When Upper Cervical Chiropractic of Spartanburg celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, it will be more than a simple milestone – it will stand as a testament to a business that has helped thousands of people recover from all kinds of back injuries and dislocations and regain their balance as well as their spinal stability.
“We have 15,000-plus office visits per year,” said Dr. Scott Baker, founder and head doctor at UCCS. “We take care of cases from the most complex to your regular family wellness care and see everyone from great-grandparents to newborn babies.”
While it is chiropractic by definition, UCCS specifically focuses on the correction and adjustment of the human body’s top two vertebrae to stabilize the spine so that the rest of the spinal corrections hold. Part of this focus includes research in a number of spinal areas, such as:
- Vertebral disc space improvement;
- Cervical curve improvement;
- Multiple sclerosis;
- Vertebral artery insufficiency;
- Cerebral spinal fluid flow;
- High blood pressure.
“Pressure on the brainstem from the top two bones of the neck can cause high blood pressure by affecting the vagus nerve, which is the nerve that runs to your heart,” Baker said. “You move the bones and remove the pressure off of the brainstem, and blood pressure can regulate to normal within minutes. It’s not something most people know, but most patients can barely feel the adjustment without causing them any injury – only relief from their suffering.”
To help inform and guide potential patients, Dr. Baker has written a book titled, “Mastering the Danger Zones in Your Life,” in which he outlines how the spirit, the mind and the body interact with one another and where the danger zones are that can cause pain, suffering or even an early death.
“Then we cover strategies to detect and overcome these danger zones,” he said.
It is these danger zones that not only underscore the UCCS practice but why some people decide to become chiropractors – such as Dr. Margaret Shreve.
At age 14, Dr. Shreve was suddenly unable to transition from sitting to standing and the other way around due to excruciating, debilitating pain. She went through three chiropractors with no resolve – until a fourth, recommended by a family friend, told her: “Your problem is not where your pain is. Your problem is at the top of your neck.”
“And that’s what I try to convey to my patients – that there is hope,” said Dr. Shreve, now in her 14th year of practice and third year at UCCS. “Preventing a problem is much easier than correcting it. However, change is possible and we expect the body to heal, as it is designed to do.”
Based on a 2020 report from WebMD, about 22 million Americans visit chiropractors each year. Of these, 7.7 million, or 35%, are seeking relief from back pain caused by various factors, such as accidents, sports injuries and muscle strains. They also are trying to dull the pain of headaches and problems associated with the neck, arms and legs.
“Watching people transform as they regain hope and vitality is my favorite part of being a patient and a doctor,” Dr. Shreve said. “As people heal, the light of life returns to their eyes, their countenance is lifted, their personality becomes happy and positive and their gratitude and love is humbling and inspiring.”
Dr. Baker added that this “light of life” is the principal reason the clientele for UCCS stretches across the United States and beyond.
“There are over 70,000 chiropractors in the United States, and only about 200 upper cervical practices,” he said. “But there are only a few that practice upper cervical corrective chiropractic like we do. That is why we have people from all over the United States and internationally who seek us out for care because of the amazing results that they get under this type of specific care. Once you have experienced this level of care, you won’t want anything else for you or your family.”
For more information, visit uppercervicalspartanburg.com.
By L. C. Leach III