The skull is made up of two different parts, the neurocranium, and the viscerocranium. In total, twenty-two different bones link up with one another to form joints that vary greatly from those found in the spine, shoulders, and ankles just to name a few. The junction where one cranial bone meets another is known as a suture and is synonymous with cranial joint.

        When you look at an image or model of the skull the sutures look like zippers and it’s easy to think they don’t move at all, but that’s not the case. Think of cases of trauma when the brain swells, does the patient die straight away from a lack of room for the swelling? No, the sutures shift and make room as much as they can.

         Think of sports injuries, slips and falls, car accidents, traveling (airplanes and altitude changes), and dental work. They are part of life but do cause the cranial joints to become subluxated (fixated, not moving correctly) which causes problems within the nervous system. Very commonly symptoms don’t show up until much later and that could be weeks to months or even years.

         Symptoms of cranial misalignment can be headaches, hair aches, TMJ pain, irritability, neck stiffness, throat fullness, postnasal drip, unusual seasonal allergies, and an overall feeling of malaise. At Health by the Sea, Dr. Fattie specializes in cranial misalignment detection and correction along with upper cervical care. These two go hand in hand with protecting, controlling, and stabilizing the most important part of the nervous system which is the brain and top of the neck.

        Cranial adjusting is known to feel relaxing and relieving and results tend to occur quickly. If you have a history of trauma or any health condition involving the head or neck it would benefit you to have your cranial alignment checked out and corrected.