UPPER CERVICAL CARE
Upper Cervical Care offers your family a solid foundation for lifelong wellness with one simple adjustment.
What is Upper Cervical Care?
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The Upper Cervical spine is key component to proper posture, which translates to overall health. Inside the upper cervical spine sits the brain stem. The brain stem controls and coordinates virtually every vital function of the body and acts as a conduit between the brain and the body. It extends from the brain down through an opening in the base of your skull and into the upper cervical spine. The brain stem has millions of individual wires, or nerve fibers, that sends signals back and forth between the brain to every system, organ, muscle and cell within the body. We must have 100% brain-to-body communication in order to function properly and remain healthy.
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The top two bones in the neck, the atlas and axis, are the only two vertebrae in the entire spine that do not have an intervertebral disc. They are designed to move in six directions and are considered freely moveable. By contrast, every other bone in the spine, from the third vertebra all the way down to the bottom, not only have a disc, but also four inter-locking joints that restrict movement.
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As a result, the top two freely moveable bones are much more susceptible to misalignment. If one of the upper two bones becomes misaligned, two things happen. First and foremost, it irritates or interferes with the brain stem and reduces the brain-to-body communication. This disrupts the signal to your body, whether it’s your foot, kidney, pancreas, heart, lungs, eyes or ears, it is going to malfunction, become "sick" and possibly shutdown. Secondly, if either of the top two bones becomes misaligned, the rest of the body must compensate or adapt, resulting in total “body imbalance." In the end, your health and physical body will be compromised. This condition is called an Upper Cervical Subluxation. Most people “feel” this as a tight neck, tension, headaches, or spasms of the upper cervical/trapezius muscles in the neck.
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Who Can Benefit From Upper Cervical Care?
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This care is great everyone! From babies to elders, it can help maintain your health as well as treat a vast variety of ailments and conditions. Some of our patients like to call this, "The magic adjustment". I like to refer to it as “the cherry on top” of chiropractic adjustments. I have seen countless times it assist people in “holding” adjustments or in the long run, needing less adjustments.
Full-Spine Supportive Care
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Spinal misalignments can occur in multiple places and can be attributed to experiences such as poor posture, trauma, and stress. Our Full-Spine Care utilizes natural methods to identify and correct areas of biomechanical distortion in order to restore your body to total well-being. At Align SLO, we use an integrated full-spine technique which combines the use of adjusting techniques known as Diversified, Thompson, arthrostim, and Activator Method. Our special approach allows us to adjust the body from a position of ease and neutral positioning, without creating undue tension. With our Full-Spine Care services, you’ll experience a renewed sense of comfort and mobility.
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It is important to remember that we do not utilize aggressive, rotational, or harsh adjusting techniques. We only use gentle, safe and specific chiropractic adjustments to restore and balance the nervous system and spinal structure of the body.