What Can Happen When Your Atlas Bone Is Misaligned
So many aspects of my job as a chiropractor get me excited — to the point where, if I’m being honest, there are too many to count. But one area of the spine that I really nerd out on is the atlas bone. Many people have never heard of this bone and couldn’t point it out on a chart, but I promise you that when it is misaligned, tilted, or twisted, your body will not function the way it is supposed to and could result in some pretty significant health challenges.
What is the atlas bone?
Without getting too scientific, the atlas bone (also called the C1) is the spine's very first bone (or cervical vertebra) and is located at the top of your neck right at the brain stem. It is ring-shaped and weighs a mere 2 ounces, but it supports the entire weight of your head while also allowing your head to move in all directions.
When the atlas bone is aligned, it can bring the entire head, neck, spine, and hips into alignment as well — thus creating a clear communication pathway between the brain and the rest of the body. Hence, you feel and function great! When it’s tilted or twisted, you’re likely feeling pretty miserable but aren’t sure why. This is because the head cannot rest properly on the spine. Your body starts compensating while communication between the brain and the body is increasingly interrupted.
I often compare this to kinking a garden hose right where the hose leaves the house. Obviously, kinking the hose instantly affects water flow. By the same token, a misaligned atlas bone is like putting a kink in the spinal cord and can lead to a variety of dysfunction. This includes:
• Decreased energy
• Anxiety and depression
• Digestive issues
• Ear infections
• Sleep problems
• Elevated blood pressure
• Sinus problems and allergies
• Headaches and migraines
• Vertigo and dizziness
A quick practice member story
Several months ago, I was caring for a practice member who was a model of perfect health until he turned 39 and began randomly losing consciousness. Along with these scary episodes where he’d “pass out,” he was experiencing heart palpitations, elevated blood pressure, dizziness, vertigo, and severe anxiety attacks. Not only was he scared, but to make matters worse, specialist after specialist couldn’t find anything wrong with him from a medical perspective. His only resort was to begin taking Xanax 3-4 times per day.
He comes to me, and after a quick X-ray, we notice that he has one of the more twisted atlas bones I’d ever seen. We immediately started his care with specific, gentle, and consistent adjustments that, over time, began improving the structure of his spine.
Very soon, he began noticing that his anxiety attacks were becoming less and less frequent.
His episodes of dizziness and vertigo were significantly decreasing.
His blood pressure was lower. He wasn’t having palpitations, and he also wasn’t passing out as much.
On top of that, the Xanax he had been taking several times a day eventually became a thing of the past!
The day that he came and told me that his family said that they felt like they had their daddy and husband back, there were joyful tears all around!
I say this every week, but it is an absolute joy to see folks who begin care with us at Compassion Family Chiropractic start to understand the bigger picture and experience relief from many of the health issues that have impacted their lives. Chiropractic is much more than just twisting, cracking, popping, headaches, neck pain and back pain. Our goal is to improve how your entire body functions!
We have had the blessing of seeing so many health transformations in our office, and we hope you will be the next success story!
Call Compassion Family Chiropractic Today!!
At Compassion Family Chiropractic in Lewisville, TX, our goal is for you and your family to feel like a part of ours. On your first visit, you will be greeted by warm smiles and a whole team happy and willing to serve you. We aim to provide you with the most thorough and effective chiropractic care available while treating you with unparalleled service all along the way. We look forward to the opportunity to become your family’s home for chiropractic care in Lewisville!
Give us a call today at (469) 240-2322. To learn more about Dr. David Ravdin, click here.
