The upper cervical bones are located at the top of your spinal column. While chiropractors in Utah and throughout the United States may address these bones as part of an overall treatment plan, these vertebrae are more critical than many people – including most chiropractors – realize. Misalignment of the upper cervical bones can cause a wide range of problems, but the real cause may not be recognized by most health professionals. This means that while the symptoms may get treated, the root of chronic health issues is often overlooked.
Upper cervical chiropractic not only focuses on treating the upper cervical vertebrae, it is a recognized specialty within the field of chiropractic medicine. Chiropractors who enter this specialty spend years studying the effects of misalignment and the results of upper cervical care.
Upper Cervical Chiropractic is a drastically different approach to the treatment of the body than traditional chiropractic. The foundation to how the body works is through balance. If the head is not balanced on the spine, the body is going to do everything it can to correct that. It usually happens with contraction of muscles to move the body around until the eyes are level and the head is over the center of the body. In a car crash, our bowling ball of a head that is balanced on a bone that weighs only 2 ounces, gets thrown off the balance point more than any other event of life. If you have damaged ligaments in the neck, the process that the body goes through is a painful one. This ultimately leads to one thing.
If you don’t have an upper cervical specialist, who understands how to safely and accurately help realign the spine, the body is going to do everything it can to stabilize the injury on its own. That usually means arthritis to the point of “Natural Fusion”. Why that’s a horrible thing is that arthritis and fusion directly impacts the nerves of the spine. Every nerve that comes from the spinal cord, first has to pass through the upper cervical spine. Damage at the top will affect every body function we have.
After a car crash, finding a specialist that knows the neck like the back of their hand is what’s needed to help the crash victim recover from their injuries the right way. Because the rest of your life is a long time to live with not getting it right. Whiplash Center of Utah is your Upper Cervical specialist who gets it right in a car crash.