Written by Dr. Rob Borer

So you’ve done all the right things to enhance your brain’s function. You’ve modified your diet to optimize the raw materials needed by your brain. You’ve adopted healthy habits of mental and physical exercises to keep your brain in top shape.

But what have you done to ensure that the messages being generated in the brain are effectively transmitted throughout your body?

After all, your brain controls and regulates every function in your body from respiration and circulation to digestion and motion - to name just a few. In fact, every tissue and organ in your body is completely dependent on the messages coming down from your brain to know how to function on a moment-by-moment basis. And the demands change every moment you’re alive. Are you running or are you sitting? Did you just eat a meal or are you hungry? Are you hot or are you cold? Your body must adapt and modify to its environment continuously. And what is coordinating all this function in your body? None other than your brain!

Then should you be keeping your brain in tiptop shape? Absolutely! But could you be undermining all the good things you are doing for your brain by neglecting a critical area of the body that affects how these messages are transmitted? Very possibly!

To find the area of concern we need to first trace a nerve’s pathway. The vast majority of all nerve connections happen in the brain. From the brain, nerves travel down out of the skull and through the middle of your bony spine as part of the spinal cord. At some point the nerve branches away from the cord, passes between two bones and travels to the tissue or organ that it controls.

The most critical and vulnerable area of the nervous system is the junction between the spine and the skull as it passes through the first cervical vertebrae or atlas bone.

The atlas bone is particularly susceptible to misalignment due to its design and the task it is given to perform. The atlas bone has the fewest overlapping bony structures to help in maintaining it’s proper alignment compared to all other vertebrae in the human spine. Thus the atlas bone relies strictly on muscles and other soft tissue to maintain its alignment. Additionally, the weight of the head is equivalent to an average size bowling ball. The atlas is attempting to keep this very heavy object of yours balanced upright. This task becomes very difficult to achieve when the head is moved too rapidly, such as during a fall from a height, an auto accident, or a sporting or recreational accident. Research has shown that the muscles of the neck are incapable of controlling the weight of the head in these situations and misalignment will result. Chiropractors refer to these misalignments as subluxations.

When subluxation occurs in the spine, irritation and pressure on the nerves passing through or between the involved bones results. The irritated nerve is no longer able to pass information efficiently and effectively and improper function occurs and health problems result. Subluxations have been shown to cause a wide range of health problems such as:

• neck pain
• back pain
• numbness
• digestive problems
• immune problems
• migraine headaches.
• allergies & congestion

Subluxations at atlas are particularly concerning. When we consider that 90% of the nerves traveling down from the brain pass through atlas we understand that a subluxation at this level can affect virtually every nerve in the entire body and can play a large role in many of the health problems one may experience.

Additionally, when atlas is subluxated the entire body must contort and distort to keep you upright. To understand what happens to the spine when atlas subluxates, try holding a bowling ball with you hand upright in front of you with your forearm straight up and down. Then bend your wrist slightly so the bowling ball is leaning to one side without changing the position of your forearm (this will be simulating an atlas subluxation). Notice the affect it has on the position of your entire body as you try and keep from falling over (or dropping the bowling ball!). Roger Sperry, a 1980 Nobel Prize winning scientist in brain research, best captures the impact of the distortions on the body in the following statement:

“Better than 90% of the energy output of the brain is used in relating the physical body in its gravitational field. The more mechanically distorted a person is, the less energy available for thinking, metabolism and healing.”

So regardless of how many good things you are doing to keep your brain in shape you may be undermining all this beneficial effort due to a subluxation at atlas.

So what can you do to avoid subluxation from occurring at atlas? What can you do to keep your spine from getting on your nerves? There are some healthy habits you can adopt to keep your self out of trouble. First of all buy yourself a headset for both your home phone and your cell phone. Bending your head over as you try to cradle the phone between your head and shoulder has been shown to cause subluxation. Sleeping on your stomach should also be avoided. Having your head twisted as you sleep on your stomach is extremely bad for your spine and has been shown to cause subluxation as well. Lifting something from the ground using your legs with your back straight up and down is tried and true advice you’ve probably heard before, but bears repeating. You should also always avoid using your head to raise or turn your body. Additionally, you might begin an activity that strengthens and tones the intrinsic muscles that hold the spine in place. Activities like yoga and pilates are especially beneficial for achieving this.

Finally, if you have had some type of unfortunate accident and believe that you might have an atlas subluxation or are experiencing some of the symptoms of an atlas subluxation, you should be evaluated by an upper cervical specialist. Some of the most common symptoms of an atlas subluxation are:

• neck pain
• headaches
• restrictions in the normal motion of your neck
• popping or grinding sounds during neck motion
• migraines

There are several good resources for finding a good specialist near you. Two of the best ones are www.upcspine.com & www.uppercervical.org.

About the author: Dr. Rob Borer is an upper cervical specialist. He has been in private practice for the past 8 years with his wife Dr. Sherri Borer. Dr. Rob has delivered over 30,000 upper cervical atlas corrections and regularly speaks on the detrimental effects an atlas subluxation has on ones health. For more information about Drs. Rob & Sherri Borer they welcomes you to visit www.borerchiro.com.