orientation of the shoulders, hips, and legs are equal, and we can also measure whether or not weight is carried comparably, left vs. right. If not balanced, though, we have to go back to the top link in the chain, which is the positioning of the head and the neck. The head and the neck meet at the junction between the skull's base and the top vertebra in your spine, the latter nick- named the “atlas,” in reference to the Greek mythology figure who upheld the world; the atlas is the one bone in the entire body that is not locked securely in place, dramatically increasing its mobility but weakening its stability and making it more likely to shift detrimentally as a result of a trauma, be that trauma as severe as a major accident or as minor as an early childhood face-plant while learning to walk. The skull/head rests on the atlas, so if the atlas shifts, it takes the head off level, engaging an instinctive reflex that prompts the rest of the body to compensate to return the head to balance; the body uses your eyes being level and the equality of your inner ear fluid to establish equilibrium, so with- out that reflex and its consequent physical adaptation, you would be consistently dizzy or disoriented. In the adapted state, the other spinal vertebrae, the shoulders, the hips, and the legs are all forced out of their normal positions, altering muscle tone, disrupting motion, and essentially creating a body at odds with itself. Minus the means to support itself as designed, the body breaks down quite prematurely, long before age becomes the factor it is often professed to be in catch-all fashion. Signs of breaking down often include headaches, acute and chronic pain throughout the body, numbness, and tingling, then disc and joint degeneration and even a closing down of spinal nerve canals (stenosis), all of which only amplify the original symptoms. Traced step-by-step back to their origins, these
signs began, in part, with a structural, foundational problem stem- ming from trauma that went unaddressed. Connecting this discussion back to the definition of general
health (which is inherently based in proactivity) and emphasizing the importance that everyone (the health-conscious, chiropractors, the sick and sicker, medical doctors, kids, physical therapists, athletes, massage therapists, etc.) understand the role that head and neck alignment plays in being healthy, at present time, the primary, secondary, and tertiary reasons to have structural balance assessed are obvious signs of physical health already in a per- petual state of decline; until we unite on such basic principles as the head and neck needing to be balanced in order for the body to maintain structural integrity (health's equivalent of 2+2=4), the change we want to see in healthcare will stall from our inability to integrate the awesome things that have propelled the holistic movement to this point and widespread suffering will continue. It is easier to keep a well person healthy than to get a sick person well; even if our society is many years away from embrac- ing that principle, our health system must at least set its intention to make that principle one of its core tenets. In our current system, spending keeps rising as outcomes keep dropping, with cata- strophic problems inherent to it that make change crawl along at a slower pace. We have to get back to basics and, if creating a new system altogether is the most efficient route to the change we need in the big picture, then so be it.
Written by Chad McIntyre, DC of Triad Upper Cervical Clinic, 432A West Mountain Street, Kernersville. For more information, visit
www.TriadUpperCervical.com or call 336-992-2536 for an appointment. See ad on page 26.
Dixon & Associates Therapy Services
We look at each patient as a unique individual, not a diagnosis. Personal attention is what our success is based on,
and our whole company is set up to make everyone’s experience with therapy a positive one.
Lori Dixon, OT/L Our Specialties:
Myofascial Release • Chronic Pain • Neck & Back Pain CranioSacral Therapy • TMJ Dysfunction
Women’s Health Issues • Hand Injuries • Orthopaedic Injuries Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCEs) • Worker’s Compensation
We file medical insurance and Medicare • BlueCross/Blue Shield Provider 336.889.5676
204 Gatewood Avenue • High Point, NC 27262
www.DixonTherapy.com
MARCH 2018 27
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