Posts Tagged ‘Chiropractic Professionals’

Torrance Chiropractor; Your Health is our Priority!

Frias Chiropractic

Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care

D. Michael Frias, D.C.

Frias Chiropractic, your Torrance Chiropractor,  is a place that thinks radically about health and healing. It is about life, living, and wellness. It’s a place that focuses on human potential at all times.

Frias Chiropractic will help you to take responsibility for your own quality of health and healing. We realize that individuals are interested in understanding how to take care of themselves and get more out of life. Here at the Center we attend these needs with ongoing education and information. Our intention is to lead people to their highest potential through ongoing chiropractic wellness care.

Chiropractic has long promoted wellness care for the entire family. This translates into quality health and well being, greater ability to adapt, heal, grow and evolve as a human being. The primary clientele of the center are people from all walks of life, infants to grandparents.

We invite you to come visit us so that you can meet and see for yourself what is available to you. Of course if you are ready to get out on a journey to greater health and wellbeing, you can call and make an appointment. You are welcome to attend our educational programs so that you may gain knowledge about your mind, body, and spirit. This service is open to the community. Health, healing and wellness education is the key to empower you with the TRUTH of your own being.

Chiropractic may be new to you.  You and chiropractic are strangers.  We cannot give a complete picture of Chiropractic, but we will introduce you to Chiropractic and tell why we do what we do.

WHAT IS CHIROPRACTIC? Chiropractic is a science by which the doctor locates and removes the cause of DIS-EASE.  For every effect, ache or pain there is a cause.  As long as you have a cause (NERVE INTERFERENCE), you will have an effect (DIS-EASE).  Removal of the cause results removal of effect.  That sounds reasonable doesn’t it?  You use the same principle everyday in your home, at work, or at play and it works.  For example, you are in the yard watering your lawn with a water hose and a rock falls across the hose.  It may interfere with the flow of water to where there is only half of the original amount coming out at the nozzle.  Do you work on the nozzle?  No, you go back down the hose and remove the cause, the rock.  That seems to be the simple, ordinary thing to do in the case and it will also work in your health problems.  That is what Chiropractic is about, locating and removing the cause.  What follows…HEALTH!

The spinal column consists of 24 movable bones called vertebrae through the center of this bony column are the spinal cord and spinal nerves.

The spinal cord extends from the brain through the neural canal down to the rest of the body.  It is the nervous system that controls ALL functions of the body such as heart beat, respiration, digestion, elimination, our heating and cooling mechanism, constriction and dilation of the arteries, veins, and muscles coordination, etc. All functions with in the body that we don’t have to consciously think about are controlled by the brain and the spinal cord which is also called the nervous system.

Grays anatomy states, “The nervous system is the master system of the body, controlling and coordinating all the functions of the body and relating the individual to the environment.”

Impulses are constantly being transmitted from the brain, through these nerve-lines in order to regulate and control function.  Without normal receipt of these impulses no part of the body can have normal function.

WHAT IS UPPER CERVICAL CHIROPRACTIC CARE? Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care is a conservative chiropractic procedure that corrects the position of the top vertebrae of the spine, called the Atlas (C1) and/or Axis (C2).  By correcting the tilt, shift or rotation of these vertebrae, the body is able to more overcome the affects or completely eliminate many different conditions.  Over 10 billion nerve fibers from the brainstem travel through the small opening in Atlas and flow down into the spinal column.  Because of the smallness of the opening and because of the close proximity at the Atlas to the brain stem, the Atlas if moved out of the position even a fraction of a degree, can result in two very serious problems.

If the Atlas and/or Axis are out of their proper position, the head moves off center of the body. This creates body imbalance from head to toe due to the greater transference of body weight on one side of the body than the other.  If these vertebrae are also rotated out of position, they can twist the entire spinal structure, including the pelvis, causing one leg to become shorter than the other.

“Just what is Body Imbalance and how do I know if it has happened to me?”

Body Imbalance occurs when the C1 or Atlas, and/or the C2 or Axis, the top two vertebra in the neck, are misaligned and out of their proper position. This can occur as a result of an accident, emotional trauma, or chemical toxicity in the body. Childbirth itself can move the atlas out of position because of the massive amounts of pressure on the head and neck of the baby as it passes down the birth canal. Or childhood accidents like falling from a tree, bike or skates can misalign it. In adulthood, the atlas can be shoved out of position during minor or major accidents such as sporting accidents, automobile accidents or slips and falls. Some of the worst cases of atlas misalignment and resulting pain have been caused by minor car accidents such as being rear-ended. One indication of body imbalance is having one leg slightly shorter than the other. You may also notice that when you stand in front of a mirror one shoulder is slightly higher than another, and one hip is higher than the other. Another indication your atlas may be out of position is by having different symptoms in your body that your medical doctor cannot explain or find the cause for on any tests.

“How can Body Imbalance cause me to have physical problems?”

The C1 or Atlas is a donut-shaped bone that your skull rests on. Your spinal cord coming out of your brain and brain stem passes through the center of the donut shape. Your spinal cord at that point consists of trillions of nerve fibers (the nervous system) that “bottleneck” through the small opening in the atlas. These fillers eventually branch off carrying information to every part of your body. If the C1 is out of its proper position it can irritate, constrict or disrupt vital nerve signals to any portion of your body. This can cause muscle or joint pain, organ dysfunction, lowered immune system and countless other conditions that you would not ordinarily relate to a problem originating in your neck.

“Why do you call it Body Imbalance rather than a neck imbalance?”

Because it effects the entire spine and body. Wherever your atlas moves, your head moves with it. If this top bone in your neck has shifted out of position ever so slightly, no more than the thickness of a fingernail, it can move your head off center of your body. In an effort to keep the head over the center of the neck, the entire spine and pelvis will twist, pulling one hip up and one leg with it. You are now walking around on one leg that is shorter than the other. This places more weight on one side of your body than another. The wear and tear on your entire body is exactly like driving a car that is out of alignment. The result can be muscle and joint pain anywhere in the body. Without correcting the problem, which originated with a single bone (Atlas) at the top of your neck moving out of position, your entire body is now imbalanced. When this continues over time, something else starts to happen. Because nerve flow is disrupted or distorted, degeneration of cells in organs can occur; causing internal physical problems that may not show up for years.

“Is it painful to correct?”

Fortunately, no. The Upper Cervical Correction can be described as a slight predetermined direction of pressure applied to the first bone (Atlas) or second bone (Axis) in the neck. There is NO twisting of the neck. This correction is engineered to reposition the weight of the head (10 to 14 pounds) over the center of the body in order to restore body balance and restore brain to body communication. When the correction is made, muscles begin to relax, blood and oxygen circulation is increased, the brain is able to communicate with the affected area, and the body’s natural healing process begins. The healing process continues as long as body balance is maintained and the brain can communicate with all parts of the body.

“Does it have to be corrected often?”

That depends on your own body. Some people can hold their correction for several months, even a year at a time. Others have to be corrected once or twice a week in the beginning, then one or twice a month. Everyone is different. The Upper Cervical doctor’s objective is to make as precise an Upper Cervical correction as possible. Then he/she must help you maintain the correction with as few adjustments as possible so that you may live pain free and enjoy a better quality of life. Periodic Upper Cervical checkups, just like dental checkups and physicals, should be part of your personal preventive health care program. If you are maintaining your correction and body balance then your Upper Cervical chiropractor will not adjust you.

“How soon should I get my children under this care?”

As soon after birth as possible, and then have them checked periodically as they grow up. You could not possibly give your child a better gift than to make certain that the one organ of the body that controls all the other organs and body functions, the brainstem, is doing its job without interference from the tiny bone just below it.

“How much does it cost?”

A fraction of what you have probably already spent in your quest to get well. There will be some expense at the beginning because of the x-rays that are so necessary. Some insurance does cover chiropractic, but if not we do have a reasonable cash plan.

This procedure simply restores body balance and brain-to-body communication so that organs, muscles, and tissues can resume normal functioning.