Low Back Pain and the Upper Cervical Spine

In the upper cervical spine, there are four main structures to focus on. They are:

1. The Foramen Magnum of the Occipital bone 

2. The Atlas vertebra (1st cervical bone)

3. The Axis vertebra (2nd cervical bone) 

4. 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. 

In Upper Cervical Chiropractic, the focus is on the neurophysiology and biomechanics of the Craniocervical Junction and how it effects all other areas of the body in some way, shape or form.

Regarding Low Back Pain, the secondary focus is on the vestibulospinal nerve tract.

The vestibulospinal tract is part of the vestibular system. The vestibular system helps maintain head and eye coordination, upright posture and balance. It controls postural muscles located in the lower back, pelvis and lower limb region. The vestibulospinal tract starts in the vestibular nucleus of the brainstem and travels throughout the spinal cord. 

The Nerve System in general does four main things: 

1. It controls all the movements we make

2. Senses everything we feel

3. Regulates all our body organs

4. Relates us to the outside world

When nerves get stressed, it effects their sensitivity, perception and behavior. There are three types of stress we deal with in life. The stresses are physical, chemical and emotional. These stresses create nerve tension and spine imbalance.

One specific job of the brainstem is to adapt these stresses and help bring the spine back into balance. If the stresses are too great for the brainstem to adapt, compensations arise. One particular compensation that occurs in the upper cervical spine is a vertebral subluxation.

A vertebral subluxation will cause the Atlas and Axis bones to get locked 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 surrounding nerves. Nerve System function is disrupted.

A subluxation negatively effects proprioception. Proprioception is how the body communicates with the brain its position in space. In general, when the upper cervical spine subluxates, it causes the head to tilt out of balance, making the eyes unlevel. This disrupts four primary structures of proprioception found in muscles, tendons, facet joints and intervertebral discs.

This message is sent up to the cerebellum. The cerebellum handles proprioception and motor control information. This information is then sent to the thalamus and sensory cortex so the brain can integrate it. In general, the cerebellum tells the brain what is occurring in the body.

At this point, the brain compares what should be happening in the body to what is actually happening in the body. The brain must send a compensatory response to “right the wrong.” The motor cortex sends a response through nerve tracts that travel through the brainstem. 

The tracts receive constant messages from the cerebellum and cortex to help control muscle tone regulation, movement smoothness, posture and balance. One tract in particular, the vestibulospinal tract, facilitates the contraction of postural muscles located in the low back, pelvis and lower limb region. 

When the brain interprets the upper cervical subluxation, it sends information through the vestibulospinal tract to activate and compensate muscles to help level the head and eyes. This causes an imbalance in low back postural muscles. Over time, imbalanced and compensating low back muscles can generate pain signals.  

The goal of Chiropractic is not to medically treat low back pain symptoms. Chiropractic aims to correct nerve tension and spine imbalance. Chiropractors correct this by adjusting the vertebral subluxation of the upper cervical spine.

When we correct an upper cervical subluxation through a specific chiropractic adjustment, postural muscles can better balance. This is because we are decreasing muscle tension. The Chiropractic adjustment helps turn compensations into proper neurophysiological and biomechanics adaptations. 

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

Related Blogs:

1. Muscle Control of the Upper Cervical Spine

Other Resources:

1. Upper Cervical Care: Low Back Pain

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.