Very often during my practice, patients will come in with pain near the top of the spine, and the bottom of the spine. This is also connected with poor digestion most of the time. Why do all these connections happen so often? Often it is due to how the top of the spine tends to mirror the bottom.
If there is an issue with the top of the spine, causing it to be in extension, the opposite is usually happening at the bottom of the spine. This occurs because the body is always trying to keep the eyes looking straight ahead. It would be difficult to get around day to day if we were always looking up, or always looking down.
Do not get in to the mindset that the rest of the body is not affected by a lesion at the top or the bottom of the spine. In this blog we are referring to pain, not lesion patterns throughout the body. Many times there are issues away from where the pain is.
As well, there are two area at both the top and the bottom where extension / flexion can occur. In the neck, below C1 can be extended, while C1 on the occipital bone (OA) can be flexed. At the bottom, the Lumbar spine can be extended, and then the L5/S1 joint can be flexed (counter nutated). Then there are the occasions where the flexion is occurring throughout the low spine, or the top spine.
The Vagus nerve supplying much of the digestion comes from the brain, all the way down to the digestive viscera. The sacral nerves come from the sacrum and supply the elimination viscera involved with going to the washroom. Often times, issues with top of the spine, and bottom, will affect these nerves, leading to issues with digestion and elimination.