Catch your Zzz’s

Sleep:  Can’t live without it..literally.  We need it to process the things we learn, to rejuvenate cells, to heal the body through the immune system, and now there’s even statistic on how it affects the cardiovascular system.  Annually, with daylight sayings when we loose an hour of sleep in the spring.  There’s a marked 24% increase in heart attacks the day after.  In the autumn, when we gain an hour of sleep.  There’s a 21% reduction in heart attacks respectively (Dr. Matt Walker).  This also applies toward auto accidents.  All of this change from just a simple one hour change to sleep.  Needless to say, sleep is quite an important aspect of daily living.  In fact, its 1/3 of our life.  Any health professional can agree that a person’s overall health is at its best with adequate sleep.

Which is why through out time, there’s always been debates, studies, discussions surrounding sleep. So many different articles on the best sleeping position, the best pillow, the best mattress, and even the best temperature to fall asleep in. Of course, the best of the best would be whatever works well for your Zzz’s. With so many consumer options to perfect your sleep (including numerous apps available for white noise, sleep tracker, & the likes); sleep has been muddled with seemingly infinite combinations. In reality, its a simple yes/no question: did you sleep well?  with many follow up questions of “do you feel well rested? are you tired/groggy? and did you dream?”

Aside from following the typical rules that have been written serving as a guideline for “good” sleep:  limiting caffeine by a certain time, cutting the alcohol, working out, eating the last meal before 7pm, avoiding triggers such as the news and screen time at night.  There are additional physical factors to focus on.  As a chiropractor, I have to be slightly biased and say the key to great sleep and energy the morning after is the neck positioning during sleep. Why? Your upper neck specifically houses your brainstem, which allows for proper nerve flow and sensory that control your whole body. Neutral positioning of your head, neck, and shoulders allow for a stress free brainstem, leading to a betters sleep for a better morning after, which leads to a healthier you.

How do we achieve that neutral head/neck position? Choice of mattress is a very personal one and it needs not be discussed for the purpose of this piece. Find one that you are comfortable with and can fall asleep with easily based on comfort and temperature. With more and more mattress companies including a free trial run with purchase, its easier to find the perfect mattress to your spinal liking. The pillow, however, can be a little bit more complicated. The ultimate goal of a pillow is proper (and neutral) neck and head support. Imagine as you are upright, a straight line running midline down from centre of your skull, thru the glabella (between the eyebrow), nose, and sternum (aim for midline between your shoulders).  That line as you are vertical needs to be maintained when you are on your side.  Any pillow that influences the integrity of said line is not a good pillow.  Seems simple enough right? When in doubt, ask your local chiropractor for help. Sometimes, your general physical discomfort upon waking up or even pain during the night can be a result of the nervous system misfiring due to the atlas misalignment.

Sleep is as important as eating and breathing. Without it, our bodies will shut down.

Why am I having Neck Pain?

According to the Australian pain management association, neck pain affects 1/5 people right now as you are reading this sentence. The 4th leading disability worldwide? Neck Pain! 30% of neck pain sufferers will develop chronic symptoms. Are you a statistic right now?

The basic background of the head and neck junction is essential to understanding why neck pain occurs. The lower 2/3 of your neck is fairly stable due to the anatomy of the bone structures. However, the upper 1/3 of your neck is far more mobile. This typically translates to be a complex and fairly unstable joint region. The atlas, the very first bone that supports the big bowling ball head, is a ring structure. Because there are no interlocking aspect to this bone, it sits freely sandwiched between the head and rest of the spine. This craniocervical region has major influence on brain communications with the rest of the body, including that of the muscles holding the head upright. Trauma, accidents, or injuries to the head &/or neck can disrupt this balancing act of the atlas and its surrounding supportive muscles which can lead to neck pain. The muscles of the neck must then work harder to maintain the head level and balanced against gravity.

Atlas: the very 1st cervical vertebrae supporting the head. If the atlas is out of alignment in relationship to the head and neck, pain and discomfort can result.

Although neck pain can come from a variety of causes, by far the most common is muscle tension. Disc pain and other soft tissue strains can also be a culprit. Misalignment in the upper cervical spine can exacerbate these conditions. Thereby, correcting of the craniocervical junction (the atlas misalignment) can typically allow those muscles to relax and the neck to return to a more balanced and relaxed state. This also has the potential to relieve strain on discs of the cervical spine.

*** Neck pain often times can be a precursor to headaches. Read more about headaches here

To see if you may benefit from a craniocervical assessment, contact your local NUCCA chiropractor.

Vertigo alone is not a diagnosis

Vertigo is becoming a more common problem for office visits to primary doctors, ear, nose and throat specialists, neurologists and physical therapists. Vertigo is a symptom that causes a person to feel like they are moving when they really are not. Sometimes a person with vertigo can feel like the walls and the floor are moving, resulting in associated symptoms of nausea, vomiting, sweating or walking difficulties. Activities of daily living can become difficult and at times, intimidating.

When someone says they have vertigo, this is a description of a symptom that may be associated with different conditions such as Meniere’s disease, infection, multiple sclerosis, migraine, head trauma, brain tumor and others. However, in a majority of the cases, a structural shift of the head and neck position known as atlas displacement complex can be a contributor to vertigo symptoms. In a neurological sense, the neck position tells the brain where the body is in space. With the neck off-center, the body’s sensory systems will not have the right information, leading to a sense of imbalance.

The top of the neck, where the atlas bone cradles the head, houses more sensory receptors than the rest of the body, and injuries to this area such whiplash and concussion will disturb the balance of the sensory receptors. Typically, a person with vertigo symptoms have had injuries to the upper neck or head. By fixing this misalignment of the upper neck, the major contributor to vertigo can be corrected.

Vertigo

There’s no question if you have it when you have it.

Modern device causing physical pain?

A new side effect of the ubiquitous smart phone called “text neck” is the result of constantly looking down onto the screen at an uncomfortable angle. Because summer travel may present long waits at airports and riding long distances while texting and gaming, the potential for developing problems associated with the poor positioning of the head and neck increases. Handheld devices are particularly problematic because of their small size and the fact that they are often held while hands are resting on the lap. This means the screen is positioned at an angle requiring the viewer’s head to be tipped downward in order to see the small screen.

If we were to look under the skin and see this problem as an architect would see weight distribution of a bridge or building, we would note that the head, which usually weighs eight- to-14 pounds, is cradled, supported and attached to the rest of the body by a two-ounce atlas bone, or cervical bone 1 (C1). This bone not only supports the head, but also surrounds the brain stem, so any disruption of the head and neck relation- ship can also disrupt neural flow to any part of the body. Some of the life events that often act upon this little bone include forces experienced during a car accident, falling down, sleeping on an ill-fitting pillow and even the birthing process itself.

To understand the importance of the C1 and its affect on our daily life; imagine holding onto a big platter, as a waiter or waitress would. If we balance the plate around its center of gravity, we can hold onto it for a long time. But if we try to balance it off that center of gravity, it is a struggle to keep it from falling and the weight will also seem magnified. In order to keep the plate in that position, our finger muscles would have to tighten as they struggle to hold up the weight, as would the muscles of the wrist, forearm, elbow, shoulder, back and even the legs as they compensate for the shift in weight distribution.

If the body is forced to experience this misalignment daily, that causes muscles to become accustomed to being in this position— the new normal. Unless we experience the body’s alarm system (pain), we may not even notice that it is occurring. If there’s pain, the body is giving us a warning that something is wrong, and you have the opportunity to correct it before further damage occurs.

Many people silence or turn the volume down on the pain alarm with medications, and eventually, the alarm signal is managed or just shuts off. The problem is that while one can no longer hear the alarm, the reason has not been corrected, causing slow, internal and external deterioration, including degradation of posture, gait and nerve impulse conduction. All these problems can have unexpected, long- term negative health consequences, in addition to exacerbat- ing and creating other health issues.

To minimize stress, start by being aware of poor positioning and take action to correct it. When reading, working on a computer or using a cellular or handheld device, consider improving the body’s alignment by elevating the screen; working at a table or placing a purse, bag or jacket on our lap and resting the screen there. Always maintain at least a fist-size space between the chin and the chest. Looking any further down will put a strain onto the neck and the muscles all the way down to the low back. Also consider having at least a biannual check-up of the C1 by a dedicated upper cervical chiropractor.

“Text Neck”

The Jaw – Spinal Cord Connection A Simple Check-up Can Make All the Difference in One’s Overall Health

The TMJ can lead to many painful issues. Often times, its caused by misalignment of the C1/Atlas.

More often when we think of mouth guard, its a common need for athletes. Its also used as a daily/nightly dental protection device. Are both needed? The simple answer is yes and yes, but it is important to understand its function. A mouth guard is a covering that is placed on the upper or lower teeth to protect the teeth from injury.

There are two parts to the jaw: the maxilla, which is the upper part of the skull, or the non-moveable part with teeth, and the mandible, or the moveable part with teeth. The connecting location is the TMJ. What holds these two parts together are the muscles and ligaments, which are all controlled by facial nerves that come from the brainstem and are connected to the first vertebrae (also called the atlas).

A more thorough dental version of a mouth guard, known as an appliance, will also protect the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), from injury during periods of grinding and or clenching.

Over-the-counter mouth guards are manufactured predominantly in two premade forms that protect the teeth, but a custom appliance made at a dental office also maintains the balance between the upper and lower jaw so that dysfunction or destruction do not occur. Its focus is to maintain a proper fluid motion of the TMJ to avoid injury or pain. Symptoms of imbalance include tooth pain, facial pain, headaches and neck pain. Using the latest technology, dentists have tools to identify many problems in the TMJ to make better diagnoses and appliances that prevent further damage to teeth and the TMJ joint.

The use of a dental appliance is important for the treatment of several jaw-related problems and appliances are also being used to address sleep apnea and snoring with great success. However, another aspect of a patient’s well-being is how the fit of that appliance affects the neurological flow of the entire body.

If the atlas is in alignment and the brainstem is firing its signals correctly, allowing the nerves to function as they should, an improperly set appliance will put pressure onto the nerves and actually be capable of taking the patient out of alignment at the atlas, causing the nerves to not fire correctly, and giving way to symptoms such as headaches, vertigo, TMJ issues and even low back pain.

A simple check can determine if the dental appliance is affecting the spinal alignment and nerve flow. If the nerves are not firing correctly, that is considered a misalignment. If it is determined that the mouth guard is causing a misalignment, having that appliance refit by a dentist that understands the jaw/ spinal cord connection and can work with your spinal health practitioner is key.

While mouth guards and dental appliances are valuable protective tools for a patient to continuously feel well, the combination of having a properly set dental appliance and staying in alignment is key.