NUCCA: Best Chiropractic Care

When I was younger I had been to 7 different chiropractors or chiropractic doctors. I had a serious back and neck problem due to an accident that broke one of my vertebrae into 2 pieces (my spinal cord was not broken). These doctors only helped it a little. They all did the same thing. They would twist my neck one way, cracking it, Then they would twist it the other way cracking it. They would twist my hips both ways cracking them. They would have me lie down and press on my back in certain spots cracking them.

I got married and moved right outside of Philadelphia. My wife also needed a chiropractor. So we picked the closest one to go to. But we were lucky. This husband and wife chiropractic team used a new method of chiropractic care called NUCCA that stands for National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association. Cervical is the neck area. They told us that before we could be adjusted, we needed to get an X ray and then come in another day.

We did not like this. We said that we had been to chiropractors before and always had an adjustment on the day that we came in. They said that they do a type of treatment that depended heavily on the X-ray and an analysis of it. Then they told us that they only adjust the atlas that is the very top (first) vertebrae. I told them that I had a lot of pain in my hip area. They explained that by getting the atlas in line the rest of the spine would follow. So I said that if he adjusts the first vertebrae, he is saying that all the rest would 'magically' line up. He said "yes" so we agreed to give it a try. The husband would adjust all of the women and the wife would adjust all of the men.

We got X-rayed and then came back the next day to get adjusted. We got adjusted and it was the best ever. Right after we got adjusted, everything is fine. But since the spine has been out of line for so long, it has a tendency to go out of line again so we needed to keep coming back. The accident that broke my vertebrae happened when I was 17 and I did not start going to this chiropractor until I was 24 years old.

As mentioned above, we could just come off the street into a chiropractic office and get an adjustment. With NUCCA they take a set of very precise X-rays. Then after analyzing them, they need to find a very precise angle (vector) on where to push the vertebrae with a very light force. Since they cannot push the vertebrae in they use a technique where they withdraw their palms quickly to help the atlas to go back in itself.

They found a strange side effect of this kind of chiropractic care! It helps to lower high blood pressure (hypertension). Here is the webMD article about this study: http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/news/20070316/chiropractic-cuts-blood-pressure Forty percent of Americans over age 40 have high blood pressure.

The first NUCCA chiropractors that I went to retired but one of their patients became a NUCCA chiropractor-- Dr. Brad Hirschhorn. So I went to him for years before moving to Arizona. He is a very skilled healer. He is always learning more and trying to become better at this. His office is right outside of Philadelphia. Hirschhorn Family Chiropractic, 505 Old York Rd, Ste 6, Jenkintown PA 19046. 215-576-1160.

Is being overweight genetic? Dr. Brad has an identical twin brother. That means that his brother has the same DNA that he has. But Dr. Brad's brother is 40 pounds heavier than he is. This type of chiropractic care has helped many problems that do not seem to be related to back problems. A girl with Tourette's Syndrome where people make uncontrollable sounds and movements came to him. After one treatment she no longer had any symptoms. But he warned me not to say that this means that NUCCA can cure Tourette's Syndrome. It is just something that happened one time.

Note that not many do this method since if it is not taught at your college, you need to spend another 6 months learning how to do it from one that is certified how to do it. Also you need to take yearly updates to learn any improvements that they have made. They are always trying to improve it so they can help more people. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan recognized NUCCA and its founder, Dr. Ralph Gregory, for the organization's outstanding commitment to natural, safe chiropractic care.

I read an article about how Arnold Schwarzenegger has a chiropractor come over to his house and treat him and his family. This chiropractor is another famous bodybuilder that used to compete against Schwarzeneggar by the name of Franco Columbu. The article explained how the whole family felt better after they were adjusted. But the words used in the article sounded funny since they can mean something else. The article said that the whole family felt better after Franco Columbu left!