Everything you need to know about the Upper Cervical Adjustment
How do we differ from the chiropractic techniques you may have seen online?
In the world of social media Chiropractic is becoming more and more popular. You may have seen videos of Chiropractors popping necks, and cracking backs, twisting people one way and the other. You may even have seen them working on areas other than the spine such as elbows and shoulders, or hips and feet. So when you come to see us at Top Chiropractic you may find us to be a little different.
How are we different?
If you’ve read any of our other blogs or pages on the website you should be aware that we are Upper Cervical Chiropractors. This means we exclusively adjust the vertebrae at the top of the neck; the reasoning behind this is explained in other blogs in this section. The purpose of the article is to explain a little bit about the adjustment itself and why we adjust this way.
The Knee-Chest position:
There are multiple different techniques within the Upper Cervical Chiropractic field. If you’ve been searching for an Upper Cervical Chiropractor you may have heard of NUCCA, Atlas Orthogonal or Blair Technique. The way we practice at Top Chiropractic is a technique called Knee-Chest Upper Cervical; this is one of the original upper cervical techniques developed by BJ Palmer (The Developer of Chiropractic).
The reason this type of adjustment is called Knee-Chest is because it describes the patient’s position when making the adjustment. The patient is in a kneeling position with the chest and head supported, and the head is turned to one side. The Chiropractor will then position themselves alongside the patient ready to make the adjustment. This positioning keeps the patient stable allowing the adjustment to be as specific as possible.
Knee chest upper cervical
The Adjustment:
The adjustment is a specific movement performed by hand. The Chiropractor will contact the relevant vertebra where the misalignment was identified. They will then make a quick impulse into the vertebra moving it into the direction which corrects the misalignment.
The most common question we are asked about the adjustment is “Does it hurt?”
After the adjustment your neck may feel a little sore for a few minutes, this is completely normal as we’re trying to create change to the position of the vertebra albeit only by a few millimetres. Your Chiropractor will check how you are doing post adjustment so you have the chance to address any questions you may have. You may feel muscular compensation over the next couple of hours or days, this is also a normal part of the process as your body works to support the correction.
Post adjustment protocol:
After the adjustment we have the patient rest in a comfortable reclined position for 20-30 minutes. This is for two reasons. Firstly it allows time for the small muscles which support the upper cervical spine to adapt to the movement of the vertebra. The goal is to allow time for these tissues to start to hold the adjustment. Secondly it allows time for nervous system adaptation to take place, this is very important. The objective of the adjustment is to allow the nervous system to function optimally with no interference. We measure the change in nervous system function pre and post adjustment so we can see objective change. It is this change and improvement in function which allows healing to occur.
If you would like to find out more or if you have any questions regarding this specific type of Chiropractic then please get in touch https://calendly.com/elliott-41/15min
Would you like to learn more?
Visit our blog page full of information here https://www.topchiropractic.co.uk/upper-cervical-chiropractic-blog/
