While chiropractic is not involved in the chasing of symptoms per se, it is important to understand the neurological basis for many health complaints.
Towards that end, we have compiled reference materials to assist in your understanding of how the nervous system controls and coordinates all function in the human body.
The first spinal vertebra under the skull is called the Atlas or the first cervical. There are 7 cervical vertebrae all together and we will consider them one at a time.
C1:
According to our Neuro-Anatomy chart, is involved with providing the primary nerve supply from the control centers in the brain to the head, face, brain, pituitary gland, eyes and ears – It is commonly found to be an area that is subluxated (misaligned producing abnormal nerve system transmission of information) leading to such common health complaints as brain fog, headaches, migraines, earaches, colds/flu and sore throat.
C1 subluxation can be caused by physical, chemical, emotional and/or environmental stress or a combination of these stressors beyond the body’s ability to cope. Common stressors affecting this part of the spine and nervous system include the following: caffeine withdrawal, alcohol abuse, unmanaged stress, anger, confusion, despair, exhaustion and ergonomic stress like repetitive motion or long periods of inactivity.
Perhaps of greater importance than these local effects of subluxation of C1, are the global effects of subluxation of this area because this is the one area where the entire spinal cord and brain stem may be affected by spinal misalignment. This can cause effects throughout the body ranging from remote problems like low back pain to impairment of the immune system of the person. In fact, research conducted with HIV positive patients found that those adjusted in this exact area enjoyed a 48% improvement in immune system function over time while the non-adjusted group experienced an 8% decrease in immune system function over the same period of time.
