bulging discs are painful enough to drive tough guys under the knife.

From news reports it seems that Manning was primary looking for relief from pain created by a bulging disc. This is a guy who’s been leveled and left bloodied and bruised by blitzing linebackers. So you know disc pain isn’t something to disregard. The intervertebral disc is a round wedge of thick cartiliage between the vertebrea, offering support, and strength to the spine. When the disc is under constant pressure and begins swelling, it starts affecting nerves directly and can create significant pain.

Pain enough to get a tough guy like Peyton Manning to try surgery.

2. One neck surgery usually leads to two or three.

In a lot of ways Peyton Manning isn’t any different than a lot of the post-surgical people I’ve seen as an upper cervical chiropractor. Even though he’s a million dollar athlete and has access to the top orthopedists and neurologists in the world, he still has a had a hard time recovering and healing after a neck surgery. Surgery on the spine usually comes in twos and threes, and not singles, because of the challenge that the surgeons have in stabilizing a structure that was made to move and move dynamically!

Unfortunately three surgeries in two years is a lot for anyone, even Peyton Manning.

3. Spinal surgery is big business that doesn’t help everyone.

Surgical procedures to reduce the pain and pressure caused by bulging discs is a pretty popular procedure in the U.S. Studies on the rates of spinal surgeries say that that numbers of surgeries aren’t rising en total, but the use of spinal fusion is growing. Although we can only guess what the surgeon’s actually did based on news reports, it seems like Peyton received a partial discectomy, where surgeons reduced the size of the disc. Then that was followed up with an anterior fusion of the neck, which happened just this week.

It makes sense that once you remove some of the joint by removing part of the disc, you have to stabilize it a bit more. We can see why one surgery usually leads to another. And why some surgeons are just going for the whole ball of wax and performing complicated fusions instead of what they call ‘conservative’ surgery.

And this is a disturbing trend according to Dr. Carragee of Stanford University School of Medicine. In a commentary on a study of the use of surgery in Medicare patients published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). He calls the business of spinal surgery and the growth of complex spinal fusions a “formidable economic and social problem.”

To translate it into lay terms: when insurance will pay surgeons more money for complex surgery, then it makes sense that the public will get more complex surgery, even if it’s more costly, has more side-effects, and doesn’t actually improve their spinal health and function. Health care, like football, is a business.

One last lesson: exhaust natural options first

As we face health care challenges, it is wise to be good health care consumers and find out what all of our options are, both natural and unnatural, invasive and non-invasive. Before drugs or surgery become necessary, lifestyle changes, changes in nutrition, and hands-on, manual approaches like upper cervical care may provide the help we need to strengthen the body.

Exhausting natural options first is a good principle to help guide your use of non-emergency surgical procedures and medications.

It is the #1 way your family can keep unnecessary medical procedures out of the picture, unnecessary medicines (and adverse reactions) out of your medicine cabinet, and your medical costs costs down.

According to a well documented report, the numbers of unnecessary and harmful medical procedures in America are quite high, with an estimated:

• 20 million unnecessary antibiotics prescribed annually for viral infections
• 7.5 million unnecessary medical and surgical procedures performed annually, and
• 8.9 million people exposed to unnecessary hospitalization every year!

We don’t know for sure if Peyton Manning knows how to “run the natural option” (rimshot!). But if he didn’t, I’m sure some of his fantasy football fans who know truth of this lesson, wish he did.

What are those lines on Peyton Manning’s face?!

Visual evidence that Manning needs an upper cervical chiropractic adjustment.

Finally, not to get all John Madden with my pen, but when I look at Peyton Manning’s posture from the front I see real evidence that the underlying cause of his problem hasn’t been fixed. He has not exhausted natural options first. His neck is drifting off to the right. His head is tipping to the right. In my work we would call that a huge a lower angle with significant head tilt. Those lines are there to help you visualize what I see and how I look at the spine.

Peyton’s posture is creating huge pressure on his bulging disc, and until that posture changes, there may be no end in sight for his neck problems.

Waterford, Michigan-Half-Marathon is praised for its beauty and charity

The Brooksie Way Half Marathon and its scenic course is getting national exposure as one of the most desirable half marathons to enter this fall.

Active.com, the world’s largest directory of sports and recreational activities, selected the Brooksie Way along with 10 other half marathons in such international destinations as Vail, Colo.; Myrtle Beach, N.C. and Napa Valley, Calif., as a must to run.

“Looking for a beautiful setting for your next 13.1?” Active.com wrote. “From Kingston Beach to California wine country, here are 11 picture perfect courses you should run.”

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson was gratified to know the race, which is named in memory of his son, Brooks Stuart Patterson, had received national attention in only its fourth year. More than 6.5 million people receive weekly and monthly newsletters from Active.com. The special feature on the top 11 races is currently featured on the Active.com homepage.

“Incredible,” Patterson said Wednesday. “We’re in some tall cotton when our race is being compared with races in Vail, the California wine country or the Outer Banks of North Carolina. If you want to run on one of the most scenic race courses in the country, you don’t have to leave Oakland County. It’s right here in your own backyard.”

The fourth Brooksie Way Half Marathon is set for Oct. 2 in Rochester Hills. The race begins on the campus of Oakland University and winds through the streets of Rochester and Rochester Hills and parts of the Clinton River Trail and Paint Creek Trail before returning to the OU campus. This year, the course will start and finish for the first time on the Meadow Brook Music Festival grounds.

New this year is an expanded post-race party. All half marathon entrants receive an apple red long-sleeve Brooks technical shirt and finishers receive a medal designed especially for the 2011 race. A complete list of registration prices and deadlines can be found at www.thebrooksieway.com.

Other races on Oakland University Campus

Besides the half marathon, there is a 5k race and a One Mile Fun Run on the grounds of Oakland University. You may walk or run any of the events. A half marathon competitive walk is among the races.

Greg Meyer and Lisa Rainsberger, the last American male and female winners of the Boston Marathon, are schedule to run the half marathon.

Other activities include:

• A Corporate Team Challenge featuring chief executive officers who have pledged $1,000 to run in either the half marathon or the 5k. There is also a team challenge for five-person teams who compete against other teams for special awards.
• A Middle-School Challenge, sponsored by AT&T, to encourage the participation of middle-school aged runners.
• A One-Mile Family Fun Run. The race is not timed but participants will receive a T-shirt.
• A post-race celebration that features a rock climbing wall and inflatable bounce houses. Food will also be available for purchase.

The Brooksie Way is presented by Oakland County and the Crim Fitness Foundation and is sponsored by HealthPlus. Proceeds from the race support programs that promote healthy active lifestyles through the Brooksie Way Minigrant program. The minigrant program has distributed more than $50,000 to various Oakland County charities.

For further information on the Brooksie Way Half Marathon:

Boot Camp Challenge group fitness launches in Clarkston

Boot Camp Challenge is a proven group fitness class that runs for six weeks, and six weeks only. Sometimes a Bootcamp Challenge is held in a gym, but fitness instructor Kim Arcobello, ACE, WITS CFPT is keeping it as accessible as possible by holding classes in Bay Court Park or Clintonwood Park in Clarkston.

Please hurry and register with Kim, as classes are running from August 29 through October 7 in the mornings and evenings.

What’s so great about a Boot Camp Challenge?

• There’s an end in sight before you begin. There’s an end fitness goal in goal in mind which Kim will inspire you to complete. Unlike a gym membership there is no long-term contract.
• You get to feel the results quickly. Kim will measure your fitness baselines before you begin, and as you progress, so you can see how you’re improving as it happens. There’s no better confidence booster.
• You don’t have to do it alone. You’re going to be surrounded by a bunch of others in the same boat as you, who want to support you as you support them.

Who is Kim Arcobello?

Kim is your Boot Camp Drill Instructor, and is there to guide you into meeting your health and wellness goals in the short six weeks you have to together. She is a certified personal trainer and fitness professional.

Please contact Kim at 248-207-2350 to register. Soon!

Do you have a health and wellness related public service announcement for South East Michigan? Please contact Dr. Ward through the contact page of this blog.

75 former NFL players are now suing the league for concealing the long-term risks of the concussions that often happen in pro football.

These NFL players say that, over time, these mild concussions lead to long-term health problems associated with more dramatic forms of traumatic brain injury. No, they didn’t have bleeding head wounds, nor did they spend days in a coma after a hard hit. But, they have symptoms like they could have have experienced these more violent scenarios.

So, what are the symptoms of mild brain injury, and what does this have to do with how we think about multiple sclerosis?

You are going to have to read the article at HealthCentral.com to find out.

I think this is the most important part:

You know, there’s a host of things that are related to the upper cervical spine, and when you start looking at all of them, there are two responses: first, “This is amazing and why haven’t I heard this before!?” or that this is all quackery, and you’re just making this up. (You can find all kinds of Internet experts who will tell you one way or another, who have never set foot inside of a chiropractic practice that does what we do.)

For issues of “fibro-fog,” TMJ or Migraine, these are all related to the upper cervical spine, in many cases.

The traditional progression of someone who really needs upper cervical care might look something like this:

It starts with the young girl who has a difficult birth. She is a colicky baby, but grows out of it. Her parents think nothing of it. She experiences a relatively uneventful childhood. At 8 she experiences a minor neck or head trauma, let’s say a whiplash injury. Again, she seems fine, so her parents think nothing of it. Six months later she develops minor headaches on a weekly basis, and by the time she reaches menarche, she has Migraines, and extraordinary menstrual pain during her cycle. She gets treated pharmaceutically. In her late teens she begins being treated for depression. By the time she is 30, perhaps after the birth of a child, she experiences prolonged fatigue and discreet muscle pains, and she is diagnosed with Fibromyalgia after bouncing back from one provider to the next for a year more.

Migraines, menstrual problems, brain-fog, fatigue, fibromyalgia.  All of them are seemingly unrelated problems.  Yet, clinically we have seen all of them resolve when we go back and finally deal with the injury that happened when she was a child.

I think we’re really on the cusp of a new awareness based on a new ability to explain what is happening in the relationship of upper cervical health to total well-being.

You can read the whole interview on upper cervical chiropractic and chronic disease here.

Podcasts to helps raise your level of wellness

Episode 1: Massage therapy: answering misconceptions with Ashley Tape Fleming, LMT.

Episode 2: Local food co-ops: speaking with customers and suppliers who raise and consume local food.

Episode 3: Adapting to the economy: how one woman went from selling mortgages to giving gifts.

Episode 4: Cycling for exercise and recreation: the history the bicycle in America and how to pick out a bike for your body type.

1. I’m addicted to seeing visible changes in posture.

There is a quote by a medical doctor, Dr. Rene Cailliet at the University of Southern California, that says:

The entire body can be aligned by first aligning the head.

As an upper cervical chiropractor who uses posture as a a before and after tool to help me to decide whether to give an adjustment or not, I understand what the doctor is talking about.

Hip tilt and twist, spasm in the lower back muscles, leaning of the spine, and shoulders that aren’t level can all change and resolve after a careful, measured adjustment to the upper cervical spine. Many of these changes are instantaneous.

Posture changes after adjustments to the top of neck.

In a world where some believe that change in posture is only possible after months of sweating through muscle retraining, or spending thousands of dollars on traction, it is nice to see it after one chiropractic adjustment.

2. I like giving everyone an adjustment that is unique to them.

You can adjust the upper neck based on lack of motion alone. If it’s stuck on the right, adjust the right. If it’s stuck on the left, adjust the left.

But there is another school of thought that says that the head and the neck are in such unique balance to each other, that chiropractors should not just guess on a direction based on the motion of the joint. Instead we should measure the misalingment taking the measurements of all the bones at the top of the neck into account, which are unique for every individual.

With the NUCCA system for the care of the upper neck and spine, that is exactly how we do it, with very detailed x-rays and measurements.

The goal is to give everyone a unique adjustment that is unique to their specific anatomy.

3. I believe that less is more and enjoy practicing that way.

In the early days of chiropractic care there was a lot of experimentation with adjusting procedures. Some advocated adjusting every single vertebrae in the back. Others adjusted the same series of vertebrae in every single patient.  As the art and science of adjusting developed, gradually there grew in interest in discovering how much could be accomplished with one adjustment.

That lead to the discovery of the unique relationship between the top of the neck and its influence on the rest of the spine and body.

Today, upper cervical chiropractors try to get the most positive change in the body in the least invasive way, with the least number of adjustments possible. Many of the people that we serve appreciate this less is more approach when they see what kind of healing changes that are often possible, often in fewer chiropractic visits.

To put it another way: there is no sense in using a crowbar to open a door when you have the key.

4. There are 24 vertebrae, but only two are named Atlas and Axis.

Of all the many bones in the spine, there are only two that anatomy experts have given special names. They are the first and second neck bones, or vertebrae. They are known as C1 and C2, or Atlas and Axis.

Atlas is a good name for the first neck bone, because like Atlas of ancient mythology, it holds up the weight of the world, which in your case, is your heavy head and all the important brains inside.

Axis is a perfect name for the second neck bone, because it has a unique shape which allows the the Atlas bone to pivot around it with almost 160 degrees or more of motion. In anatomy we call it a trochoid joint, and it is the only joint of its kind in the human body.

Together, Atlas and Axis provide us with some of the largest and dynamic joint movement in the spine, all while holding up the weight of the head. Mechanically speaking, it makes sense that this area is less stable, and more likely to be affected by a minor injury.

As spinal bones Atlas and Axis do more than just provide motion and balance the head. They also provide protection to the nervous system which is housed inside the spinal column. At the level of first neck bone, there are nerve system controls that influence a lot of body systems, including our heart rate and breathing.

It is a pretty important place to work in the spine, and is worthy of a special name.