In the upper cervical spine, there are four main structures to focus on. They are:
The Foramen Magnum of the Occipital bone
The Atlas vertebra (1st cervical bone)
The Axis vertebra (2nd cervical bone)
The Brainstem of the Nerve System.
The Brainstem exits from the Foramen Magnum. The Atlas and Axis bones protect and surround the Brainstem. The brainstem connects all the nerves from the brain to the nerves of the body.
Regarding Asthma the secondary focus is on 2 nerves:
The Vagus Nerve. The Vagus nerve comes out of the skull next to the foramen magnum and passes in front of the Atlas bone. It supplies parasympathetic functions to the lungs. The parasympathetic function involves resting, digesting and healing. When you are relaxing reading a book, the Vagus nerve is more engaged in controlling your breathing. The Vagus nerve will keep the lung passageways relatively small in size and circumference. The vagus nerve helps establish the set point for the lungs.
The Superior Cervical Ganglion. The Superior Cervical Ganglion is located in close proximity to the Axis bone. Branches from the ganglion supply sympathetic function to the lungs. The sympathetic function is involved is more strenuous, acute situations. When engaged in physical activity such as exercise, the superior cervical ganglion is involved in controlling your breathing. Here, the lung passageways are opened more to allow more air in and a better exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
The Nerve System in general has four main functions:
It controls all the movements we make
Senses everything we feel
Regulates all our body organs
Relates us to the outside world
When nerves get stressed, it effects their sensitivity, perception and behavior to perform these functions. There are three types of stresses we deal with in life. The stresses are physical, chemical and emotional in nature. These stresses create nerve tension and spine imbalance.
One specific job of the brainstem is to adapt to these stresses and help bring the spine back into balance. If the stresses are too great for the brainstem to adapt, compensations arise. One compensation that occurs in the upper cervical spine is a vertebral subluxation.
A vertebral subluxation will cause the Atlas and Axis bones to lock in a misaligned position. This lock will perpetuate spine imbalance and Nerve System tension. This tension will lead to abnormal sensitivity, perception and behavior of the brainstem and connecting nerves. Nerve System function is disrupted.
Over time, this disruption can contribute to symptoms of the involved nerves. The usual symptoms of Asthma are:
Shortness of breath.
Chest tightness or pain.
Wheezing when exhaling.
Trouble sleeping caused by shortness of breath, coughing or wheezing.
Coughing or wheezing attacks that are worsened by a cold or the flu.
If we reference the 2 nerves from above (Vagus, and Superior Cervical Ganglion) we can see that they associate with asthma symptoms.
The goal of Chiropractic is not to medically treat the symptoms of Asthma. The aim of Chiropractic is to correct nerve tension and spine imbalance. Chiropractors correct this by adjusting the vertebral subluxation of the upper cervical spine.
Correcting the subluxation better optimizes the function of the brainstem and associated nerves. The Nerve System overall can sense, perceive and behave at a greater potential when a subluxation is corrected.
Jarek Esarco, DC, CACCP is a pediatric, family wellness and upper cervical specific Chiropractor. He is an active member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA). Dr. Jarek has postgraduate certification in Pediatric Chiropractic through the ICPA. Dr. Jarek also has postgraduate certification in the HIO Specific Brain Stem technique through The TIC Institute. Dr. Jarek is happily married to his wife Regina. They live in Youngstown, Ohio with their daughter Ruby.