Atlas: Carrying the Weight of the World

Atlas is a character from Greek mythology who supported the world on his shoulders.

In anatomy, the name “atlas” is given to the first bone in the spinal column because it supports the skull, your personal world, on its shoulders.

The atlas is shaped like no other bone in the spinal column.  Looking from above it appears as a giant ring, through which the bottom part of the brain stem runs as it morphs into the spinal cord.  Over ten billion nerve tracks pass through the brainstem at this level on their way to or from the brain to the rest of the body.

The head, normally weighing between eight and ten pounds, must have a strong base as it balances on the slender cervical (neck) portion of the spinal column.  The atlas has broad, cup shaped pads (superior facets) in which the skull rests via short protrusions (occipital condyles).  On these joints the skull can only rock back and forth very slightly in the “yes” motion.  The skull and atlas rotate as a unit around an axle (dens) which protrudes upwards from the neck bone immediately below (the “no” motion).  This bone is aptly named the axis.  By nature the superior facets of the atlas and the occipital condyles of the skull fit together like mirror images.  It is when these mirror images are no longer aligned exactly that the nervous system is affected.  This interference can affect any tissue that receives input from the nervous system causing it to malfunction and be prone to disease.

Because of its position under the skull and on top of a slender column of bone and muscle, the atlas is extremely vulnerable to trauma.

A difficult delivery, a fall on the playground, an auto accident, even a bump on the head at the right time in the right (wrong?) direction can disturb its position.

Many diseases and disorders are related to a misalignment of the atlas, either primarily or secondarily.  Without proper innervation a tissue is less capable of carrying out its tasks, predisposing it to injury and less capable of protecting itself from germs and toxins.

The chiropractic adjustment starts the atlas moving back into its proper position, relieving nerve interference and allowing the body to heal itself.  The atlas connects your brain to your body and your body to health.

Posted in Chiropractic Clinic and tagged atlas, brain stem, chiropractic adjustment, spinal column

How Many Appointments Does Upper Cervical Chiropractic Require [Video]

Dr Gordon D. Elder of The Blair Chiropractic Clinic, Lubbock Texas explains how many sessions people require for Upper Cervical Chiropractic.

One of the biggest objections I’ve heard to chiropractic is once you start going you have to keep on going and in one sense that’s true.

In one sense it’s not or shouldn’t be true. I suppose in really severe occasional cases that that may be the case but if you’re fixing a problem and the body is repairing itself then you should be seeing the chiropractor less and less and less. Most of my patients in the first 90 days I might check them about 12 times. Now that doesn’t mean I’m having to readjust. This isn’t therapy, what I want to do is fix it once and I want it to stay in alignment for the first 90 days. I might have to adjust them a few more times but 50% of my patients I adjust once they hold their alignment let me keep checking. We’re making sure that they’re getting well that they’re staying in alignment for the first 90 days and then I might check them once a month for a little while and then once every two months. We just keep pushing it out. There’s always going to be a little bit of a scar tissue where the damage was, where the soft tissue was torn, where the joint misaligned and got stuck so it’s never gonna be as strong as the natural tissue was before the injury.  So there’s always a little bit of weakness. That doesn’t mean you have symptoms. That doesn’t mean you have to be adjusted all the time. It just means that you need an occasional checkup to make sure that you’re still in alignment. Even if you’re feeling okay because it may take a while before the symptoms to return.

Visit us at

Blair Chiropractic Clinic

1802 E. 50th Street

Lubbock, Texas 79404

Phone: (806) 747-2735

Posted in Chiropractic Clinic and tagged Blair Chiropractic Clinic, chiropractic adjustment, Lubbock appointment, Lubbock Clinic, Lubbock Texas, Upper Cervical Chiropractic

Multiple Sclerosis and Upper Cervical Chiropractic [Video]

In this video Dr Gordon D. Elder of The Blair Chiropractic Clinic, Lubbock Texas explains how Upper Cervical Chiropractic can be used to help those with Multiple Sclerosis.

Let’s look at Multiple Sclerosis

When I was at school I did a research paper on Multiple Sclerosis. A lot of research in the medical literature and in Chiropractic literature realize that part of the problem in Multiple Sclerosis is related to a neck injury. Almost in all cases. So the few I’ve seen in my office have recovered to a certain degree, it helps them function better. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone improve 100%. There are a couple of different kinds of Multiple Sclerosis and for some people it comes and goes and maybe it just goes for longer periods of time and when it comes it’s not as not as bad or did they need an adjustment and they pull out of it quicker. It’s an interesting disease that we don’t have all the answers to but I know that an upper cervical injury and the neck is part of the key.

Posted in Conditions and tagged chiropractic adjustment, Chiropractor, Lubbock Chiropractor, Lubbock Texas, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Upper Cervical Chiropractic

Meet Dr. Elder

Dr. Gordon Elder has been in practice as a Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractor since 2000.

"Dr. Elder has been my chiropractor for 5 years now. I can't imagine what I would be like without upper cervical chiropractics. I've had a lot of back issues throughout my adult life. This type of chiropractics has healed all of them from herniated discs to a weird rash, even my son's scoliosis. Thank you Dr. Elder for all you've done for me and my family!!! You keep us "balanced"

EDUCATION

Dr. Elder graduated Magna Cum Laude from Cleveland Chiropractic College's Los Angeles Campus in December of 1999.  In addition to his Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) degree, he holds a Bachelor's degree in Human Biology, is a Fellow of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, and is an Advanced Instructor for the Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic Society.

EXPERIENCE

Dr. Elder was trained by R. Weldon Muncy, D.C., Dr. Blair's designated teaching successor and spent his first year of practice in Dr. Muncy's clinic in Lancaster, California. After over 17 years of practice in Lancaster, Dr. Elder was tapped by E.A. Addington, D.C., Dr. Blair's designated clinical successor to take over the directorship of the original Blair Chiropractic Clinic in Lubbock, Texas.

Dr. Elder has also served in various ways in the Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic Society, most notably in the design and organization of the testing system used to certify proficiency and instructors in the Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic Technique.

Head Carriage

n my office I have a 12 pound shot put. It fits in my hand nicely but it is heavy!  In fact, I think the shipping cost was as much as the original price! It is a bright, shining brass color, but as I didn’t buy it to throw, I’m not worried about marring the finish! I keep it near my feet by my standing desk and I occasionally rest my foot on top of it and roll it around. But I didn’t buy it for that either. I bought it to replace three bowling balls (10, 13 and 14 pounds). As if that explains anything!

Did you know your head is roughly the size and shape of a bowling ball?

Imagine holding up a bowling ball and almost, but not quite, resting it on your shoulder. You could probably hold it there comfortably for quite a while. However, if you were to straighten your elbow a little so that the bowling ball was in front of your shoulder by about 12 inches – how long could you hold that position? After a few moments your forearm and shoulder would start to ache and you’d feel pressure pulling that ball down.

Looking at you from the side, your head is designed to be centered directly above the main part of your body. If it is as much as one inch forward it roughly doubles in weight! Or at least that’s how it feels to your neck.Imagine carrying that around all day! Enough to cover all sorts of aches and pains throughout the body if done day after day, month after month, year after year!

Posted in Chiropractic Clinic and tagged neck, pressure, strain

Common Posture Problems and Upper Cervical Chiropractic [Video]

In this video, Dr Gordon D. Elder of The Blair Chiropractic Clinic in Lubbock Texas explains how Upper Cervical Chiropractic can help common posture problems.

Common postural problems of people who have neck problems will have can be many and varied. This is because when your body is trying to protect the nerves that are going through your neck and it changes your posture there’s going to be different stress points so the most common ones are neck pain, causing headaches. The middle of the back between the shoulder blades can have issues because that curve in your back can sometimes increase or decrease and put extra stress in there. It can curve from left or right which is what we call a scoliosis.

One of the biggest ones is the low back because you’re standing on level ground and gravity is pulling you down and you’ve got this foundation that’s your pelvis. Then if your body is twisted on top of your pelvis that’s going to be a really big stress point right in the low back. For most people who have low back pain, the problem starts in the neck. If you treat the low back that can help and sometimes is necessary but if you don’t treat the neck, often you have to keep treating the low back over and over and over again just to feel good unless you can get that neck corrected too.

Posted in Chiropractic and tagged back, Blair Chiropractic Clinic, chiropractic adjustment, Chiropractor, Lubbock Chiropractor, neck, Upper Cervical Chiropractic