NUCCA upper cervical / Atlas bone adjustment/ any experiences? (edit: glad I did it) w/ updates

Update: I've now completed the busiest part of the NUCCA "program" and gradually tapered down visits to twice a month for a while since my head seems to be holding in position.

My "shorter leg" walking "gate" was the first thing to improve (longer now), but my "longer leg" foot would still get sore from bearing 70% of my body weight.

Its now easier to notice uneven back tension too, which seems to be improving slowly. I can finally manually loosen up a few upper right-side back muscles which, in turn, decreases bothersome tension on my left shoulder. Sometimes pain can originate from its opposite localization.

Wow Astroman !
That is a big change.

I have my maintenance appointment coming up soon.

That’s incredible!

Another update almost two months, still improving strength;

During freezing winter I hit the gym 2,3, sometimes 4 times a week depending on time and how my body feels. And I go late to avoid covid.

Gravity is not your spines friend. I avoid/limit putting downward weight on my spine. Squats are kind of stupid, I stopped doing those years ago. A leg press can do more with minimal injury.

Biceps curls- I use the cable machine, no weight in the down resting position, easier on the low spine. Same weight going up, no mechanical bars, its the freedom of cables.

I only "max out" certain weight maneuvers when I feel my body is ready, usually once every week or 1.5 weeks.

I DO NOT follow some stringent set in place calendar for working out, I go by feel. The older you get or the more injuries you've had the more this will make sense.

Low back- manual lumbar extension / 45 degree inclined bench. I have advanced from holding a 25# weight to my chest to a 45lb sometimes. Only a couple big "meatheads" ever do this, more people should. It feels great, not that difficult and is great for the low back. People don't seem to understand how important strong lower lumbar extensor muscles are, its just not popular but should be.

I also use the hip aductor/abductor machines which most men think are for women LOL. I only started two years ago at this. No replacement for these. They are for anyone who wants strong side to side leg, hip muscles and healthy IT bands. I can max 10 reps on one machine now, which is sort of hard to do. Since I have very developed quads and glutes; it makes sense to even things out, but they are great for anyone.

As my neck (Atlas) continues to now stay aligned, my skeletal structure continues to also improve Left vs Right side strength and alignment symmetry.

Improvement in 11 months:
-My left biceps tendon issues are almost gone.
-Left trap/shoulder issue is 75% better
-Legs are very close to same length, removed right heal lift in shoes
-Back(lower and upper) is way better, snow shovel aches are mostly gone my next morning vs 3-5 days before.
-Max weights on machines have vastly improved
-I now like conventional horizontal bar pull-ups

I dont do gym cardio other than a 5 min warm up in the winter. I leave cardio outside, and dont do that regularly if weather is not cooperating. Leg presses get my cardio going though for a short time.

Post Edited (astroman) : 12/30/2021 9:40:26 AM (GMT-7)

It's great that you are improving and that your max weights are increasing 😊

That’s great - Astro that your adjustments are holding that well!

I get an adjustment most appts - at two months apart.

WalkingbyFaith said...
That’s fantastic, astroman!!

Have you ever had thermal imaging done on the bottoms of your feet? The last chiropractor I saw did thermal scans on my vertebrae and feet. The scan showed I had 3 fallen arches. Both feet were affected pretty much the same. The treatment was custom orthotic inserts, which I didn’t get. Correcting the arches is supposed to help balance and support your spine and body.

Spine thermo imaging- yes, many chiros do this, however; they dont address the Atlas which can be the cause of spine issues below it. Thermo imaging will show left to right tension irregularities in the form of heat. Regular chiros are not trained to do Atlas adjustments. That is the top spine bone, right under the skull. So regular chiros (despite some here being afraid of them) can help, but not completely, which is why I saved NUUCA for last- Ive had everything else from regular chiros and PT's(conventional methods).

Ive had numerous foot imaging. The thermo one is just a pressure point image showing more detail. You can get you feet wet and stand on two clean sheets of computer paper to compare both feet too.

Corrective arches (orthodics) have their pluses and minuses just like a cast. They support, but also limit the exercise of the foot muscles, so your feet can get weaker sometimes. The ones with some flex are best and hard to find. Most are usually to stiff, or to non-supportive and floppy. This is the problem- they use the same material regardless of the persons weight. I have a box with about six pairs, I use two pair and switch them out depending on the shoes Im wearing.

Fallen archs can be from many causes, no one wants to find the cause. Its usually a tendon issue. The foot tendons attach to lower leg muscles. Sometimes this can be fixed. Its very difficult to do, so they dont bother and just go the arch support method. Sometimes its foot ligament issues which cant really be fixed though. I have both issues. So I improved my feet when the foot Dr failed me. It takes a long time to improve feet, another reason they dont bother trying.

I've had a few structural foot injuries in the past, so this complicates things.

Post Edited (astroman) : 1/10/2022 10:19:51 AM (GMT-7)

That’s great Astro!

My last appt - I didn’t need an adjustment

I have an upcoming appt - think it’s next week.
My back is bothering me - so I’m thinking I need an adjustment.

Another update:

Im starting to sound like a broken record.

I was always skeptical about any chiropractic extended “program”, but this was well worth the cost.

It was actually more affordable and with less visits than what I called standard “cracking” chiropractors tried to sell me in the past,..., which I declined.

Its been two years and a week since I started the NUCCA chiro program. I only go for maintenance checks every few months now.

———————

Had my atlas checked again;...my heads still on straight, no adjustment needed. Straight for a few months again.

I think it might have been crooked for a few days last month till it calmed down and I might have straightened it out myself (luck).

So he adjusted my left foot, and ankle (which was the longer leg for years due to a crooked head and twisted/raised off-set pelvis), thus it has taken a beating for years trying to flatten out to be shorter and equal with the right leg/foot.

Hip tension is still changing towards its new natural neutral position. Glute Muscle tension (left and right) is getting more equal as time goes by. Had a short Hike in snow last weekend and hips feel good.

My goofy left foot is the end of the line ..literally. If that keeps improving that would be awesome.

Post Edited (astroman) : 1/17/2023 6:30:15 PM (GMT-8)