One of the most significant but often neglected elements in migraines and headaches is the specific alignment of the top vertebra in your neck. The C1 vertebra (also known as the “atlas” since it supports the 5-kg weight of your head) is physically connected to the protective tissue that surrounds your spinal cord and brainstem, which serves as the master control center of your nervous system.
The meninges are three layers of connective tissue that compose the dura, arachnoid, and pia mater. The meninges are a dense matrix network of blood arteries, veins, lymph channels, and nerves that regulate brain activity.
Inflammation of the meninges can result in a range of health issues, including migraines, chronic headaches, vertigo, dizziness, neuralgia, and other pain and nervous system abnormalities.
Imagine the sensation of a hangover as one illustration of what it feels like when the meninges are irritated by a chemical irritant.
A physical irritant, on the other hand, has the potential to aggravate the meninges.
One common, albeit seldom detected condition, is when you have a physical injury to your C1 vertebra. Your atlas is designed to move about 10-20mm. However, if the ligaments that support its alignment are ever torn as a result of a head, neck, or whiplash injury, the center of gravity of your skull might move, resulting in a permanent misalignment of as little as 2mm. As minor as that may appear, keep in mind that such misalignment may indicate a 10-20% deviation from your typical!
Even if it isn’t enough to be harmful or unstable, it can surely produce problems, such as a physical pulling force that aggravates the meninges and may contribute to your migraines or headaches.
Can a C1 problem still exist if my scans are “normal?”
Some patients who visit Form and Function Corrective Chiropractic clinic get CT or MRI scans to search for serious symptoms of pathology. However, nerve irritation can occur on such a small scale that an MRI scan cannot detect it. As a result, many people’s findings are classified as “normal.”
The issue is that as useful as MRI or CT scans are, they do not reveal all about the orientation of your C1 vertebra. Only when the injury is 5-10mm in size is it considered substantial enough to create concerns by a traditional medical clinic.
However, in our more than 20 years of practice, we have found that even little misalignments of 1-2mm, if they are in the wrong direction, can create just as many issues as larger injuries.
It is for this reason that Form and Function Corrective Chiropractic conducts its own forms of testing. When we determine that a person has a C1 vertebra problem, we perform a series of x-ray analyses to determine the exact direction, degree, and amount of any misalignment that may be harming their nervous system and health. We are the only chiropractic clinic in Cebu that does this
Because the atlas can misalign in all 360 degrees of motion, it is critical to identify the source of the problem so that any natural solution can be tailored to your unique needs.
Visit our clinic and consult with Dr. Scott Jahn if you or anyone you know suffer from migraines or chronic headaches.
