Translation: Iuliana Tanasescu

KISS Syndrome, manual therapy, Atlas therapy

I would like to inform you about KISS topic on the basis of personal experience with two KISS children as well as due to 20 years old personal problems with the spinal column.

Where is the Atlas?

Atlas - the first cervical vertebra, C1
Axis - the second cervical vertebra, C2

Atlas and Axis, i.e. the first and the second cervical vertebra (head joints) differ in their construction from the other cervical vertebras
They are gently connecting the spinal column with the skull.
The Atlas, which carries the head, possesses no vertebra. Its name comes from the Greek god, Atlas who, according to the legend, carried the columns of the sky-vault.

Atlas, Axis together with the surrounding soft parts, as muscles, nerves, FASZIEN, blood vessels and the base of the skull form together the Head Joint.
This area represents an important reflex centre (the 6th sense organ) that controls also the tension of the supporting musculature.
There exist important connections to the brain (seeing and hearing centre, the equilibrium organ) that are influenced by this reflex centre. The positioning of the head in the room and related to the body is also here controlled.

What is KISS Syndrome?

KISS - kinematic imbalances due to suboccipital strain - is no illness in the real sense of the word but a control disorder.

• distorted neck
  
• through bending of the spinal column
  
• Facial asymmetry and
  
• Asymmetrical use of the extremities (arms and legs) are here in the centre of attention

Possible causes:

• long and difficult births where obstetric forceps or vacuum bell was used
  
• emergency caesarean operations
  
• intra uterine distorted positions
  
• breech presentation
  
• pelvis position
  
• Twin birth
  
• Little intra uterine place
  
• Transmission/communications … (infections)

This is how the still delicate head joints get damaged (hard knock) and it comes to asymmetry. This used to be called Atlas blocking syndrome and it was explored/investigated for the first time by Dr. Gottfried Gutmann.
Around 30% of the population seems to be affected. Dr. Lutz Erik Koch estimates that out of 10% of the people needing therapy, actually less than 1% receives one.
He also believes that only every second paediatrician is aware of this phenomenon. Very often, the parents are calmed down with the words 'this will go away'. And it really seems that also without a treatment, this distorted position in the neck area disappears after a while. (Only with special recuperating gymnastic)
But it is so that the little patients have learned in between how to compensate their distorted position and also their pains.
Some of them have perhaps pulled themselves up or have start walking exceptionally early-timed, often to their parents' joy. But actually they were just instinctively striving to a painless position. Very distinctive/pronounced cases are known as 'crooked neck'.

In Adult age this can lead to some impairment:
- neck spinal column complaints
- chronic backaches
- slipped (inter-vertebral) disc
- Ear sounds (Tinnitus)
- Balance disorders
- Dizziness

The researching doctors have lately been able to identify new connections/ casual relationships and therefore there is a distinction made between KISS 1, KISS 2 and KIDD.

For more information, you can visit following pages:
http://www.kiss-info.de -- Dr. Sacher

For more information regarding KISS/KIDD syndrome topic you may find detailed information on Dr. Koch's homepage:
http://www.kiss-kinder.de -- Dr. Koch

Very good medical information regarding the manual therapy and regarding the X-ray topic, as well as on other topics, you may find on:
http://www.manmed.de -- Dr. Biedermann (the page is at the moment under construction)