Atlas Orthogonal
“Atlas what?” I know. I felt the same way. What the heck does Atlas Orthogonal mean? Well, the atlas is the first vertebra of the spine. The head sits right on top of the atlas. If you have ever studied Greek mythology Atlas was the guy who held the world on top of his outstretched arms. So it is with the atlas bone. It sits directly under the skull. The average weight of the head is 9-14 lbs. Next is the word Orthogonal. This means “intersecting at right angles”. In other words the atlas should be squarely under the skull which produces 90 degree angles. When the atlas is not orthogonal the angles are less than 90 degrees.
“So what does this have to do with my pain?” To answer this we also must understand that we have spinal nerves that exit right above and right below the atlas bone. When the atlas bone is subluxated or out of position it causes a tremendous amount of pressure to those nerves mentioned above. One pair of those nerves have branches that go up to the head all the way to just behind the eye. The other pair of nerves have branches that go to the side of the head to the temple area. Many of our patients suffer from headaches that go to these areas. Most people initially think that their headaches are coming from sinus problems, eye problems and other issues. Nearly 80% of all headaches originate from the neck. Most of these respond to Atlas Orthogonal adjusting, some quite dramatically. We have a high success rate with headache cases.
So I have explained what Atlas Orthogonal means but how is the adjustment done. First, it is painless and there is no popping or cracking of the neck. We use a sophisticated, high tech instrument to adjust the atlas into the proper position. We derive a formula from x-rays that we take of the atlas and neck area. That formula tells me the angles that our instrument must be set at. It is very individual and different on each patient. It is a very precise, specific adjustment.
“So what does this have to do with my pain?” To answer this we also must understand that we have spinal nerves that exit right above and right below the atlas bone. When the atlas bone is subluxated or out of position it causes a tremendous amount of pressure to those nerves mentioned above. One pair of those nerves have branches that go up to the head all the way to just behind the eye. The other pair of nerves have branches that go to the side of the head to the temple area. Many of our patients suffer from headaches that go to these areas. Most people initially think that their headaches are coming from sinus problems, eye problems and other issues. Nearly 80% of all headaches originate from the neck. Most of these respond to Atlas Orthogonal adjusting, some quite dramatically. We have a high success rate with headache cases.
So I have explained what Atlas Orthogonal means but how is the adjustment done. First, it is painless and there is no popping or cracking of the neck. We use a sophisticated, high tech instrument to adjust the atlas into the proper position. We derive a formula from x-rays that we take of the atlas and neck area. That formula tells me the angles that our instrument must be set at. It is very individual and different on each patient. It is a very precise, specific adjustment.
“But Doc, it’s my back that hurts, not so much my neck”
The atlas subluxation affects the lower spine. Remember that the head weighs 9-14 lbs. The neck only weighs about 3 lbs. So we have a 3 lb. stick holding up a 10 lb bowling ball. What if the ball is not centered on the stick? The stick has to shift and compensate or there is no way it can properly hold the ball. It’s no different in the spine. When the atlas is subluxated there is no way that the head can be balanced so what does the lower spine do? It has to shift and compensate. This is good and bad. Good in that it allows us to function and sometimes lessens the neck pain, but bad in that over time it creates some real issues anywhere in the lower spine.
"My adjustments don't hold very long.
I feel like I'm out again within a day or two."
I feel like I'm out again within a day or two."
If I get a new patient who has been adjusted by others and complains that he or she is out of adjustment within a few hours or a day or two it is almost certain that this patient has an atlas problem. I will push on the first and second nerve root mentioned above and whether or not this patient actively has neck pain it will cause pain to push on the nerve. When there is no pressure on those nerves I can push very hard on those nerves with no pain. So, a high percentage of lower back, mid back, leg, and lower neck pain are affected by the atlas. I also adjust the lower spine but I make sure that the atlas is holding and doing well. The lower spine responds much better to treatment when the upper spine is in the correct position.
