Booking a first appointment with any new healthcare provider comes with a certain amount of uncertainty. You don’t know what the office looks like, how long it’ll take, or what’s going to happen once you’re in the room. That uncertainty tends to be amplified when you’re visiting a chiropractor for the first time, especially one who uses a technique you’ve never heard of. Atlas Chiropractic of Fort Wayne specializes in NUCCA upper cervical care, and the process is different enough from a conventional chiropractic visit that it helps to know what you’re walking into. So here’s what actually happens, from the moment you arrive to the follow-up after your first correction.
Before You Arrive
Your first interaction with Atlas Chiropractic will likely happen online. The clinic offers online booking, and new patients can reserve a complimentary consultation directly through the website. You’ll be asked for some basic information about your health history and what brought you in. If you have previous imaging, medical records, or notes from other providers, it’s worth bringing those along, though it’s not required.
One thing to keep in mind: your first visit at a NUCCA office is longer than what you’d expect at a traditional chiropractor. Plan for roughly 45 minutes to an hour. Most of that time is spent on assessment and imaging, not on treatment. The adjustment itself, when it happens, takes only a few seconds. The bulk of the first visit is about understanding your specific situation so the correction can be precisely tailored to you.
The Consultation: More Conversation Than Clipboard
The appointment starts with a sit-down conversation with Dr. Emily Staples. This isn’t a rushed intake form review. She’ll ask about your symptoms, but she’ll also ask about things that might seem unrelated: your sleep, your energy levels, your balance, whether one leg feels shorter than the other, whether you tend to carry your head tilted to one side. NUCCA practitioners look at the body as an integrated system, and many of the symptoms that bring people in (headaches, back pain, neck stiffness, dizziness) can trace back to a single structural issue at the top of the spine.
You’ll also have the chance to ask your own questions. If you’re nervous, say so. If you’ve had bad experiences with other chiropractors, that’s useful context. If you’re skeptical about whether a gentle touch can accomplish anything meaningful, Dr. Staples has heard that before and won’t take it personally. The consultation exists partly to determine whether NUCCA is appropriate for your situation, and partly to make sure you feel informed and comfortable before anything else happens.
Postural and Neurological Screening
After the conversation, Dr. Staples will run through a series of physical assessments. These typically include a postural analysis, which looks at whether your head is centered over your shoulders, whether your hips are level, and whether your weight is distributed evenly between both feet. She’ll also check for leg length inequality, a common finding in patients with atlas misalignment. When the atlas shifts, the body compensates by tightening muscles on one side, which can functionally shorten one leg by a small but measurable amount.
There may also be some basic neurological screening: reflexes, grip strength, balance tests. None of this is painful or invasive. The goal is to build a functional picture of how your body is currently compensating and to establish a baseline that can be compared against future visits to track your progress.
The Imaging: This Is Where NUCCA Gets Specific
If the consultation and screening suggest an atlas misalignment is likely, the next step is digital X-ray imaging. This is one of the things that most distinguishes NUCCA from other chiropractic methods, and it’s a big part of why the first visit takes longer than you might expect.
The X-rays taken at Atlas Chiropractic aren’t standard lateral or AP views of the cervical spine. They’re a specific set of views designed to capture the exact position of the atlas relative to the skull and the second cervical vertebra (the axis). The images are taken from multiple angles, and from those views, Dr. Staples calculates the precise degree and direction of misalignment.
This is the data that makes the NUCCA correction possible. Without it, the adjustment would be a guess. With it, the correction can be engineered down to fractions of a degree, specific to your anatomy and your misalignment pattern. No two patients receive the same adjustment vector, because no two misalignments are identical.
The imaging also serves another purpose: accountability. After your correction, follow-up X-rays are taken to verify that the atlas actually moved. You’ll be able to see the before and after images yourself. For patients coming from other chiropractic experiences where they were adjusted based on feel alone, this kind of measurable confirmation is often the thing that builds the most confidence in the process.
Your First Correction at Atlas Chiropractic
If the imaging confirms a misalignment and everything in the consultation points toward NUCCA being a good fit, Dr. Staples will perform the first correction, typically on the second visit after the imaging has been fully analyzed. Some clinics do same-day corrections if the schedule allows, but the standard protocol is to take the time needed to calculate the correction vector accurately.
For the adjustment, you’ll lie on your side on a specially designed table. Dr. Staples positions her hand just below your ear, making contact with the side of the atlas through the skin. She then applies a light, sustained pressure along the precise vector calculated from your imaging. The force is minimal. There’s no twist, no rotation of the neck, and no audible pop. The entire correction takes a matter of seconds.
Afterward, you’ll rest on the table for several minutes. This isn’t filler time. The body needs a moment to begin responding to the new position. Some patients feel an immediate sense of relaxation or a subtle shift in how their head sits on their neck. Others don’t notice much in the moment but report changes in the hours or days following: better sleep, less neck tension, reduced headache frequency, improved balance.
Post-correction imaging is then taken to confirm that the atlas has moved into its proper position. Dr. Staples will walk you through the comparison so you can see exactly what changed.
What Comes After the First Visit
NUCCA care isn’t a one-and-done treatment, but it also isn’t designed to require indefinite weekly visits. After the initial correction, patients typically return within a few days for a check to see whether the atlas is holding its new position. If it’s holding, no adjustment is given. If it’s shifted, a follow-up correction is made.
Over time, most patients find that their corrections hold for longer and longer intervals. Early visits might be weekly. Within a few months, many patients are coming in every few weeks or even monthly for maintenance checks. The trajectory depends on how long the misalignment has been present, how much the body has compensated, and how well the supporting muscles and ligaments adapt to the corrected position.
Book Your Complimentary Consultation at Atlas Chiropractic
If you’ve been on the fence about scheduling, knowing what to expect can make the decision easier. Atlas Chiropractic of Fort Wayne offers a free first consultation with no obligation. It’s a chance to describe what you’ve been dealing with, ask every question on your mind, and find out whether NUCCA is worth pursuing for your specific situation. You can book directly through the Atlas Chiropractic website or call the clinic to set up a time. The hardest part is usually just making the appointment. Everything after that is designed to be straightforward.
