Misaligned Atlas as a cause for ongoing whiplash-associated disorders (WAD)
Whiplash trauma may provoke a misalignment of the Atlas or worsen an existing misalignment.
The term "whiplash" is used to describe all traumas that involve a violent forward/backward movement of the cervical spine. Whiplash can be caused by car accidents, violent blows received while playing sports, or falls, sometimes of a trivial nature.
Very often after a whiplash injury people are no longer the same: ordinary daily activities may become a burden. In extreme cases they can no longer carry out their work adequately; they shut themselves away at home and their social life ends up being severely affected.
Until now it was known that whiplash trauma could cause hyperextension of the ligaments and muscles of the cervical spine. In severe cases whiplash trauma may even cause ruptures of vertebrae or ligaments.
What was completely unknown was why chronic pain can develop as a result of whiplash trauma.
Have you suffered a whiplash injury and yet no doctor has been able to tell you what is causing your recurring, persistent symptoms?
Have you tried all available treatments with no success?
Did your doctor have you undergo X-rays and/or MRI scans as well as all the necessary examinations only to reassure you that structurally everything is in order?
Despite your doctor's reassurances, are your symptoms getting worse rather than better, so you find yourself drugged to the eyeballs with painkillers or even psychotropic drugs (anti-depressants)?
Your doctor probably seeks to persuade you that your symptoms are psychological of psychosomatic in origin or even treats you as a malingerer. But you know well that this is not the case and that your pain is real, because you certainly had no such problems before the whiplash injury.
The problem lies in the fact that the doctor is trained to search for larger-scale structural damage, such as bone fractures or damaged ligaments. When no injuries of this nature are found, to his eyes everything appears to be in order and all you need to do is "look after yourself and rest for a while," perhaps with the aid of a head/neck restraining device.
A whiplash injury may not necessarily lead to such extreme injuries that can be diagnosed by a doctor. However, even small imbalances and misalignments in the spine can cause chronic symptoms.
The cervical spine as a precision mechanism
The cervical spine can be compared to precision engineering in terms of its complexity.
This can be illustrated as follows: if you drop a mechanical watch on the floor, when you pick it up, the watch appears to be intact, but unfortunately you soon notice that it is no longer working correctly and that it always runs 5 minutes late. Why? One of the rockers on which the gears rotate probably got bent in the impact, becoming eccentric in the process, and now some gears are subject to more friction than they should be.
This can happen with the spinal column too – not because whiplash bends the vertebrae, but even in the absence of obvious structural damage, the vertebrae can still assume an incorrect alignment in relation to the others or in relation to the skull, so as to disturb the equilibrium of the whole spine.
Vertebrae misalignments are not considered by conventional medicine because they cannot be seen by X-rays or MRI scans; the doctor is looking for structural damage and not for misalignments, unless they are really macroscopic.
So the doctor comes to the conclusion that "the reason for the complaints persisting after a whiplash injury is unknown" and, worse still, "it isn't possible to heal the patient."
To return to the example above, what would you think of a clockmaker if he told you that your watch was working just fine and that you were the one reading your watch incorrectly? This is more or less the same as telling you that "your complaints are psychosomatic in origin."
With ATLANTOtec® we finally have a method for restoring the balance of the precision mechanism of the spinal column after a whiplash injury.
ATLANTOtec® does NOT deal with large-scale structural injuries (bone fractures or damaged ligaments), which must in any case be diagnosed and treated by a spine doctor, nor is it applied using manipulation. We do NOT perform manipulations and we do NOT limit ourselves to a mere massage either.
The cranium viewed from below: the model shows an Atlas before (green or yellow) and after (red) whiplash trauma.
What exactly happens during a whiplash injury?
Many people who have suffered a whiplash injury and who, despite resorting to conventional treatments, are still not completely healed often have the feeling that, despite all the medical examinations there is something wrong with their neck, that their neck is simply not the same as before!
In most cases this is true. The misalignment of the Atlas which has existed since birth may be even more rotated or shifted sideways by whiplash trauma.
In this position the Atlas compresses the spinal cord, vertebral arteries, carotid artery, various vessels and lymphatic channels. These consequences are all virtually impossible to diagnose through routine examination techniques.
Misalignment of the Atlas does not correct itself, but requires an external intervention. Without these correcting measures the typical chronic complaints caused by whiplash trauma emerge.
Whiplash-associated disorders
Some of the possible symptoms or complaints after a whiplash injury are:
Many whiplash patients have had the unfortunate experience that the pain caused by the injuries arising from the sharp forward and backward movement of the head does not diminish with the passing of time, but on the contrary, gets worse, developing like a nightmare into chronic symptoms. The reason for this – irrespective of the incorrect alignment of the cervical vertebrae – is to be found in the muscle cramps in the deep neck musculature triggered by the whiplash injury.
The cervical and paravertebral muscles, after being hyper-stretched, remain permanently contracted and will not release even with the help of endless massages or physiotherapy sessions. Head movements are often limited and painful.
What can be done in such a case? Help is available from the AtlantoVib2010 device, which is intended specifically for Atlas-realignment, and which also enables the deep musculature to be reached with an intense, effective massage.
With one or two sessions focused mainly on the neck muscles, they can relax again, the spasm disappears, and the head is able to move freely again, bringing major relief. This type of massage, combined with the correction of Atlas misalignment, often completely clears up the disorder resulting from a whiplash injury.
Precautions enabling Atlas adjustment after whiplash trauma
The ATLANTOtec®-method places the ligaments of the Atlas-cranium joint and the connected structures under stress. After a whiplash some precautions need to be followed.
To prevent complications of any kind, before treatment it is important to exclude structural damage caused by trauma to the cervical area, through appropriate medical examinations, then as a precautionary measure wait at least two months before receiving the ATLANTOtec® treatment so that undiagnosed or non-diagnosable damage to joint capsules, ligaments, etc., can heal.
After correcting the position of the Atlas following a whiplash injury, it is advisable to continue with other treatments performed by an osteopath in order to assess the condition of, and if necessary treat, the other vertebrae of the spinal column.
Disorders 
severe muscular pain in the neck and shoulders
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