Did these medications help with the pain? No.

But they reduced his awareness enough to make him feel like he was on a separate planet from the pain. Of course, he also wound up relating to the rest of his family, friends, and community as though he was on a separate planet.

Was there hope?

That’s the question his wife posed to me one day. I told her I didn’t know, but that if I could examine Ed, I’d have a better idea. After worrying about it for a week, this very stressed couple came in to my office.

Have you ever looked at a big project and found your legs grow weak under you? Climbing a very large mountain, or paddling some very high water?

When Ed tottered in, I felt that way. All 400+ pounds of Ed leaned uncomfortably in my office chair, a grand flying buttress of a cane keeping him up. My job was to find the underlying problem, and if it was in my scope of practice, to correct it.

It was obvious through the exam that the broken fibula had been displaced laterally (I’ve never seen that before), and that the screaming, hypersensitive nerve endings in that leg were the main issue for Ed. A more detailed look showed a twisted pelvis, back muscles in spasm and nerve pressure where the head and neck meet.

What’s the key to all these apparently unrelated facts? Can I wave my hands and make the nerve pain go away, the pelvis un-twist, and the muscle spasms vanish? Is that going to be one incantation or three?

Mikki’s Headaches

Mikki had a nasty headache. It started right after the car accident. It would not go away. Even though the car accident had finished three months before, the headache stuck around. It was one of those headaches that made you sick to your stomach. It was one of those headaches that threaten your career. MRI studies showed nothing amiss.

Was there hope?

Rebecca’s Son
Rebecca loved her son deeply. She loved her son enough to ignore the doctor’s advice to abort the child due to genetic problems. She loved her son enough that when he was born with hemi-megaloencephaly, a cleft palate, blind in one eye, and was told he would never walk without the help of surgery, she cuddled and fed and played with him, expecting the best.

At two years of age, he had spent two weeks of every month sick in the hospital.

Was there hope?

What do they have in common?

As diverse as these cases are, the underlying problem was the same. The neurologic tests, orthopedic tests, and chiropractic tests showed different aspects of the underlying problem – loss of brain-to-body communication.

Within the chiropractic profession, specifically NUCCA, this problem is called the Atlas Subluxation Complex. The atlas (C1) is the first bone in the neck, a small, two-ounce ring of bone which supports the head.

When NUCCA chiropractors use the phrase, “Atlas Subluxation Complex,” it means more than just the atlas. It tells us that we have to look at the relationship between the head and the atlas, the atlas and C2 (the axis), and all of that in relation to the neck below. It is a “complex” of structures that enable the body to work right when they are right, and interfere with the body when they are wrong.

Did anyone else know about this before?

If you didn’t flunk out of high school biology, you may recall some lessons in the nerve system. That’s the system that runs everything in the body. It controls and coordinates the growth and development of all the other systems in the body. It began doing that in the third week of the developing embryo. It’s in our nature.

So if the nerve system controls everything, doesn’t it make sense to monitor it and make sure it’s running without interference?

NUCCA and the Atlas Subluxation Complex

The NUCCA procedure (National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association) was developed 60 years ago to accurately identify and correct the Atlas Subluxation Complex.

This light-handed procedure is responsible for hundreds of thousands of people regaining health. The goal in using the NUCCA procedure is to restore the body’s natural communication system which has broken down. When this broken link has been re-established, the body can begin healing itself.

Rebecca’s Son

Rebecca’s son stopped getting sick after his first, and only, head-neck correction. He also began walking shortly after that. Four years later, he is still holding his adjustment, his back is strong, his legs support him and he shows that he can see out of both eyes.

Mikki’s Headaches

Mikki’s headaches vanished within days of her first gentle head-neck correction. The only time they return is when she hurts herself and loses her adjustment.

Ed’s Leg Pain

Ed’s leg pain began diminishing within days. Interestingly enough, the lateral fibula went back in line immediately after the first head-neck correction and hasn’t slipped out since. Within four weeks he lost his dependence on his “flying buttress” cane and began sitting up straight, supporting his magnificent girth by his own strong back. At six weeks his dependence on drugs diminished to the point where he is feeling present again.

The importance of the nerve system

Does everyone who gets this type of correction get relief? In my opinion, yes, but results vary depending on many other factors in a person’s life and condition. Some people take longer to heal. Some people have deep chemical or emotional imbalances that require either more time or other types of concurrent care. Despite the variations in response times and variations in amounts of relief, one fact is clear from clinical experience; correction of the brain-to-body communication system is first in restoring natural healing processes.

When considering the question of hope, do you think that starting with the nerve system, where nature starts, is a good plan?

Provided by Dr. Philip Schalow in Rockford, Illinois.

The NUCCA organization is deeply committed to supporting you and your practice.  As part of this commitment, a number of years ago an introduction to NUCCA patient education video was produced in partnership with NUCCA and C-1 Film Productions Corporation.  The video is available through the NUCCA store on DVD for use in your practice. Today however, with the increased utilization of the Internet, it is now more common to have video available on websites.  The Introduction To NUCCA video is currently posted on the NUCCA, UCRF and Gregory Foundation websites.

Use of NUCCA video requires payment of licensing fee.

It has come to our attention that many practitioners have loaded part or all of this video on to their practice websites as an introduction to the NUCCA procedure.  As an organization, we agree it is important to show this information as the video offers a basic understanding and introduction to the NUCCA work.

As with all intellectual property, NUCCA is responsible for managing and licensing the use of this information. As a result, in order to develop further programs and offset the cost of our previous programs, a licensing fee has been introduced for doctors who wish to add the Introduction to NUCCA video to their website.  After consideration and

legal review, a $250.00 one time licensing fee will be charged for the use of this video on any website either in whole or in part.  To pay the licensing fee, a separate item is now available on the NUCCA store portion of the NUCCA website at www.nucca.org/store in the Multimedia section.  If you are using or intend to use the video, we ask that you pay the fee and a certificate will be issued to you authorizing use on your website.  This does not give ownership, but merely enables you to utilize the intellectual property created by the NUCCA organization. This offer is available to active NUCCA members only. All proceeds will be directed to NUCCA to support education and public awareness.

If you have questions regarding the licensing fee or the video please, contact  C-1 Film Productions Corporation at info@c-1.com

NUCCA is initiating another essay contest for students who can answer the question “What is the Future of NUCCA?” Multiple winners are possible.

Complimentary conference fees will be awarded to one student winner per chiropractic college. Entries can be mailed to:

Dr. Stan Dombroski
300 South State St., Ste. 4,
Zeeland, MI 49464

Entries should be received no later than September 24th, 2010. Contestants must be sure to include their name, address, school, anticipated graduation date and phone number.

 As a result of our successful fundraising efforts to meet the terms of the Tao Matching Funds pledge of $100,000, NUCCA/UCRF was awarded much more than expected with funding for half of the three previously mentioned studies. Also, specifically for the Phase Contrast study, we received an additional $40,000 gift from Canada’s Hecht Foundation, $25,000 from Trans Canada Pipeline, and another $15,000 from Mr. Hal Kvisle, a Canadian NUCCA patient. This means that the Phase Contrast study is now fully funded! 

The Leg Check pilot study is fully funded as well with the gift from the Tao Foundation and money raised from our Small Steps and Practice Innovation campaigns.  We still need to raise funds to support the remaining portion of the two-part X-ray Reliability study and Practice Based Research project, but we now have enough to begin our work in accomplishing a major portion of our research goals for 2010.

We extend a heartfelt thanks to all of you for participating in our fundraising efforts.  A special thanks to Dr. Scholten for his work and profound success with the Tao Foundation, and to Dr. Hasick, who has gone beyond the call and raised more in Small Steps funds than any of our clinics, and also approached the new Canadian foundation donors. We are very appreciative of these commitments, and to those who joined or renewed memberships to the Gregory Circle to help cover the administrative fees of research. This has been truly a year of hard work and triumph.

 The merging of NUCCA and the Educational Fund will benefit our organization in many ways, including:  giving NUCCA a not for profit status for the ability to raise funds as tax deductible contributions, better rates at hotels and venues for our conferences and educational programs, discounts on equipment and supplies, and enhanced alignment with individuals and organizations striving toward the positive evolution of healthcare. (NUCCRA / UCRF has been a not for profit association, but has been strictly for research.) 

 During a planning session in 2008, the Boards of NUCCA, NUCCRA/UCRF, and the NUCCA Educational Fund unanimously agreed (with advice of a professional facilitator, and later the advice and approval of the attorney for our organizations) to repeal our current Bylaws and to adopt new Bylaws for NUCCA for 2010.

 An associated revision to be noted is the selection of the Board of Directors.  Five directors will be elected from the membership and two directors each will be appointed by the Education, Certification, and Research Committees respectively.  This will change the number of Board of Directors for the new NUCCA to eleven from the current nine. The organizational structure will remain essentially the same with the officers being elected each year by the members of the Board of Directors.

 To review the existing and proposed Bylaws, visit the NUCCA website page: www.nucca.org/downloads.php 

 In order to cast your vote, your presence at the conference business meeting at 3pm April 21^st is mandatory.  Please contact Dr. Robert Brooks with questions or concerns at drbrooks@brooksspinalcare.com

 This is your organization! We value your participation!

www.nucca.org/practice-innovation.php

See you in Vegas!

This is event, Friday evening February 26th and all day Saturday February 27th, is not to be missed! The most successful names in upper cervical care including Dr.s Steve Hoffman,  Russell Friedman, Jeffrey Scholten, Robert Brooks, Jack Stockwell, J. Barone and others share their personal secrets to practice success from team building to amping the bottom line.  Register now and save!