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Can Chiropractic Help Posture?
“Why is my posture so bad?”
Have you looked in the mirror lately and wondered what is happening with your posture?
- Does your head protrude forwards where you can feel that big bump at the base of your neck sticking out?
- Does your head tilt to one side?
- Does one shoulder sink lower than the other?
- Do you have a slouched posture through your upper back?
Many people believe that bad posture is simply a matter of laziness.
However, have you ever noticed that when you try to “sit up straight” or “stand up straight” that your body springs back into the same bad posture as soon as you lose your concentration?
Have you ever wondered why that is?
If so, I would like to ask you to consider the possibility that your posture happens because of an underlying problem with your structure.
Think about it: if there are small shifts in the structure of your spine, do you think that these little shifts ALL ADDED UP can appear like really big things like posture?
The answer is, “Absolutely yes!”
So, you may want to know what you can do about it dos that your posture doesn’t get worse.
Here is where a unique form of healthcare may be able to help with your overall body posture and alignment. It is called Blair upper cervical care, and if you’ve never heard of it in Australia before, you are not alone.
“Why is my posture so bad?”
Your posture matters.
Excessive wear-and-tear on your body has been shown to lead to early degenerative arthritis and other physical limitations with your ability to do routine daily tasks.
In particular, the position of your head has a massive impact on your entire body posture.
- For every 2.5cm of forwarding head posture, the effective weight of your head doubles. So it is not uncommon or people who work on computers, laptops, tablets or phones to be sitting or walking around with 20Kg of EXCESSIVE effective weight on their necks and shoulders (… is it any wonder why head, neck and shoulder pain are so common?)
- Forward head posture is associated with jaw issues, chronic pain syndromes (including fibromyalgia), breathing difficulties (because the airway is constricted) and also difficulties sleeping
- Forward head posture with straightening of the neck curve is also associated with a lack of blood flow to the brain!
Where your head goes, your body goes.
The reason for this is because your brain will do whatever it takes in order to keep itself level inside of your skull. It is called the vestibulo-ocular or “head righting” reflex.
In other words, your posture could actually because your brain is using your body and muscles in order to keep itself level so that it can continue to function as well as possible.
If so, you can do all the exercises, stretches & therapies to work on the muscles, but if they just spring back to the same position and JUST AS TIGHT a day or two later, it often means that the underlying issue - the CAUSE of your bad posture - is still there.
The Atlas approach to helping posture
Here is where a different approach to healthcare and optimizing body function may be able to help people with bad posture.
It is called Blair upper cervical care, aka Atlas healthcare.
The atlas is the first vertebra in your neck and is also known as C1. The axis is the second vertebra in your neck and is also known as C2. These two bones protect your brainstem, which is the master control center for your entire brain and body. These bones also allow for 50% of your total head and neck movement.
Because they are flexible, they are potentially susceptible to injury. And if they are shifted - even a couple of millimeters - it can be enough to shift the center of gravity for your skull and thus your brain.
Because this affects your brain’s ability to function, it will then recruit the other muscles in your neck, shoulders, back and even hips in order to compensate … hence the posture issue.
This phenomenon is commonly known as body imbalance.
The focus of Blair upper cervical care is to correct the alignment of the C1 and C2 vertebrae for the purpose of restoring normal body nerve function. When this happens, we often see changes in muscle tone not only in the neck but all the way down to the feet.
By default, this means that there is a change with muscle tone and thus posture at all levels of the body
Indeed, there are many varieties of posture that are NOT the result of an atlas or neck misalignment (e.g., Schuermann’s Osteochondrosis, non-idiopathic scoliosis).
However, if the atlas and axis are not properly supporting the weight of your skull, everything in your body’s posture could be more difficult.
In brief, we believe simply that your body works better when your atlas and your axis and properly aligned.
“Where can I find an atlas chiropractor near me?”
Atlas care is a post-doctoral study chiropractic certification that does not use twisting, cracking, or spinal manipulation. The Blair upper cervical procedure was developed and researched in the USA.
Along with other atlas-specific methods, there are around 15 chiropractic doctors around Australia currently using some form of upper cervical care.
Dr. Jeffrey Hannah is the principal Blair upper cervical chiropractor at Atlas Health Australia in North Lakes. Our practice located in North Lakes is the premiere (and still only) atlas chiropractic center in Brisbane.
Our practice is here to serve communities across Brisbane and southeast Queensland from the Gold Coast up to the Sunshine Coast and everywhere in between Albany Creek, Aspley, Bridgeman Downs, Brighton, Bulimba, Burpengary, Cashmere, Chandler, Dakabin, Dayboro, Griffin, Hawthorne, Indooroopilly, Kalinga, Mango Hill, Narangba, New Farm, Newport, Newstead, North Harbour, North Lakes, Samford, Scarborough, Shorncliffe, South Brisbane, Spring Hill, Teneriffe, Toowong, and West End.
Most of our clients travel 30-60 minutes, and we do work with clients also traveling from across Queensland and even interstate.
It is our vision for there to be an upper cervical specific chiropractor available for every community around Australia. Dr. Hannah is Advanced Certified in the Blair chiropractic procedure and teaches locating and internationally as part of this mission to bring Blair to the world.
I hope you found this information valuable about the link between your atlas, alignment of your neck, and your posture. If you would like more information about how we may be able to help your particular case, we would like to invite you to have a chat.
We offer a 15-minute complimentary over-the-phone consultation to speak with Dr. Hannah, to ask any questions you may have, and then to give you some idea of what is involved if you decide that care may be right for you.
To request a consultation or to schedule an appointment with Atlas Health chiropractic North Lakes, you can click the Contact Us, or call us at 07 3188 9329.
Atlas Health Australia - “A passion and purpose for helping people improve their quality of lives.”
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