Atlas vertebra correction

[JeuneKoq]

To cut it short, the Atlas vertebra correction is a process in which your atlas vertebra is put back to it's right place with the use of a vibration device.
The Atlas vertebra is the first vertebra of your body. It supports your head, hence the name Atlas, a figure in Greek mythology who supports the world on his shoulders.  Most people have it more or less unaligned, and this might be the cause of several health problems such as migraines, neck pain, chronic fatigue, idiopathic scoliosis, tilted pelvis, one leg feeling longer than the other, etc...
The vibration device untightens specific muscles and tendons in the neck, enabling the Atlas to go back to it's natural position. Only one session is needed, though you will probably get one or two check-ups later. Because nerves and muscles get unblocked after the Atlas is realigned, it is said that the body's natural healing capacity expresses itself more fully. Some people will find that the health problems they once suffered from, previously caused by the misalignment, tend to disappear over time. Back pain disappears, so does neck pain, less headaches, realigned spine, better posture, possible detox effect...

Here's a website in English that will probably explain it better than me:
http://www.atlantotec.com/en

And here's some videos:
Video: The AtlasPROfilax® method (English version, March 2012)

Gentle Upper Cervical "Atlas" Spinal Correction


I am thinking about correcting my Atlas, mostly because my head and shoulders tend to lean forward (poor posture). I also have light scoliosis, chronic fatigue, and some form of depression which could be at least partially due to biological factor, as opposed to psychological.

What are your thoughts on the Atlas vertebra correction?
Has anyone ever gotten their Atlas realigned before, and could testify to it's effectiveness?
Do you think it's a safe and natural thing to do, realigning it, knowing that most people on this planet have it unaligned?
Do you have an idea what could be the origin, or the cause of almost everybody having their Atlas vertebra misaligned? (I'm open to any suggestion, but know that I will be most dubious of surrealistic explanations such as alien engineering, Illuminati ect...)

[van]

I have heard of this particular adjustment before, and think it has merit.    What does seem like a used car sales pitch is that it can correct all.  If you have poor posture etc.,, it's too easy to want a magic bullet that will correct your condition.  Chiropractors seem to promise this.   I myself work on my posture, check in with my breathing, stretch and do yoga, weight train, roll on pneumatic balls to stretch my spine, and hang from bars... the list goes on.  But modern man sitting at a computer like I am now (not squatting) and living a mostly sedentary life will lead to the need to do more than just merely go to a chiropractor once a month or week or even every day.     But having said all that,, please let us know if you do get yours adjusted and what changes you notice, or don't notice.

[raw-al]

I agree with Van.

I lean forward also and I went to a chiro for quite awhile which did nothing that I can notice. I go to a functional movement chiro now and it is amazing how he corrects problems. It usually hurts like the devil but it sure fixes me up. My wife goes to him also occasionally. We call it the "Torture Chamber".

Essentially it seems that he is doing what a rolfer does, in that over time our poor posture results in muscles lodging themselves in bad spots and after awhile they stick to each other make proper movement difficult. He simply figures out the offending muscles and massages them very deeply unsticking them which allows them to move to their proper position.

Whatever he is doing it works.

BTW like Van I do a variety of things like; bike a lot, Yoga, Tai Chi, and his list also.

If you do no physical activity regularly, you can spend what you like on whatever treatment you like, but it is a waste of money IMO.

[JeuneKoq]

Yeah I'm quite aware that this will certainly not be a miracle cure (they say it themselves) to all my health troubles, but at least I will (might) benefit from it regarding healing processes of the body and overall health. It can go in the mix of various health approaches, such as proper diet, lifestyle, exercising, good sleep, etc...

I've been to osteopaths some times, but chiropractic actually sounds like something worth trying out. I wonder however if at least one of the osteopaths I previously consulted wasn't also a trained chiropractor. Will look into it.

[eveheart]

I switched over from chiropractic manipulation to more integrated movements such as yoga. I, too, think it's a key to better postural alignment. If you do get chiropractic treatment and like the results, you'll be light-years ahead if you use stretching and movement to keep your joints from popping back into their old pattern.

[goodsamaritan]

Our family goes to our extremely skilled Dorn (former MD anaesthesiologist) practitioner Dr. Bien Castro.  His skills at alignments like these are spectacular.  He beats our chiropractors hands down.  Call Dr. Bien Castro +63-917-584-3056.

I agree that spinal alignments come first when healing is needed.

[raw-al]

Here is a link to find one of the Functional Movement PPL.

http://www.functionalmovement.com/experts

[JeuneKoq]

Maybe this thread should be renamed "way(s) to a healthy spine & posture".

I've just taken a glimpse into the Dorn method's website (not sure if it's the official one): It seems to them that a misalignment of the Sacrum could actually be one cause, amongst others, of many spinal troubles and diseases !

http://www.dorn-method.com/backpain_causes.html:
-"Although there are many secondary causes possible like a slipped disc, certain diseases, toxins, psychological stress, stones in organs, cancer and other pathology, that all may require specific medical approaches, a Misalignment in the Sacrum (ISJ) seems to be the start of it all, at least a blockage in the ISJ can be diagnosed in almost all patients and is likely co-responsible. "

Perhaps Atlas vertebra correction and Sacrum Correction go hand in hand, the Atlas being the first "piece" of the spine and the Sacrum the last.
GS thanks for the phone number, although I don't know how Dr. Bien Castro could be of any help in my case, given the fact that I live more or less on the other side of the globe. Maybe if he happens to know any North European practitioners. Though I think they have a list of international practitioners on their website, and my mom knows a lot of people working in the holistic health scene.


About maintaining a healthy spine (so once you've cured it, or even before if possible), three practices comes to mind:
-sleeping on the right surface and in the right position
-squatting
-walking barefoot, or in zero drop shoes.

At this present moment I can do neither of the first two properly:

-To be able to sleep in a correct posture, your nose must be unclogged for proper nose breathing, which is not my case. Also I found it difficult to do it right while sleeping with a cover, and I feel too chilly at night to not have one, even when I'm wearing several layers. I think I might just design my own natural sleeping onesie/pijama for the colder days  .
Or maybe I'll be less chilly when I'm fully RP/instincto. In a transition period at the moment  .

Here's a little something I found on natural sleeping positions: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1119282/
If you guys have more info on this please let me know.

-As for squatting, 19 times/20 my right knee makes a very distinctive cracking noise that doesn't sound healthy or normal at all, so I unfortunately avoid squatting too deep when I can.

-Already running barefoot, and wear zero drop shoes from the vivobarefoot brand most of the time; http://www.vivobarefoot.com/eu


About correcting postural problems and recovering from spinal problems such as scoliosis and vertebra misalignments, Quantum Touch seems to be an effective health approach. It's mostly energy work apparently, but just look at the pictures of people cured from quite severe postural or spinal issues on google image:
https://www.google.be/search?q=quantum+touch&client=firefox-a&hs=cEE&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=c_wFVOOLIYmP7AafnYCIBQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1600&bih=785

What are your thoughts on quantum touch? Has anyone ever tried this health approach before, and noticed any conclusive results?

[raw-al]

Re: best way to sleep. IMHO
http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/off-topic/elevating-the-head-of-your-bed/

[JeuneKoq]

Re: best way to sleep. IMHO
http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/off-topic/elevating-the-head-of-your-bed/

7 page thread  just had a quick glimpse at it, and immediately thought about something equivalent, but even more natural in my own opinion. Since I've ditched my pillow, I have slowly taken the habit of sleeping on my forearm, like other cultural groups/ethnicities who sleep on the ground or on hard surfaces do.An example of people who sleep this way are the Kenyans, Amazonian tribesmen, and most likely our own ancestors of the paleolithic era.
As for sleeping on an angle, I think our ancestors instinctively positioned themselves with their head uphill when going to sleep.

Here's a photo of a Kenyan man sleeping on his forearm, and one of our distant cousin doing the same. I once found a photo of a Amazonian tribeswoman sleeping this way, but couldn't find it today.

[cherimoya_kid]

Google Esther Gokhale. She teaches the posture and movement habits of paleo man.

[TylerDurden]

The natural way to sleep is, allegedly, to sleep on a horizontal surface and to make a  hole for the head to lie in.

[JeuneKoq]

GS, I found a Dorn therapy practitioner that works close to where I live. Will be getting an appointment soon. Thanks for the suggestion!

As for Atlas correction, I'll also ask the Dorn guy what he thinks of it.

[cherimoya_kid]

Gokhale method--www.gokhalemethod.com

I've looked into quite a few postural methods, and this is IT. It is 100% Paleo posture, nothing else. The head of the method, Esther Gokhale, cured her chronic back pain by studying the posture and movement of dozens of groups of people living traditional paleo-type lifestyles.

[goodsamaritan]

Gokhale method--www.gokhalemethod.com

I've looked into quite a few postural methods, and this is IT. It is 100% Paleo posture, nothing else. The head of the method, Esther Gokhale, cured her chronic back pain by studying the posture and movement of dozens of groups of people living traditional paleo-type lifestyles.

Sounds verry interesting.  Will read up.  Thank you.

[JeuneKoq]

I also followed your recommendation, CK, and I bought Gokhale's book "8 Steps to a Pain-free Back" about a month ago. I agree that her approach on correcting posture by observing one's own unhealthy habits (ex: curving the back to pick something on the floor) and correcting it with exercises or simple movement adjustments (bending at the hips with a straight back to pick up something light) seems affective, also judging by the dozen of praiseful comments placed on practically every page of the book.

There's even a double-page filled only with complimentary notes from "high-placed" people ! I guess that's the American way of convincing readers their product is legit...

I'm thinking about attending one of her classes in London, but the next one takes places right in the middle of exam time, so that's not convenient for me.

However I feel that Gokhale method alone cannot fix the entire problem. In some cases poor posture leads to misalignments in the body, in other cases misalignments later leads to poor posture. It usually is a fairly balanced mix of both. More like vicious cycle of both...
So some people might do great learning how to keep a straight posture only, and other might soon fall back into their old ways because of deeper misalignment, poor posture being in that case the symptom rather than the cause.

That's why it's wiser to treat the problem from different angles. Unless of course one type of treatment alone seems to immediately be dealing with the issue, durably.

[eveheart]

That's why it's wiser to treat the problem from different angles. Unless of course one type of treatment alone seems to immediately be dealing with the issue, durably.

The problem I had with dealing "immediately" with alignment issues was holding the adjustment. I started using a postural approach and quickly abandoned the "immediate" approach. The problem is that the muscles "hold" you in a certain posture: after an adjustment, the muscles pull you right back to where you were in the first place. I have found yoga and other postural approaches (Gokhale, Egoscue) to be best in the short and long run. YMMV

[JeuneKoq]

The problem I had with dealing "immediately" with alignment issues was holding the adjustment. I started using a postural approach and quickly abandoned the "immediate" approach. The problem is that the muscles "hold" you in a certain posture: after an adjustment, the muscles pull you right back to where you were in the first place. I have found yoga and other postural approaches (Gokhale, Egoscue) to be best in the short and long run. YMMV

Yeah, actually I should not've used the word "immediately"...And I certainly didn't mean Dorn method was going to treat the problem all by itself. Learning how to adopt (and keep) a good posture is absolutely necessary in this case. However the good thing about Dorn therapy is that there's actually a Dorn massage that goes along with the treatment...Probably to tense down or stimulate specific muscles that help maintain the rectifications provided during the session.

[cherimoya_kid]

ncrdoctors.com--speaking of adjustments, this was very effective for me. It moves the bones of the skull around via a small balloon in the nose. I did it several hundred times on myself. That's not ideal, though. It's better to find a practitioner.