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

This question if for any that have had this SPECIFIC type chiropractic work. This is not regular chiropractic, which Ive had plenty of in the past.

Any experiences?

Im not sure if Upper Cervical is the same as the Atlas, but I dont think it is. One of our mods had the Atlas adjustment (you just mentioned that recently). Sometimes treatments are the same but some specific names are trademarked and can help with advertising, so they go that route with its fees.

The initial cost (forst couple of visits) is a little spendy, $200 - $500 around here, and of course it pays to shop around.

Us Americans have "covid stimulus $", so I might distribute some of mine (no you cant have it lol).

My neck it 90% better from other trials/methods, but that last 10% of everything is hard to fix.

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NUCCA Stands for : National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association Chiropractic Association

What it is: a non-cracking Upper Cervical adjustment. Its really adjusting the "master" upper joint, which in many people is off. Your body can adapt to it being off (which makes sense) but adapting and aligned are not the same.

Post Edited (astroman) : 10/6/2021 11:56:32 AM (GMT-6)

Girlie- did you feel improvement after the first adjustment?

How long since the first visit since you go every two months now?

thanks

astroman said...
Girlie- did you feel improvement after the first adjustment?

How long since the first visit since you go every two months now?

thanks

Well.... I initially went in the late 80’s and after a few years - I stopped - was feeling good - life got busy... got married, had a baby... etc.

Then the “incident” happened - (2013) - woke up after falling asleep on the couch following a very busy work week - with sharp pain shooting down my neck , across my left shoulder blade and down my left arm. My left arm was lifeless and numb. Turned out to be the start of my many many symptoms of Lyme.

I ended up at the chiro and started treatments again. Since it had been so long I had X-rays done again.
I’m on 2 month intervals (at first it was weekly for a few weeks, then monthly and now two months) and sometimes I can “feel” I’m “out” as I get close to appt time.

I don’t mind the appts -as they don’t hurt, it’s just pressure behind my right ear.

I will never go to the ones that crank on the neck again...

The Cracking ha ha!!!

Sounds like a horror movie.

Ive had that many times in the past, and yes it certainly helped. Sometimes were better than others though, it can be a little freaky if they need to try more than once per side. That doesn't specifically adjust the Atlas which is the "king" of all your joints and the nerves exiting your skull.

Had a Nucca consultation with 3D x-rays.

They also weigh you on a double scale for each foot, standing In a position that is the most comfortable one for you automatically , not when you’re thinking about it and try to self correct. I certainly have more weight on my left foot which is my longer leg and that’s the foot that bothers me. I knew this since I can feel it but it’s interesting to see the numbers.

Nucca atlas/C 1 adjustment is my last attempt to see how much of my shorter right leg is anatomically vs how much is functional . It’s certain little a little of both but I’ll see if this helps the functionality part of it.

Since I’m mostly pain-free and only have tension aches this is the perfect time for me to try this, as it should now be easier to sense any changes this type of adjustment might do. I don’t get my first adjustment till the next appointment which is a couple weeks.

All chiros seem to make their best guess at leg length with patient laying down, like this one did, but the only accurate way is comparing with two leg x-rays and measuring the image - which Ive never had done.

Its obvious my right tibia (calf bone) and foot combined are sorter than the left though- born that way. Upper body twist can add to the grand total length in the hip area- which is what I want to find out.

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1) My anatomical leg shortness: My test lower leg length test including foot height and ankle: If im seated at a height where my thighs are horizontal (90 deg), my right knee is lower vs left when I put a level rule across both knees about 10mm.

Nothing can change that ever.

2) My additional functional leg shortness: When laying flat and chiros compare both legs, the right total at my foot is roughly 15-20mm shorter than left.

The total difference of functional minus anatomic is 5-10mm which can possibly be corrected with NUCCA. Over a life span of walking that is a big deal.

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So if NUCCA does not hold for me, its because of my anatomical leg length difference that my body is constantly trying to accommodate for. Never know till I try.

If I walk on the edge of a typical slanted road, its more comfortable leg-wise to walk opposite direction of traffic (right side US roads). My short right leg is on the uphill side then, thus im straighter. Visually more safer too so win-win. Sidewalks are usually flat though.

And walking with one shoe wedge / heal lift insert in right shoe feels kind of weird. If pedaling a bike - my brain just bends the right ankle more than the left.
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For others reading who are not familiar with my story and don’t understand why this is on a lyme forum- Well all my years with lyme, decades worth - made sports injuries linger on forever as they would not heal correctly. this just added to my screwed up twisted body.

Post Edited (astroman) : 2/7/2021 1:53:32 PM (GMT-7)

“ So if NUCCA does not hold for me, its because of my anatomical leg length difference that my body is constantly trying to accommodate for. Never know till I try.“

I have to keep going in for “tuneups”
The adjustment only lasts for so long.

Yes, second appt is in a few days to check if still in alignment. If its out, then they do it again.

The usual plan is still shorter than regular chiros but costs 1/3 more.

If it never holds, that is because of my anatomical leg or :strength differentials. And ARPWave device can usually correct muscle imbalance (I will do this thing regardless though, did it once so far as well. .

Problem with all these specialty body clinics is no place has it all- if there were a place, they could "fix" a lot more people.

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Not much different than taking a car to a different specialty shop for every little problem. Example- a tire shop with no alignment racks and an alignment place that doesn't sell tires- both create problems for the other unless both fixed at the same time. Both cars and people have overlapping areas. One place that can do it all solves the problems under one roof.

Post Edited (astroman) : 2/23/2021 10:54:46 AM (GMT-7)

“ The usual plan is still shorter than regular chiros but costs 1/3 more.“

Mine are $50 per adjustment.
I submit to blue cross and get 80% back.

I don’t know how much reg chiros cost here to compare.

That's great Astroman. I am still on the two month schedule...I doubt if that will change.

dcd- sounds like an awesome clinic. They need more with all those options, as they learn what works and in what order, then "we" dont waste $.

I said good things about ARP Wave, and I tried it on a demo basis , mentioned more details on a post. Was going to commit to it, but then thought id try the atlas NUCCA thing first since that is the "master" alignment and balance point of our whole body.

My short leg difference was about 2/3 functionally short, 1/3 "bone" short. This NUCCA so far is correcting the 2/3rds functional issue.

Once my Atlas stays aligned more permanently, I prob will go back to ARP Wave for individual muscle issues that developed a "stuck" nerve signal pattern.

Astroman,

How did you go about finding an NUCCA Atlas chiropractor? Does insurance cover these just like any other chiropractor?

There are not many around me, I had two choices that were reasonable distance (within one hour). These two practices flat out did not take ins, so I bit the bullet. They did have a "program" plan that was cheaper than their usual $60-70 a visit. With todays gas cost and myself working full time, I was not going to drive further every week for months.

I'd say only about 75% of chiro practices in my region take any ins at all. The 25% that dont take any ins, generally have an upper income clientele base in "richer" areas.

From what I researched NUCCA is all around a little more costly than Regular chiropractic. "Regular", if not in a fancy location is $40-50 a visit cash, but is usually ins covered anyway with limited amount of visits (co-pay applies).

Post Edited (astroman) : 5/5/2021 11:10:20 AM (GMT-6)