How's your atlas? I didn't even know I had one!

"Your atlas is the top bone in your neck, located here," Dr. Joe said as he pointed it out on my x-ray. "It's at the base of your skull. It's supposed to be perpendicular to the center of the skull and cervical spine, in a 90-degree angle, for proper balance and body function."
Dr. Joe, a chiropractor in Turner, Maine, came highly recommended by my dear friend Sandy, who'd been going to him and sending friends to him ever since he had taken care of her during a crippling ailment she had endured for a long time. She said, "And he doesn't crack, pop or twist."
"If your atlas is off even 3 degrees, you're out of balance. Yours is off 8 degrees," Dr. Joe continued.
"I guess that means my family's right. They're always telling me I'm a little off," I said laughing.
"It's more than just a little. If the atlas is off balance, the center of gravity of the body is distorted. This causes the spine to shift to compensate, putting the body out of balance, causing pain and ill health."
As he was telling me this, he proceeded to show me with his body, what each thing is contorting my body to do. It was hysterical … in a sad way.
He gave me this picture. It is worth a thousand words.
"There are many things that atlas subluxation (spinal misalignment), can cause in adults and children. ADD/ADHD, carpal tunnel, allergies, back pain, headaches, fibromyalgia, disc herniation and organ dysfunction are a few of them."
"How would someone know if their atlas is out of balance?"
"Symptoms of atlas subluxation are, one leg appears to be shorter than the other when lying on your back, the heels of your shoes wear out unevenly, stress or tension that won't go away, muscle or joint tenderness or stiffness, having to pop or crack your neck or back, never quite the same after an accident, difficulty turning your neck from side to side, poor posture, jaw pain or clicking."
The next day, I was introduced to the atlas orthogonal percussion instrument, designed by Dr. Sweat of Atlanta, to correct atlas subluxation.
"The correction restores body balance and relieves pain while enhancing health and vitality," says their brochure.
As I lay face down on the table, Dr. Joe explained that my right leg was 2 inches shorter than my left leg. He then had me lie on my side as he positioned the instrument behind my ear and pressed a pedal on the floor that made a click sound, but I felt nothing. There was no pain. As a matter of fact, I couldn't see how it did anything.
"Just lie there for a few minutes and I'll be right back."
I lay there trying to see if I felt any different, as I couldn't understand how that simple procedure could do much.
When Dr. Joe came back in, he checked and found that my legs were now the same length. Two minutes.
I said, "How is that possible?"
"When the atlas is in place, the spine falls back into place. God made the body to heal itself when everything is where it's supposed to be. You'll notice various differences in the functioning of your body."
I had a visual in my mind, of dominos falling over systematically.
One thing I noticed was that I was able to get out of a chair without assistance, which is what brought me to Dr. Joe in the first place.
I had been having a lot of trouble climbing stairs also. Even five steps left me exhausted and falling into a chair to recuperate. After my treatment, I climbed three flights of stairs, and I was barely winded.
I also noticed that I had a little bit of feeling in my left foot. Now I haven't had feeling in most of my body since April of 1998 when I was diagnosed with Guillian-Barre' syndrome. I'm pretty much numb from head to toe, with the most severe numbness in my hands and feet, which is where the numbness started.
I noticed an amazing burst of energy, which was comparable to the burst I felt after I had been put on steroids for a week for the beginning of my pulmonary fibrosis treatment.
We were heading back to North Carolina in two days so Dr. Joe's secretary gave me the name of a doctor in Asheville.
I'm looking forward to my treatment to help me toward better health. It will be interesting to see what it will do to deal with my Graves disease, Guillian-Barre' syndrome and my newly diagnosed pulmonary fibrosis.
Oh, and this morning I noticed that the shoes I usually wear, make me feel like I'm going down hill. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go shoe shopping.
I think I need to start a journal.

Carol Jolly is a member of The Morganton Writers Group, The North Carolina Storytellers Guild, and Triple — J — Tellers with Jeannie McPhail of The Macs Gospel Group, www.themacsmusic.com. And author of The Home In My Heart, Squabble Hollow and That's What They Said.