Why Upper Cervical – Our Structural Approach to Chiropractic

Chiropractic care focuses on the health of the spine and how it affects the overall health of the body.

Chiropractors use many different ways to address spinal misalignment (called vertebral subluxation). Vertebral subluxation causes joints to become fixed, inflamed, and painful. It can also affect the human nervous system.

Upper cervical chiropractors take extra care in addressing one specific area of the spine, found at the the top of the neck. Upper cervical is another way of saying “the top of the neck.”

Upper cervical chiropractic care is a powerful way to remove barriers to natural body healing, improve spinal balance, reduce pain, and improve function.

Our upper cervical chiropractic practice is a structural chiropractic practice.

Structural Upper Cervical Care vs. The Majority Approach to Chiropractic Care?

Most chiropractic patients will experience chiropractic care that focuses mostly on pain reduction and improving mobility in the spine. Many practices are very good at providing this form of care.

Our practice works not just on reducing pain and improving your spinal mobility – we work to move the spine towards a healthier, more balanced position with a specific x-ray and spinal correction protocol. Our goal is to provide greater stability over time.

Why Treat the Upper Cervical Spine Differently?

The top of the neck is put together differently than every other area of the spine, which means it should be treated differently:

• This area of the spine forms a “couple” with the base of the skull (the head)
• There are no vertebral discs between the base of the skull down to the second neck bone (cervical vertebra)
• It is a unique joint in the body which allows human beings incredible motion of the the head
• The area is full of unique nervous system tissue that isn’t found anywhere else in the body
• In emergency situations, injuries to this area of the spine are the most damaging

For these reasons, upper cervical chiropractors take special care in evaluating and adjusting this sensitive area of the spine.

As a doctor of the upper cervical spine Dr. Oliver uses the Orthospinology approach to evaluate, adjust, and correct imbalances at the top of the spine. He is one of only a few upper cervical chiropractors located in the Columbus, Ohio area.

What Does the Upper Cervical Spine Do?

This area of the spine has two important jobs.

• It supports and balances the heavy head while giving us amazing range of motion in our neck
• Protects important and very important vital areas of our nervous system, called the lower brain stem and the spinal cord

While the functions of the body that are controlled or influenced by the lower brain stem are too many to list here, one important job that it does is help control our total body balance.

What Happens After Upper Cervical Misalignment?

Body tension and imbalance that you can actually see, if you know what to look for.

In response to the head being off-center of the body,

• Head to toe, muscles of the body become unbalanced, leading to unequal pulling on spinal vertebrae and painful “fixations” in the spine
• There is a twist in the pelvis and hips, creating the appearance of a “short leg” and the spine loses its stable base
• Unequal weight is carried on each half of the body, leading to joint aches and pains as the body breaks down faster on one side than the other
• Finally the quality of the blood flow (nutrition) to important nervous system issue in the spinal cord/brain stem is affected, negatively impacting internal organ systems, creating multiple and often confusing symptoms