NUCCA/Upper Cervical Chiropractry
 

I have been reading a lot about the above. I know this is more common in the States, there is only one practitioner in the UK, in London. From my research, this treatment has had good results for whiplash/brain injury symptoms. I of course know there is no miracle cure for this, but was interested to know if anyone has tried this?

I am not keen on the idea of 'crunch click' chiropactry but my understanding is that this involves taking x rays of the neck/head and very gentle manipulating the 'atlas' back into place.

I appreciate that people are likely to have personal views on this, but specifically wanted to know if anyone had tried this, and specifically been to Heidi Grant in Harley Street in London.

Thanks,

I have had about 10 NUCCA treatments. They definitely are not the neck crack and crunch variety. In fact, if the chiropractors wrist did not pop, I would have wondered if he did anything at all. He/she will likely give you 5 to 10 gentle pressure pushes against the proper spot for each treatment. The chiro stands up, takes a breath, then does the next gentle pressure.

In Atlas Orthagonal, they usually use a mechanical device to exert the gentle pressure.

The pressure is no more than it would take to squash a grape. If you can afford it, it is worth a try. I was correct in diagnosing my own out of position Atlas with the most misaligned area being the left side.

MediCare was supposed to pay 50% of the Chiropractic Manipulative Treatments but the Medicare Advantage company I have has refused. I now need to file an appeal to get them to pay up.

Definitely, do not be afraid of getting torqued and cracked. Not with NUCCA.

Thanks so much for your response Mark. It is expensive but as you say it's worth a try. I appear to have all the classic symptoms of atlas misalignment.......

Did you get some relief from your symptoms when you tried it?

Thanks

upper cervical chiro
 

Ukgirl... What are your symptoms.?? I'm thinking of giving it a try as well. I've tried prolotherapy 3x.. Neck feels better but I still have dizziness ringing ears and sound sensivitity and "overload". I can't have a long conversation without getting a headache..and pain.

My chiro does upper c adjusting, he doesn't use the ultra high tech equipment.
So you might be able to find some that have studied it ,but are not listed as a specialist or use the expensive equipment.
Checking for chiropractor websites and calling the offices and asking them questions about it is a good way to find others that do the treatment.

I just added some links & videos about upper cervical care in the PCS useful sticky thread ( above the main thread list) -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread19462.html

Jo*mar,

How does your chiro adjust your atlas? Does he just use his hands, or the Activator device, or some other method?

I understand that the chiro colleges now teach a little about Upper Cervical adjustments.

My chiro took three upper cervical x-rays, studied them, then the next day, took two more x-rays to determine how he wanted to adjust me.

He uses his hands, a little head drop device & the leg length check as a cue.

He does many leg length checks, not just a single one as shown on that one video, a single leg check can be off so easily.
If you happen to be laying a bit crooked on the table then the leg lengths will be incorrect.

He has me push my feet/ legs against his hand resistance in each direction to make sure all & hips are as centered as can be.

You lay on your side, he uses the little head drop device and places his hand in the area needing adjustment, and gives a super quick motion and you don't even feel anything other than the little drop table really.
The rechecks the leg length to see if any other correction is needed.

Upper Cervical Chiropractic
 

I UK Girl. I have tried some chiro/manipulative physiotherapy in the UK.

The chiro that I tried sounds similar to what Jo*mar tried with balancing the lengths of your legs. I do think that my pelvis was down on one side, due the rear-end shunt that I had, so I think that there was something in the treatment.

I was also referred to a "Manipulative Physiotherapy". That was with the NHS. I thought that she was really good. She worked exclusively with the upper cervical vertebrae, identifying problems of stiffness and lack of symmetry by touch ie she didn't use any equipment, scans or X-rays.

I think that both treatments were worth trying and perhaps did benefit me, especially the upper cervical treatment. However, neither was a "cure" for my main symptoms of headache.

However, I think that in a trauma it is likely that more than one thing is damaged and you could suffer damage to the spine as well as the brain. There is a tendency to just worry about the brain and overlook the spine, but I think: Why not treat whatever is damaged if possible? And perhaps any spinal problems will be easier to treat than brain damage, so I think that it is definitely worth trying.

CS

How much for upper cervical treatments?
 

This question is for anyone that has an answer. :) - I found a NUCCA that is only a little ways away from where I am, and I plan to see her because I have heard a lot of people talk about them. I contacted them on Friday and I was going to call them tomorrow, but I was wondering if anyone knew how much it costs for the treatments?

Most likely it is a regional/location thing that affects the costs, as well as if any expensive equipment is used and/or specific training for that equipment.

If the place has a website sometimes fees are listed , or call and ask for approximate costs of care.

Many will reduce fees if cash is paid at time of treatment, saves them having to deal with insurance and lag time for payments.
Doesn't hurt to ask about any discounts, esp if no ins coverage .