Millions of Americans are suffering from migraines and headaches, but not many people know what to do about it.
I’ve been “blessed,” unfortunately, with injured family members, so I know what can help you reduce your headache and neck pain.
The Problem With The Atlas Bone In The Neck
Here’s where the problem comes in: car accidents, slips and falls, aggressive sports, and other injury-causers happen a lot.
There are seven bones in your neck. The top bone in the neck is called the atlas. This bone holds up your head. Your head is like a bowling ball that is sitting on top of this little bone.
This bone’s job is to turn your head from side to side and rotate everything.
Research has shown that a car accident at only five miles per hour can cause damage to the top part of the neck.
You could have been in a car accident 10 years ago, 20 years ago, and you are suffering now from migraines, headaches, and neck pain. And you’re wondering why the heck do I have this?
It came from that damage, and now it’s starting to affect you because there is instability in the top of your neck. That area is going to have weakness long-term and cause you problems as you get older and more damage accumulates, especially depending on how you hold your neck.
So what do we do about this?
The Shape Of The Atlas Bone
The atlas bone has a distinct shape in the middle of it: a hole where the second bone in the neck comes up, like a little thumb poking through a hole. The second bone, or axis, connects to it so that the top bone in the neck can rotate left to right without having your head spin all the way around like an owl’s.
There are also little ligaments here to keep your skull in check. These are called alar ligaments, and they keep you from over-rotating your head.
In an accident, our ligaments swell up and can cause long-term problems. They’re never quite the same. Ligaments are kind of like plastic bags–if you stretch them out, they don’t rebound to their original shape.
The alar ligaments connect to the top bone in the neck and they keep your head in check.
Could that possibly be the cause of your migraine and/or headaches and/or neck pain? It sure was for my mother-in-law and father.
They had damage on one side, where these ligaments became frayed, damaged, weakened, and stretched out.
There was instability on one side of their necks. When you have instability, the bone slides a little bit more every time you rotate or move your head, and can eventually pop out.
When these ligaments have deteriorated, it starts to create pain in the form of a migraine or a headache. Whether it be physical activity, sitting too long, or some kind of force in this area, you’re gonna irritate that thing.
Once we figured this ligament issue out for my father, his migraines decreased tenfold. He can now enjoy Thanksgiving and other gatherings.
This is exactly what I’m going to do for you. Here’s how we fixed it.
Exercise One
- Bend your arm at the elbow, place the palm of your hand on one side of your head and keep your elbow parallel to your body.
- Place your other hand on the outside of your elbow, then push against your elbow without moving your head.
- Hold it for about 20-40 seconds–try to go for a minute.
- Switch sides and repeat.
On the side where you have your hand pressing at the very top of the neck, you’re going to stimulate the blood flow. It’s normal to feel a little quivering and a little weakness as a result.
Exercise Two
Let’s strengthen some ligaments that are different from the alar ligaments, but are going to help hold the base of your skull in place to be more stable. That’s usually the tender area for headaches and migraines. A lot of them originate there.
- Take the tips of your fingers and put them right on your forehead. You’re going to keep a straight, upright posture, and push your skull against your hands.
- Hold it there until you get a sweat going.
We don’t want to create a forward head posture, we want to create resistance. You’re going to feel the strain in the muscles there. We’re stimulating blood flow in that area.
You’ve created instability with falls, traumas, and bad posture for many years. We’ve got to restore some biomechanics and strengthen the area.
You might feel a little bit of strain. If you do this on a daily basis, you are going to start stimulating blood flow, and you’re gonna reinforce your ligaments to get back to the way it’s supposed to be.
Summary
Migraines are going to go down. You’re going to get your life back. If you want to know more about rehab exercises for the atlas bone like this, I have an entire playlist of all my rehab videos to help you experience real health. Don’t forget to throw in some omegas and turmeric to help lower the inflammation that surrounds these kinds of rehab problems.
