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Small Bones. Big Job!

headaches and neck pain image.

When you think about the atlas and the axis – do you think about world geography? A globe? Or a pair of very important bones?

The first seven vertebrae in the spine make up what is known as the cervical spine. It begins right below the neck and ends where the 12 vertebrae of your mid-back, or thoracic spine, begin.

The two uppermost vertebrae at the top of the cervical spine are different from the others in this grouping because they provide the neck with the ability to rotate. The atlas (C1) is the first cervical vertebra; it is located between the skull and the remaining vertebrae of the spine. Directly below the atlas is the axis (C2). Special ligaments link these two vertebrae, allowing a great deal of rotation between them.

When we talk about “head rotation,” we are really referring to the atlas rotating on the axis. These two bones, working in tandem, give your head its ability to turn from side to side.

Because the cervical spine is so flexible, it is quite susceptible to injury. When you hear about whiplash injuries sustained in a car crash, these two vertebrae are often involved. When you stop to consider that this relatively small area of the spine supports the head, it is easy to understand how abrupt head movement could cause damage, let alone a car crash with a violent head jerk!

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Dr. Richards Asks some important questions of interest to Huntsville residents - Chiropractor Huntsville Dr. Richards Asks...

What controls every cell, tissue and organ of your body?
DNA? Wrong. Immune system? Wrong? Hormones? Wrong. It's your nervous system, consisting of your brain, spinal cord and all the nerves of your body. When a chiropractor sees a Huntsville patient with say, stomach problems, we want to know why the brain is unable to properly control and regulate the stomach. Which prompts us to examine the nervous system—the focus of chiropractic care.
Is a muscle spasm a cause or an effect?
With the knee-jerk use of muscle relaxers, you'd think it was a cause. But it's an effect. Chiropractors know that bones don't move unless muscles move them. And muscles don't contract unless commanded by the nervous system. That's why your nervous system is the focus of our Huntsville chiropractic practice.