The Vital Posture™ Clinic

At the Vital Posture™ Clinic, we welcome your referrals. We seek to work collaboratively and coordinate with existing practitioners in an interdisciplinary manner so that our mutual patients can obtain the best clinical outcomes. As a clinic that focuses exclusively on issues arising from injuries to the neck, we recognize our limitations and integrate with practitioners with expertise in the various fields required by our patients to support their recovery.

Due to the attention and expertise that is required for successful craniocervical junction (CCJ) care in complex circumstances, clinicians at the Vital Posture™ Clinic focus exclusively on this area. We only accept patients that appear to have sustained injuries to the CCJ.

The potential for high-grade ligamentous injury and joint integrity are not adequately evaluated with routine imaging. The CCJ is almost always ignored during both customary brain and C-spine MR. Our diagnostic methods and image-guided manual intervention is intended to understand and optimize the physiologic function of the CCJ from a neurovascular and musculoskeletal perspective.

As a ‘no-go’ zone for many practitioners, hallmark signs of unmanaged CCJ dysfunction are functional differences in blood flow and body posture. As mechanoreception at the CCJ is a primary neurological driver that relates the position of the body to the head, untreated injury to this area can result in significant, non-adaptive imbalances to postural balance. These postural imbalances can be observed as functional leg length discrepancies and consistent, non-adaptive twisting and/or tilting of the hips, shoulders and head due to tonicity changes in the paraspinal musculature.

Injury to the CCJ can result in a variety of complaints, the foremost of which is cervicogenic or migraine headaches. Issues with the CCJ are also characterized by neck pain and disability, loss of balance and difficulty walking, dizziness, hand weakness, hand or leg numbness/tingling, drop attacks, and post-exertional head pain. The degree and frequency of these symptoms are typically associated with the severity of the condition.

The sensitive nature of this region requires precise assessment and intervention. Without the use of manipulation or instruments, we rebalance the head and neck; rebalancing is done through light, precise, and customized contact applied to the top vertebrae allowing the body to rebalance itself. The average improvement to postural positioning is dramatic and substantial.

Our procedures are developed and advanced by the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association (NUCCA) and augmented by our post-graduate or diplomate training in both Pain Management and Diagnostic Imaging (special x-ray, CBCT and MR). In addition to our clinicians being active NUCCA members, we have diplomate and/or elective training in other less common but specific chiropractic neck procedures such as Advanced Orthogonal, Atlas Orthogonal, Blair Procedures, HIO, Knee Chest, & Orthospinology techniques. Our customized patient specific correction vectors have been demonstrated in the literature to result in safe, effective interventions requiring relatively fewer interventions to achieve notable results.

Due to varying regulations in different jurisdictions, Canada does not yet have a specialist designation for chiropractors focused exclusively on the head and neck (chiropractic neck specialist). The training that the clinicians at the Vital Posture™ Clinic have is the highest available for chiropractors in CCJ procedures; in certain jurisdictions this would allow for recognition as a specialist. We are involved in ongoing efforts to advance our skills, certifications, and designations relative to the CCJ to the highest level available.

Please contact us if you have any questions as to whether a referral is appropriate. We work in cooperation with a range of medical professionals such as dentists, optometrists, medical doctors, pedorthists, naturopaths, massage therapists, personal trainers, and other professionals who are aligned with the NUCCA philosophy and treatment options.

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