The Principles of Chiropractic are:

• The body is a self healing and self-regulating organism
• The nervous system controls and coordinates all of the functions in the body
• Any interference with the nervous system inhibits the body’s ability to regulate and heal itself
• Interference to the nervous system is most commonly caused by misalignment of the bones of the spine/cranium called subluxations*
• Subluxations* are most often caused by slips and falls, mental & emotional stress, poor posture, car accidents, sport impacts, and the birth process
• Maintaining a healthy and well aligned spine enhances the body’s ability to get and stay well

*Subluxation:

a. An alteration in the position, shape, tone or tension of the nervous system from a misalignment of one or more vertebra in the spinal column or in the cranial structure.

b. Causing an alteration of nerve function and interference to the transmission of mental impulses, resulting in a lessening of the body’s innate ability to express its maximum potential

SOT Background

History Of Sacro Occipital Technique

Dr Major Bertrand DeJarnette of Nebraska founded SOT in 1925. Dr DeJarnette published 138 books as well as hundreds of monthly newsletters, bulletins and pamphlets. Drs K Bastian & S Parker founded SOTO Australasia in 1972.

Sacro Occipital Technique (SOT)

What does SOT stand for?

SOT stands for Sacro Occipital Technique. Sacro means related to the sacrum. The sacrum (tailbone) is the foundation for the spine and is supported by the pelvis. Occipital means related to the occipital bone, which is Latin for “support of the head”. So the Occiput is the base of the skull which sits on top of the spine. Therefore, SOT is a method of balancing the pelvis, which is the foundation of the spine, with top of the spine and the head (cranials). It is this balance of these two important bones, the sacrum and occiput, that allows the body to make so many adaptive changes allowing optimum neurological function for the body’s Central Nervous System (CNS = brain and attached spinal cord).

One of the goals of SOT is to insure that all areas of the nervous system have fully circulating Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) assisting in optimum neurological function. Maintaining functional spinal, pelvic and skeletal movement patterns are essential to ensuring that the cranial structures are able to respond to the gentle rhythmic pulsations of the CSF.

Normalising any cranial, pelvic, skeletal and organ restrictions allows the body’s nervous system to perform at optimum levels, permitting the body to respond rapidly and easily to a changing environment.

SOT is:

1. A system of analysis and correction that tells the Doctor WHEN and WHERE to adjust and gives them feedback that a desired effect has occurred

2. To allow the Doctor to apply techniques that will enhance, yet not exceed the patient’s vitalistic survivability

• Model for understanding homeostasis of a living system relating to health & enhancing adaptive ability
• Addresses the neurological & structural interrelationship of the Neuromuscular-Skeletal, Cranio-Meningeal, & Somato-visceral Systems
• Is a system that uses the body’s feedback (Indicators) to determine proper technique and its effect.
• A system of searching for patterns of disharmony within the individual and is derived from the fact, that in a highly complex system, there is a specific, critical point at which the smallest input will result in the maximum change.
• Indicators, signs, and symptoms are searched for and organized into a "Pattern of Disharmony".

SOT FAQs

1. How is SOT different than ordinary chiropractic?

SOT practitioners utilise full spine adjusting techniques as well as pelvic wedges to balance the pelvis and facilitate the flow of cerebrospinal fluid throughout the central nervous system. This allows the body to efficiently adapt to both environmental and gravitational stress.

In addition, SOT doctors address soft tissue, extremities, viscera and the cranium in their analyses and correction of the various subluxation patterns. When considering all those areas mentioned, SOT becomes one of the most unique and comprehensive approaches to chiropractic today.

Visceral procedures are used to help normalise organ function without the use of drugs or surgery. SOT also recognises the important role of normal cranial function in health and disease. The cranial bones and other cranial structures can cause central nervous system problems that are often overlooked or ignored by most other chiropractic systems.

Spinal subluxation: A disorder of the spinal, pelvic or cranial bones which is interfering with, or prohibits the correction of, the secretion, fluctuation and absorption of cerebrospinal fluid.

2. Exactly what function of the body does SOT correct?

Like other chiropractic techniques, SOT also corrects abnormal spinal mechanics and any associated nerve problems. These can include back pain, headaches, dizziness, arm and leg pains. Through the use of Chiropractic Manipulative Reflex Techniques, your SOT practitioner can help normalize organ function in your body, including high blood pressure, digestive problems, urinary problems, toxicity, female reproductive dysfunction etc.

Many cranial (head-related) symptoms could also be helped by SOT including: whiplash, vertigo, jaw (TMJ) problems, headache, visual disturbances, ear infections etc.

3. Will it make the pain go away?

Getting rid of pain is important for most of the people that come to see us but making long-term changes and stabilizing structures is just as important to the Doctor. Eliminating or killing the pain is not the main point of a chiropractic SOT adjustment. The true goal of an adjustment, and particularly an SOT adjustment, is to normalise the function of the entire body. As this goal is obtained, the pain will go away, naturally.

4. Will I have to keep coming back?

SOT is proven to obtain lasting results in a short time. These results are demonstrated as reduced pain and improved function in all parts of the body. A patient just starting with SOT care will often notice such a great improvement in a short time that they will feel they are already healing. But with the precise diagnostic methods of SOT, problems in the body can be detected even though they are not causing pain. So it is a wise investment on the patient's part to stay with a program of care which detects problems before they start to hurt. The old saying attributed to Benjamin Franklin applies: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of Cure.

5. Is this a proven method?

SOT has been shown to be clinically effective since 1925 in thousands of offices worldwide. This method of health care is constantly improving and finding new proof of its effectiveness. As specialists in Sacro Occipital Technique, the chiropractors listed on SOT websites (see links) are well trained and diligently apply all of their skill, knowledge, and judgment to every adjustment they give. This is the proven method and the one that is most often found to be effective.

6. Will it make me healthier?

Any SOT adjustment will improve the functioning of the body, which is health. This improvement may not be readily apparent to the doctor or the patient, but it is there. Clinical experience and scientific investigation over the years have shown that SOT is in the forefront of those chiropractic procedures that improve health.

7. Does SOT require nutritional changes?

Any effort to restore health often requires improving nutritional intake. Our current food supply is in such a way that people eat a lot of empty calories. So, specific nutritional supplements and other important lifestyle changes are usually necessary for the body to build new cells and heal itself.

8. Is Craniosacral therapy similar to SOT cranial adjusting?

Craniosacral therapy and SOT cranial adjusting come from common foundations and share common teachers (the Founder of SOT, Dr DeJarnette became a osteopath first and then soon after became a chiropractor!) and if practiced well, both are very effective in assisting optimal health by use of cranial and meningeal corrective procedures.

One major difference is that SOT chiropractic cranial adjusting techniques are only taught to doctors of chiropractic and chiropractic students, no layperson or other professional is allowed to take these seminars. All doctors who attain certification must take seminars and pass rigorous written and practical exams as well as be a licensed chiropractor.

SOT Cranial adjusting techniques add a new dimension to your Chiropractor’s ability to help you by being able to access the 80% of the human nervous system that most practitioners do not touch.

Therefore a Craniosacral practitioner and a SOT craniopath both use similar techniques and both are both safe and effective.

Cranial Background

AN INTRODUCTION TO CHIROPRACTIC CRANIAL WORK - FOREWORD
Taken from the SORSI.com website - see link below

Throughout the history of health and healing, great minds and dedicated researchers have sought out the truth(s) underlying the healing process. Ancient Chinese acupuncturists, yogis throughout time, Ayurvedic, Hahnemann on homeopathy, shamans of all cultures and D.D. Palmer of chiropractic all arrived at the same conclusion: there exists some mysterious force or energy that is ultimately responsible for the healing process.

In basic scientific research, any viable theory must be able to account for all observable phenomenon with relationship to the subject in question. In scientific principle, if a theory cannot account for events witnessed by all observers, it is not worthy of scientific process right from the start. If a theory does not offer a viable explanation for the miraculous events observed in chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture, yoga, intentional breathing, etc., it cannot be scientific.

Western medicine is void of any such underlying principle, philosophy, or theory. The closest related concept might be the germ theory. However, this does not account for those who survived the Spanish flu in the early 1900s when 20 million perished. Nor does it account for those who survived the Plague; only those who did not. With these observations in mind, the epistemologists of the healing process all came to look beyond the simplistic, externally-based concepts to a more holistic and vitality-based process. Descriptions of the healing force such as “ki” or “chi” of acupuncture, the vital force, prana and kundalini energy, orgonne and innate intelligence emerged.

The ongoing challenge, however, is to most effectively mobilize this energy for the organism in need of healing. Reliable, repeatable, consistent indicators are paramount in assisting the stagnated healing process.

Dr. William Sutherland was of the osteopathic tradition which philosophized that all healing is dependent upon blood circulation. But Dr. Sutherland was an ardent observer, noting subtle pulsations in the cranium and throughout the entire body, and the first descriptions of the cranial sacral respiratory mechanism are generally attributed to him. He went on to develop these concepts and theories into a therapeutic form which became the basis of modern-day cranial sacral therapy.

Dr. Major Bertrand De Jarnette, whose life was saved by spinal manipulation, had personal experience of the innate energy traveling along the nervous system as described by D.D. Palmer. He went on to become a personal student of Dr. William Sutherland and understood the importance of the phenomenon of the cranial sacral respiratory mechanism. Even the wisdom and instruction of the masters of the day could not convince him that any system really understood the entirety of how the vital force was best mobilized and utilized throughout the human body. He dedicated his entire life and resources to uncovering the mysteries of innate intelligence. Having set about this formidable task, he found an inescapable path of discovery whose twists and turns plagued his very existence until he satisfactorily completed his mission.

The beauty of Dr. De Jarnette’s lifetime of efforts was to bring to concrete physical reality an explanation of Palmer’s chiropractic philosophies and Sutherland’s cranial sacral mechanism. Dr. De Jarnette’s ultimate conclusion was that cerebrospinal fluid is the physical counterpart of the mysterious healing energies. He is not alone in these conclusions. Early naturopaths hypothesized a transducer mechanism in the brain of man, specifically comprised of the pituitary and hypothalamus. This provided an energy step down process that condensed healing energy (“chi,” “ki,” “vital force,” innate intelligence”) into cerebrospinal fluid. The cranial sacral mechanism primarily through the dura and its attachments, in turn is responsible for production and distribution of cerebrospinal fluid throughout the body.

Until Dr. De Jarnette, most of the major chiropractic investigators usually made a case for a specific body area as being the major key to health. Some placed all of their emphasis upon the cranium. Others believed the atlas or the pelvis or the sacrum to be the predominant structure from which all imbalances arose. In his investigations, Dr. De Jarnette proposed a system of chiropractic called Sacro Occipital Technique (SOT). In SOT, a person is looked upon as a reflex being. As Dr. A. E. Homewood describes in his benchmark textbook, The Neurodynamics of the Vertebral Subluxation, the human condition is exquisitely complex and interrelated. Subluxations in chiropractic compromise the performance of the nervous system. The neurological ramifications can extend throughout the entire system and may manifest anywhere. An alternate title for this book is “Anything Can Cause Anything.” This subtitle tells all. Dr. De Jarnette was keenly aware of this reality, and teased out many of the specific ways in which structural distortions can produce aberrant neurological function. Through his investigations, Dr. De Jarnette, or “The Major,” as he came to be known by his many followers, developed an extensive system of indicators that gave insight to the practitioner as to which of the many forms of subluxations were occurring in any given individual. Above all, he realized that the human condition is an integrated, complex, and holistic system.

Early in his research, Dr. De Jarnette realized the importance of the human cranium and made references to such as early as the 1930s. His research focused on other aspects of the human condition for several decades. Viscerosomatic reflexes, trapezius fibers, occipital fibers, and the pelvic Category system took the predominance of his time and attention. All the while, however, he understood the importance of the cranium, and he knew that it was impossible to treat the entire rest of the body and the cranium as separate entities. Eighty percent of the nervous system is in the head and can be influenced by cranial structures. However, the other 20 percent enervates every conceivable structure of the body and reflexly influences the brain and cranial function. Dr. De Jarnette beautifully mapped out these complex interrelationships and proposed some of the first-ever descriptions of the stress patterns in the cranium as associated with the overall skeletal structural imbalances. The Major set the basic understanding of the total body interrelationships that continue on even today. Researchers such as Dr. Hirotaka Miyano of Japan , who has meticulously mapped out every aspect of the cranial distortion patterns emanating from the pelvic category distortion complexes, are still carrying out the work inspired by De Jarnette. Much of the ongoing and newly developing cranial technologies emanate from the groundbreaking text of Dr. De Jarnette in 1968. Having studied the human condition in total for almost 40 years, he produced his first textbook totally dedicated to the human cranium.

The 1968 Cranial Technique by De Jarnette , D.C. was not only pivotal in SOT Chiropractic and SOT Craniopathy but became a launch pad in cranial technique. It is an essential study for the student as well as the seasoned veteran of cranial manipulation. It is extremely useful, if not essential, in the understanding of the basis of chiropractic Craniopathy, and it outlines some fundamental constructs upon which much of SOT Craniopathy is based. As a young physician and scientist, Dr. De Jarnette set out to demonstrate how all of chiropractic worked. He successfully gave us an integrated approach that can philosophically and neurologically take into account all of the varying forms and formats seen in chiropractic therapeutics embraced by numerous chiropractic techniques. In the 1968 Cranial Technique manual, he delivers an essential key ingredient to this overall theory of the basis of chiropractic. It is beautiful. It is simple. It is overwhelming. It is complex. But most importantly, it makes you think.

1968 marked the grand unveiling of De Jarnette’s first publication dedicated exclusively to cranial technique. It is just as pertinent and important today as it was over four decades ago. If more physicians dedicate themselves to the task of treating the causes of suffering humanity, this book will be even more important in all future. In the 1968 Cranial Technique you will find the most exhaustive descriptions of the primary cranial distortions and their corrections that De Jarnette has ever written. The insights and understandings afforded by this publication in the analysis and treatment of primary occipital, temporal, and frontal bone corrections are paramount to the effective cranial practitioner.

Many of the technologies outlined in the 1968 Cranial Technique have been expanded upon and developed by other practitioners over ensuing decades. The student will find the basis of sphenobasilar techniques as well as corrections utilizing dural membranes, including the falx. Also in this book is De Jarnette’s only reference to the Area 1-2-3-4 Spreads. The Area Spreads are another highly effective collection of techniques that are unique to SOT Craniopathy. Utilizing these cranial strategies, the practitioner can experience the elation of witnessing profound therapeutic changes for his or her patients that may not be possible by any other means. ”

AK Background

What is APPLIED KINESIOLOGY?

Applied kinesiology (AK) is a system of diagnosis using muscle testing as a primary feedback mechanism to evaluate structural, chemical and mental aspects of a person current health.

When properly applied, the outcome of an AK diagnosis will determine the best form of therapy for the patient.

Since AK draws together the core elements of many complementary therapies, it provides an interdisciplinary approach to health care.

Dr Eric’s Links

NB. These Links are for information only and may not reflect the views of the Clinic

Sacro Occipital Technique Organization – SOTO Worldwide

• Australia : http://www.soto.net.au/
• Europe : http://www.sotoeurope.org/
• USA 1:  www.soto-usa.org
• USA 2:  www.sorsi.com/
• Applied Kinesiology: http://www.icak.com/

PS What if?

• Chiropractic was the best system of health care currently on the planet.
• Chiropractic was gentle, presenting zero risk.
• Chiropractic was so effective that each attendance guaranteed a health boost.
• Chiropractic was so anatomically, physiologically and humanly based that it all made sense.
• Chiropractic was time and resource efficient
• Chiropractic was producing uncommonly phenomenal results.