Jumping ahead

I rock along on in school focusing on pain management. I hear the nervous system functions to control and coordinate every system in the body. I hear how chiropractic, by addressing nerve pressure, can have profound effects on the entire body, blah, blah, blah. I keep this in the back of my mind, but I am a strict pain relief student.

Jumping ahead again

Third quarter (there are 14 quarters in chiropractic school), I have my first chiropractic adjusting class. This class deals with adjusting only the top bone of the spine, the atlas. In Greek mythology, Atlas held up the world. The atlas, the top bone of your spine, holds up your head/skull. Special attention is given to the altas given its proximity to the brain and its relationship to a big fat nerve called the Vagus nerve. One of the main functions of the Vagus nerve deals with the digestive system.

My Habits

Like everyone, I have bad habits that I constantly working on, one of which is sleeping on my belly. (If you want to stress the upper neck area and, consequently the atlas, sleep on your belly for 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for 15 years, and you might have a problem in the area.) I start having headaches and my digestion changes, not necessarily a problem, but a definite change for me.

What now?

Because of my headaches, I take myself to a chiropractor’s office. I asking him to put my atlas back. My chiropractor responds that just because I am experiencing certain symptoms does not mean it is a prescription to adjust a certain bone of the spine. He explains that there are associations with nerve pressure in certain areas of the spine causing certain internal problems, but everyone is an individual and everyone has an individual and unique problem and must be treated as such. He finds the criteria to adjust my atlas. He carefully and specifically, adjusts my atlas back for me. My chiropractor explains that I need to keep him posted on any changes that take place. Within two weeks my headaches are nonexistent and my digestion is back to normal.

So now what do I think?

Being my first personal experience with chiropractic other than strict pain management, I start think about the connection between the nervous system and the rest of the body. I pay close attention in gross anatomy lab when my partner, Vinnie Ginivinco, and I dissect out the Vagus nerve later that quarter. It is millimeters from the atlas. I find my experience interesting, at the very least worthy of more investigation. Digest this and next week I will continue.