I suspect that this was at least in part because of ligaments that were not functioning well.
Hi
@Jyoti -- I think the whole ligament thing is a big part of what separates NUCCA from AtlasPROfilax. My experience with Atlas Orthogonal (NUCCA) was very similar to your daughter's. I started out getting it done fairly often, then fell into a "maintenance" regimen, of perhaps once every 1-2 months. I finally stopped after I moved away from my regular practitioner, and was unable to find one that was as good as my original one.
So I went a few years with no NUCCA adjustments at all. And then I discovered AtlasPROfilax. As I explained in earlier post (snippet below), it held for 10 years until I had a severe reaction to an anti-nausea drug, after which my atlas would no longer hold. I had the AP redone, and felt enormous relief--for about two days--until it went out again. I then had it done again, again with the same results.
It was at that point where I decided to try to replicate what the AP practitioner did/does. I describe that in the quoted text below, and I'm now able to consistently keep my neck stabilized by doing just a couple minutes of focused massage on the areas where the AP practitioner works. I consider this to be an
extraordinary discovery, one that I feel virtually anybody should be able to replicate. All it takes is committing to doing it for a couple or so minutes a day (perhaps more in the beginning). --
Thanks for your post...
The AtlasPROfilax technique primarily involves doing some deep massage (with an electronic massager) behind the ears, especially the right ear. This methodical vibrating motion releases the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that hold the atlas out of place.
It's generally a one-time adjustment (costs $250), and mine held up well for about 10 years. After I had a severe reaction to an anti-nausea drug a year ago, my adjustment no longer held. When I had it redone, it only held for about 2 days.
Since then I've discovered I'm able to maintain my adjustment (repositioning) by regularly (1x-2x daily) deeply massaging along the boney ridge right behind my ears where the AP practitioner does most of his work--again, especially on the right side. If anybody tries this, they will likely find a lot of these areas quite tender. But if you work on it regularly, these tender areas can generally be worked out in a short while (couple weeks or so).
Once I started doing this regularly (about 2 months ago), the neck pain that often kept me from being able to walk very far subsided by 90%+. I also noticed an almost subliminal increase in the curvature of my neck. Much more noticeable was that my pectoral muscles on the front of my chest felt much more supportive, and I noticed I was walking more upright than I had previously.
@Wayne you did NUCCA for years?? what made you do that? CCI wasnt even in the media as a possible cause of this disease? impressive that you did it on your own. ...... Yes i do expect i will have to keep doing NUCCA and just deal with the partial improvements if I am lucky enough to get them. ..until /if some miracle happens and I can afford surgery. ...... would you say that the improvements you had doing NUCCA were comparable to the improvements you had with AP? ...... Some people think stem cells to ligaments make adjustments hold longer
@Daffodil -- My chronic neck problems began with a serious head injury/whiplash at age 15. I suffered from chronic headache and neck pain after that, and eventually got to the point where I couldn't do sports like basketball, or running, both of which I had engaged in for years. I went to various chiropractors for years, who used various different kinds of techniques, getting various degress of relief, but occasionally getting exacerbation of symptoms as well. I gradually began to distrust anything but gentle manipulative techniques.
I eventually found a practitioner who did the NUCCA, and based on the immediate results, knew this was a step above all the other Chiropractic techniques I had done because of how it began to significantly affect some of the major problems stemming from my neck area--including debilitating fatigue. I eventually discovered the AP technique, and now consider that a step above NUCCA, in that it generally only takes a single session to get the atlas to "lock" into place.
Though I can't explain the details of the differences, my thoughts are that the NUCCA and AP techniques are somehow different in their approach and goal(s), and thus have different results. AP practitioners like to say that what they do is "reposition" the atlas. And that it's somewhat like a boulder; not particularly easy to move into place (without a fair amount of the loosening of ligaments, tendons, etc.), but also not easy for it to move back out of place. I did read of one woman who had it come out place, but it was because she did a lot of horseback riding, and didn't want to give that up.
A suggestion/recommendation for anybody who has, or suspects they have CCI/AAI, or some other degree of cranial instability, and decides to look further into the AtlasPROfilax technique. There's only one practitioner I'm aware of in the U.S. that is both an AP practitioner and a licensed Chiropractor (and ND as well). His name is Brian Elijah, and he works out of Minneapolis. I've met with him on a couple of occasions, and would highly recommend him. Mnpls is centrally located, so would be relatively easy to fly into from just about anywhere in the U.S. or Canada.
I don't want to say anything controversial, but from my experience and understanding of what AP can do, I've come to believe most people who have CCI/AAI should carefully consider doing that before going through a major CCI surgery (not recommending it, just suggesting it). It may seem counterintuitive that a relatively low-cost, fairly obscure technique would be a better solution than an expensive, more widely known surgery, but I think it's worth a very close look. -- Regarding
@JES's concern that the AP may be too much for someone with CCI, I think this could be discussed with him, and somehow ascertain how much he's aware of these kinds of issues, and how he works with them.
