Cateye (Melbourne, Vic., Australia) on 07/04/2011:

I started with massage as a means to cope with the pain, which led to swimming (almost obsessively some have said) to try and strengthen the spine, regulate my breathing and straighten out my twisted rib-cage.

I then found a Gonstead Chiropractor (should a chiro really be rewarded with capitals?) who was proficient enough to keep me hooked on the pain-lessening cracks and yanks and crunchings. The big deal for me was the atlas adjustment with this guy.

He was the only chiro (I'd been put RIGHT off chiros when my back first popped twenty years earlier) who'd tried it, and it meant I could go anywhere from one day to three months in a state of ... ? less pain to almost painlessness, until it popped back out of place.

I found this chap about four/five years ago. Recently- about one month ago- I'd had a great series of Chinese massage and acupuncture sessions with the new massage shop opening round the corner. I knew I had to go back to my chiro, lovely guy he is, but I wanted to tell him, 'Just adjust my atlas please, everything will plop in to place once that's done. ' It seemed to be okay when the atlas was in place. Just seemed to suck that it popped out with a wrong turn of my head or even a sudden lift of my arm...

He did the atlas and several more (unnecessary) adjustments and I left walking on air. Colours brighter, air smelled... Less toxic, etc. That appointment I had said, 'Look, all due respect but I've been coming here for years and my back is still as dodge as the first time I met you. I want it FIXED. ' He suggested I come in the following week to see how long the atlas held, and to get some more adjustments. I was willing to give him the benefit of my doubts and the following week I went in and oh ye gods, what an horrendous sensation. He recognised the atlas was still in place and the usual suspects were in place too, so he did some crunching on some irrelevant PAINLESS vertebrae which had me walking out as if both sides of my bodies energy had been cheese-grated in different directions.

AWful. I got really mad with the pain, his work and myself and went home and studied up on the atlas. Also known as the C1 joint- the first bone by the base of your skull and mine. I figured there was was WAS a solution and I was GOING TO FIND IT.

'Atlas Profilax' kept coming up and I ignored it because it sounded like some cheap scam. After two nights of reading various forums and chiro pages, pseudo-science and claptrap I decided to check it out and was surprised at how much sense it made. I looked into related forums, reviews, you-tube personal accounts of experiences, the official site, and finally a local practitioner.

I made the appointment, cancelled my next chiro apt. the same hour, waited impatiently for five days then had it done.

This was just over one month ago.

The result is outstanding so far. At the risk of boring the brains out of everyone, this is definitely something worth researching. My back pain is dissipated into insignificance. I'd like to say it has completely gone but the muscles are still a bit stiff down in the mid-back where they've historically twisted the most. They no longer ache. This is HUGE for me. I feel them there when I turn, not every other moment.

The neck/shoulder pain is *poof* GONE. I can cook for hours (literally up to four hours) without uttering a word of pain and misery/throwing down utensils and lying on the floor to rest the muscles, I can even pick my hefty two yr old boy, cuddle him and carry him across the room. Miracles...

: )

I'd say it has gone altogether already but my righthand shoulder is giving me a bit of jip right now- it's probably related. That plus my massage girl has gone awol and one ought to get a fair bit of body work done to start to unwind the years of twisting that got one in a scoliotic state in the first place. I had a huge detox reaction to a massage the second week- 20mins on my right shoulder, shortest massage ever. AMAZE-ing sensation. I was balanced. Really amazing.

My husband has classic s-curve and has agreed to have it done if I can go two months without grizzling about my back. One month down, one to go- I'll be in touch.

It also helps with emotional things, spiritual things- private things. Please investigate- from a pain point of view there is nothing like it. I'm so happy about this, it's great to have an 'interested party' to vent my joy!