Upper Cervical Care Condition of the Week: Migraine Headaches

     Hey everyone.  Over the past few weeks we have been talking about what Upper Cervical Care is and how it can be beneficial to you, your children, and everyone with a nervous system!  Although I spend a lot of time educating folks on how the brainstem is the switchboard operator that routes all the messages from the brain to the body and vice versa, it is sometimes hard to grasp how correcting inflammation at the level of the brainstem can help specific conditions and diseases.  I often tell people about what I do and how it promotes WHOLE body health and wellness.  Then, the next question is, “Yeah Yeah Doc, but can it help with __________?”  

     Mostly every time I say “Of Course!”  I go on to explain how a certain ailment can be corrected or healed NATURALLY if we remove the interference at the brainstem.  With that said, I will be attacking certain conditions and symptoms throughout the next several weeks.  If anyone has a specific problem/condition and they would like to find out how Upper Cervical Care can help, please email us at ucwilmington@gmail.com, and I will be more than happy to address that in the next health newsletter.  So, for today, the condition of the week is MIGRAINE HEADACHES!

     How can a misalignment in the upper neck be causing migraine headaches?

     This can be explained by a simple physiology lesson.  The main vessels that supply our brain with blood are the internal carotid arteries and the vertebral arteries.  During a migraine attack, these vessels become narrow and decrease the blood to the brain.  Therefore, the receptors, called baroreceptors, located throughout the arteries, tell the arterial walls to expand and oppose the narrowing action.  

     When the arteries expand, they compress the nerves that attach to them and consequently release chemicals of pain sensation.  This is where the pain comes from.  Although the pain is in your head, the nerves that are attached to the arteries supplying your brain with blood are being irritated and inflamed, along with the brainstem itself which is what directly communicates with the baroreceptors constantly.

     That’s just from a physiological and biochemical perspective.  Basic Anatomy explains it as plain as day. The internal carotid arteries sit anterior (in front) of the atlas vertebrae (the top bone in our neck that holds our head up, or C1).  If there is any rotation of this bone whatsoever, it can put adverse stress on one side of the artery.  That’s just the internal carotids.  How about the vertebral arteries??  It’s estimated that these two arteries supply about 40% of our brain’s blood supply.  These arteries happen to RUN DIRECTLY THROUGH THE TOP TWO BONES.  No, literally, they do.  See the picture below.

     So, if any of the top two bones in our neck are malpositioned in any direction, even by a few millimeters, this can be detrimental to your health by affecting the very important blood flow going to your brain.

     Nearly 1 in 4 US households includes someone that battles migraine headaches.  American employers lose more than $13 billion each year as a result of 113,000,000 lost work days due to migraine headaches. The typical approaches to help with Migraines simply don’t work.  Different drugs such as pain relievers, triptans, ergots, opioids, and glucocorticoids don’t correct the problem.  They’re simply putting a band-aid on it and prolong the pain until the next migraine attack comes around.  As a preventive measure, folks are often prescribed anti-depressants and anti-seizure medications to help with prevention of migraines. REALLY?!?!? Why?  Is your blood chemistry low in anti-depressant pills?  Or is your body deficient in anti-seizure medications?  REALLY?!?  Before you introduce a foreign, man-made, synthetic toxin into your body, be sure to ask your physician why you are taking some the drugs they have you on.  With Upper Cervical Care, we look to the CAUSE of the problem of many health concerns, which include migraines! Seymour Diamond, M.D., Executive Director of the National Headache Foundation, has announced that new imaging techniques now allow scientists to identify what they believe to be a cause of migraines: a malfunctioning brainstem.  It took them a while to come to the conclusion that Upper Cervical doctors have been saying for decades, but researchers and Medical Doctors cannot deny the fact that the brainstem regulates everything. Glad we’re finally on the same page.

     Upper Cervical doctors have the means to restore the brainstem to normal function and eliminate the true cause of migraines.  If you or a loved one is suffering from Migraine headaches, get to the cause of the problem.  Give us a call, all hope is never lost.  That’s why we’re here.  (910) 769-2293.

Praying for a healthier North Carolina,

Dr. Josh

ucwilmington.com

The BIG IDEA

As part of this Week’s Health Newsletter, thanks to a good friend and patient of ours, I would like to share a powerful piece of writing that BJ Palmer wrote back in 1944. Dr. Palmer was the developer of Upper Cervical Care and changed thousands upon thousands of people’s lives for the better. The sickest of the sick would travel from all over the country and the world to see Dr. BJ and his staff to get well. Many of his cases were cases that the Medical doctors either gave up on or expressed there was no hope. People entered the clinic in wheelchairs and on stretchers, and exited with a clean bill of health after receiving Upper Cervical Care. These amazing stories still occur today in many of the Upper Cervical offices throughout the nation. As Dr. Palmer discusses in this writing titled, “THE BIG IDEA,” we can indeed change the HEALTH and WELFARE of our entire nation and world, if we looked to the CAUSE of our health problems and not for quick fixes in medicines and toxins to the body. Upper Cervical doctors look for and FIND that cause and correct it. If you would like more information about how Upper Cervical Care can help you and your family, click HERE.

Dr. BJ Palmer’s BIG IDEA

A slip on the snowy sidewalk, in winter, is a small thing.

It happens to millions.

A fall from a ladder, in the summer, is a small thing.

That also happens to millions.

The slip or fall produces a brainstem subluxation.

The brainstem subluxation is a small thing.

The brainstem subluxation produces pressure on the brainstem.

That pressure is a small thing.

The pressure cuts off the flow of mental impulses and healing messages.

That decreased flowing produces a dis-eased body and brain.

THAT is a BIG thing to THAT man.

Multiply THAT sick man by a few thousand and you control the physical and mental welfare of a city.

Multiply THAT sick man by a couple million, and you shape the physical and mental destiny of a State.

Multiply THAT man by three-hundred fifty million, and you forecast and

can change the physical and mental status of a nation.

So the slip or fall, the brainstem subluxation, pressure, flow of mental impulses and dis-ease are BIG enough to control the thoughts and actions of a nation.

________________________________________________

Now comes a man.

Any one man is a SMALL thing.

This man gives an Upper Cervical correction.

The correction is a small thing.

The correction replaces the brainstem subluxation.

That is a small thing.

The corrected brainstem subluxation releases pressure upon the brainstem.

That is a small thing.

The released pressure restores health to A man.

That is a BIG thing to THAT man.

Multiply that well man by a few thousand, and

you step up the physical and mental welfare of a city.

Multiply that well man by a couple million, and

you increase the efficiency of a State.

Multiply that well man by three-hundred fifty million, and

you have produced a healthy, wealthy, and better race for posterity.

So, the correction of the brainstem subluxation, to release pressure upon the brainstem,

to restore mental impulse flow, to restore health, IS BIG enough

to rebuild the thoughts and actions of the world.

___________________________________________________________

THE IDEA that knows the cause, that can correct the cause of dis-ease,

IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST IDEAS KNOWN.

Without it, nations fall; with it, nations rise.

THE IDEA is the BIGGEST I know of.

-          Dr. BJ Palmer, 1944

We at Upper Cervical of Wilmington hope everyone enjoyed a safe 4^th of July. Find out what Upper Cervical Care can do for you and your family! It changed my life, and I am forever grateful. Until next time!

Working towards a truly healthier nation,

Dr. Josh

Why Kids Respond So Much Better to Upper Cervical Care

Why Kids Respond So Much Better to Upper Cervical Care

You can ask any Upper Cervical doctor throughout the country and they will tell you that kids hold their corrections longer than adults do.  This means they heal faster and better than we do.  There are many scientific reasons on why that statement holds true.  Let’s first discuss how an upper cervical misalignment can even happen to a child.  Kids go through a lot of learning processes as they are growing up.  Any parent can attest to the fact that when their kids begin to learn to crawl, stand up, walk, and run, minor traumas happen frequently.  Children are constantly bumping their heads, landing on their bottoms, and scraping their knees.  Most parents will always assume the notion, “No blood, no foul.”  Even if a kid screams bloody murder for a minute or two, as long as there is no blood or broken bones, they will be just fine.

Short-term, that belief can be true.  Long-term, however, a minor fall can have some very serious consequences.  As we have been discussing the last few newsletters, the top two bones in our spine are only held in place by muscles and ligaments.  The anatomy is no different in a child.  All of these little trips, falls, and bumps can either acutely or cumulatively play a huge role in our children’s health.  If the area where our upper neck meets our head, (that protects the brainstem) is misaligned, this can be a red flag.  Every process that keeps us alive is controlled and organized at the level of the brainstem.  Whether it’s our immune function, digestive system, respiratory system, hormonal regulation, temperature, you name it; the brainstem must be working properly in order for all of these systems to be working optimally.  AND, it’s not always brain to body connections that may get distorted, but it can also affect brain to brain communication as one of my mentors, Dr. Ray Drury of Upper Cervical Health Centers – Charlotte, explains very well.

“The brain’s primary role is processing thoughts, memory, emotions, and conscious awareness.  When you have a thought, memory, or emotion, it travels from the brain down to the brainstem.  The brainstem, like a switchboard operator, sends a message to another part of the brain that interprets it.  If there’s an interference of the nerve energy at the level of the brainstem, that message doesn’t get fully communicated, which can result in altered emotions, such as depression, anxiety, or panic attacks.  It can affect knowledge retention, creating conditions we have labeled as attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hypertrophy disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, dementia, or AUTISM.  A misalignment at the brainstem can interfere with these very important transmissions and cause these problems.”

Most of the time, children ALREADY have a brainstem subluxation BEFORE they start bumping, tripping and falling.  I would like for you parents, mothers especially, to recall the birthing process of their children.  Even with a normal birth (no malposition of the baby, plenty of oxygen, and no complications with the umbilical cord), there is a lot of tugging, pulling, and twisting that takes place when the baby is being born.  When the child is breached, there is a tremendous amount of force and stress used to get the baby out.  Some births require tools such as forceps that pull the baby by the head in order to remove them from the birth canal.  Can you picture the trauma that this puts on our children’s spines before they are even a minute old?  Not only are their top two bones very little, but they AREN’T EVEN COMPLETELY OSSIFIED YET!  This means it’s not all bone, a lot of it still flimsy, unstable cartilage!  There is research to support this! Dr. Ludwig Gutmann, a German MD, observed that approximately 75% of his infant patients had a brainstem compromise at birth.  The research paper that was published clearly correlates structural misalignment to neurological deficit in the infants.  That number, 75% should be very alarming.  Kids born to Upper Cervical doctors or current patients of Upper Cervical doctors have had their kids checked within minutes and hours of being born!

You might ask, why do kids respond so much better than adults with Upper Cervical Care?  The answer comes down to anatomy and lack of degenerative processes.  Regarding anatomy, a child’s spine and nervous system respond very well to an Upper Cervical correction due to the fact that the bone hasn’t been out of place as long as is the case with some adults.  Some patients that I have walking in my office have had Upper Cervical subluxations for upwards of 50, 60, maybe even 70 years!  In just a moment, I will address how I know that.  When the bone has been misaligned for a short period of time, the body receives and welcomes the correction easier.  ALSO, because the muscles and ligaments have not had much time to develop bad muscle memory, we can train the body to HOLD the corrections more efficiently compared to adolescence and adulthood.

Regarding the second reason why kids respond so well to Upper Cervical Care, plainly put, they are not as messed up as we are.  Over decades of living on Earth, we expose ourselves to traumas, poor posture habits, bad diet decisions, hazardous and toxic chemicals, and the list goes on and on.  Upper Cervical doctors can see an x-ray of a person and estimate their age based on the anatomy, and degenerative processes in the spine.  If problems such as Upper Cervical misalignments are never addressed, the nervous system and spine can really suffer.  We have patients who are only in their 40s and 50s, but their spine looks like they’re 70 or 80 due to all of the trauma and breakdown.  If these folks would have started Upper Cervical Care as a young child, their spines and bodies may perhaps appear as if they were in their 30s!  I see it all the time.  In summary, children haven’t been exposed to as many traumas and harmful things for their bodies. THEREFORE, THEIR BODIES CAN HEAL MUCH FASTER AND MORE EFFICIENTLY compared to adults.

Get your kids checked!  Just like a cavity, you can’t always see it; that’s why you take your kids to the dentist!  You won’t know if your child has a brainstem subluxation unless they get checked by an Upper Cervical Doctor.  Give us a call today to schedule your consultation to make sure your children’s nervous systems are working the very best they can!  If you are not in the Wilmington area, please contact us anyway and I will be thrilled to point you towards a qualified Upper Cervical Doctor in your area.  If we get our kids under Upper Cervical Care now, the next generation will be light years ahead of our current generation in regards to health and wellness.  Take action and keep our future healthy!

Check us out on Facebook and on the Web at ucwilmington.com.

Striving and calling for a healthier future,

Dr. Josh Dalessandro

“The best doctor gives the least medicine.”      

- Benjamin Franklin