Atlas Orthogonal Chiropractic: Does It Work?

Although I am a perpetual skeptic, and I openly admit that I don't entirely understand the science behind it, chiropractic adjustments have worked wonders for me. Particularly for my excruciatingly painful TMJ headaches. Following my car accident, I completed 4 long months of physical therapy and experienced little to no pain relief but a slightly improved range of motion. I also endured several massages, some of which offered temporary (lasting a few hours) relief and muscle relaxation, others which left me in worse pain than I had started with. I even completed a few months of bi-weekly acupuncture treatments which helped significantly, but the effects only lasted a day or two. About the only thing I didn't try during that period was chiropractic care, and I'm not really sure why. No one had suggested it yet. But I sure wish they would have.

About a year after my accident and I was still suffering from chronic, intense daily headaches (even after being fitted for and wearing my first custom mouthguard or 'therapeutic jaw splint' as they called it, on a daily basis). I simply couldn't stand the pain anymore. I had tried just about every over-the-counter pain relief method known to man, heat, ice, and even several prescription narcotic pain meds, and none of these offered even momentary relief. I was beginning to think that life was simply going to be filled with chronic and debilitating pain, which was a disturbing, discouraging, and painful realization for me. Everyone told me TMJ pain was among the hardest to extinguish in the human body, as the temporomandibular joint is constantly at work and never rests completely (it is at work when talking, eating, and even breathing). Basically, jaw joints never get a break. I consumed an exclusively liquid diet, wore my mouthguard day and night as instructed, and refrained from talking, chewing, singing--basically everything I previously enjoyed. At that point in time I would have been completely satisfied with even a slight improvement in the intensity of the pain.

One day a coworker recommended her chiropractor to me. She said he used a quick (2-3 seconds) and painless method called the atlas adjustment. I had never heard of the atlas before and wondered what it was and what adjusting it could do for my headaches. So I figured why not give it a try, it couldn't have made things any worse. At the same time, I was afraid that if this didn't work, I might be all out of options and therefore be sentenced to a miserable life of pain. Luckily, that was not the case. My car insurance agreed to cover my chiropractic care until my benefits ran out. I had a few x-rays taken of my head and neck and some manual measurements performed by the chiropractor. He then determined the appropriate settings on the machine to adjust my atlas to. The atlas is the uppermost vertebra of the spine, also known as C1. The heavy human head essentially rests upon that tiny vertebra and if you have have ever been in a car accident of any kind or sustained any kind of fall or physical injury, then chances are your atlas may be off kilter. If it is off by even the slightest bit, a number of serious health and pain conditions may result. My chiropractor seemed to think that if he could get my atlas securely back into place (turns out mine was quite far off) that it would alleviate some of the pressure and pain in my neck, and encourage my jaw to also fall back into proper alignment. I laid on my right side as a tiny needle-like instrument rested behind my left ear and vibrated gently for a few seconds, completely painlessly. For the first month or two, I had 2-3 of these adjustments a week. Then weened off to once a week, then once a month, which seems to keep my atlas in place. However, the past 6 months or so I had not been to the chiropractor at all due to a change in insurance, and once again the bad headaches began to recur.

Last week I suffered one that lasted 4 days before I finally decided that I had to go to the chiropractor whether I had to pay out of pocket or not. Thank goodness I did. This time, all it took was one adjustment, and about 20 minutes later my persistent headache pain started to ease off, and within an hour it was gone. I awoke the next morning with a completely pain-free neck and jaw for the first time in several months. And the relief lasted for 4 whole blissful days. Then I went to the grocery store. The checker bagged my groceries so heavy that I had a hard time just getting them from the cart into the car. My chiropractor does not advise any heavy lifting, especially in the first few days following an adjustment. Well, those heavy grocery bags did the trick and the next morning I woke up with my usual jaw headache. So although atlas orthogonal adjustments certainly do work, the effects don't always last, especially if you engage in any strenuous activity afterwards. So looks like I will be going back to my chiropractor as soon as the snow lifts. Even if I end up having to pay, it's well worth it to be pain-free.

Coconut Water Comparison and Review

For those of you who suffer from chronically low potassium like me and are sick and tired of synthetic sources like Gatorade, consider giving coconut water a try. It is nature's Gatorade, free of artificial colors, flavors, and excess sugar. My friend Nikki is into holistic nutrition and recommended it for me. She is one of those inherently smart individuals who is probably much smarter than my actual doctor and I hope to someday make her my nutritionist. So I trusted her opinion and gave it a try.

To my surprise, coconut water tastes good chilled and delivers an instant punch of potassium similar to the effects of V-8 juice. Although V-8 is still great, it is sometimes a bit too strong and tomato-ey for me to stomach when I am already feeling sick. So it is nice to have coconut water on hand as a back up. It agrees with me well and does not make me nauseous like Gatorade often does. It also contains A LOT more potassium, not to mention potassium from a natural source. It also contains other essential elements like phosphorus, magnesium and calcium, and of course, some sodium too which is great for most POTS patients.

There are currently two major brands of coconut water being sold and distributed in the U.S.: Zico and O.N.E. In terms of quality, price, nutrients, and even taste, they are both comparable and it is probably a matter of personal preference for most people. I picked up a few bottles of Zico first at my local Trader Joe's. My first sip was refreshingly reminiscent of a shot of Malibu Coconut Rum, which was nice considering drinking and dysautonomia don't exactly go hand in hand. So now I can drink coconut water to be reminded of a simpler time: that one blissful year between twenty-one and twenty-two before I got sick where I got to drink the occasional social Malibu and Coke without fear of health repercussions.

The one advantage O.N.E. has on Zico is better flavors. That's right: flavored coconut water. An instant trip to the tropics for your tastebuds available in three tantalizing flavors: pink guava, pineapple, and mango. These flavors also remind me of the tropical trio of Malibu Rums: Pineapple, Passion Fruit, and Mango. Of course, don't be confused, this is not a review of Malibu Rum, nor would I advocate drinking any kind of rum if you have dysautonomia. That would be very bad. Coconut water, however, is harmless and the health benefits are undeniable. The only downside I have discovered about coconut water is the price: 14 fluid ounces of Zico will run you about 2 bucks unless you are lucky enough to find it on sale somewhere and stock up.

Other Side Of The World

The last few weeks have been considerably tougher for me than usual. Not in a health sense but in an emotional one. My father, who lives on the other side of the world, contacted me recently. He has essentially been a stranger to me for the past twenty years. I finally decided to "do the right thing" and write him back even after a lifetime of no effort on his behalf. Although I felt and still feel that it is too late to salvage any sort of a real relationship, I wrote him the letter. And writing it proved to be somewhat therapeutic for me. I did not resort to using profanity or overt insults like I wanted to, but I did give him a piece of my mind in a very direct yet tactful way. I received his response via snail mail and it did not contain any shocking surprises, just tired excuses. It was clear by reading his letter that he is every bit as self-centered as I had imagined, inquiring very little about me or my situation in life. He is clearly very focused on himself and always has been. The one good thing that has come out of this whole communicating-with-the-estranged-father-thing is that I finally learned a little bit more about my health history on that side of the family. He does not know how sick I have been for the past three years and how hard his sudden decision to contact me out of the blue has been on me. When I was a child, he was always out of sight and out of my mind. He admits in his letter that I was probably better off without him growing up. And he is probably right. Throughout my childhood I kept hoping to witness the slightest ounce of effort on his part. No birthday cards, no Christmas cards, year after year. Absence.

So its no surprise that lately I have been questioning a lot of things in my life, including the impact that his absence has had on me as a person. He certainly made life more difficult for my mother and I both financially and emotionally, and when I really think about it, I realize how lucky I am to have turned out as normal and well-adjusted as I have (although I certainly still have my issues, who doesn't?) His leaving at such an early age left me with very limited faith in relationships and marriage, and makes me very skeptical of any guy who tries to enter my life.

Over the last few weeks I have decided that I need a change in my life. A big one. A change of scenery, a move. I want to move to the other side of the water (about an hour away) to be closer to my family I have here in the states, the only family I have ever known. I also need to be somewhere that is more centrally located, so living near a ferry is a prerequisite, as is being within walking distance to a business/retail district where I can take care of light shopping and errands without always having to drive for miles. Ideally I will find a place that is newer construction but still has character, and also a separate space I can designate for my home office. Although I love my new job working from home, there are many elements of working in a conventional office environment that I really miss--especially the social aspect of always having coworkers nearby. By the time I finish my full-time work for the week, I am usually exhausted, my eyes hurt from staring at the computer screen all day, and the last thing I feel like doing is going out. But yet I miss it so much. I think living in a new place would provide a nice change of pace, and being closer to things would enable me to at least leave the house on lunch breaks with more minimal effort. Where I currently live, I am too far away from most places, and the fact that I can't drive very far due to dysautonomia makes me feel trapped in a tiny bubble that I am ready to escape from. I am sure many of us have felt that way at times, but lately I just can't shake it. I haven't felt like myself. Sometimes I wonder if I may even be a little depressed. However, this time I don't think it's anything therapy sessions can cure. So it's time to take matters into my own hands and make a sensible change to snap myself out of this rut.