Chiropractic craniopathy and sacro occipital technic adjustment methods provide consistent diagnostic indicators to help determine the primary cause of neurological disruptions

Do you have patients with signs and symptoms resistant to your care? Would you like to enhance your abilities to provide exceptional service to your patients? How much of the nervous system do you influence? Utilization and incorporation of cranial and sacro occipital technic (SOT) methods will expand your effectiveness in each of these areas.

Nearly 80 years ago, M.B. DeJarnette, DC, DO, observed William Sutherland, DO, demonstrating cranial manipulation. There were profound positive effects from these adjustments, but also profound negative effects. DeJarnette theorized that there must be a systematic way to approach the human frame to achieve these profound effects in a predictable, manageable method.

His clinical and adjusting skills did not go unnoticed by others in the profession. They began to send him their non-responding patients. This was the origin of his clinical research, which came forth from an intense desire to understand the subluxation and its effects. He corresponded with many other chiropractors about his findings, which led him to document and teach his method as a technique in 1930. He reported his findings in two or three publications a year until his retirement in 1984. He founded the Sacro Occipital Research Society International (SORSI) in 1957 with the purpose of allowing others to teach, research, and continue his work when he retired.¹

The result of this intensive undertaking is a predictable, consistent method of diagnostic indicators that leads chiropractors to the primary cause of their patients’s neurological disruptions during each visit. By continuing to evaluate these physiologic indicators, adjustments can be monitored visit to visit for their effectiveness, as well as to determine the next applications most likely to achieve the best results.

Chiropractors can begin study and application of chiropractic craniopathy and SOT in several ways and at different levels of integration. SORSI instructors currently teach SOT in at least six chiropractic colleges, at 3- and 5-day annual SORSI symposiums and during multiple weekend seminars via postgraduate departments or qualified private practitioners. Hands-on training in the assessment of indicators, protocols for adjustments, and the physiologic changes of the indicators are provided to assure that take-home ability occurs. Many times, the adjustments that the practitioners already utilize are easily incorporated. The indicators determine when and where.

An overview of chiropractic craniopathy and SOT shows it is made up of several components:

• Category blocking methods—mainly addresses spinal distortion;

• Chiropractic manipulative reflex technique—addresses the somatovisceral organ reflex distortion; and

• Extremity technique—used in conjunction with category correction and cranial technique.

The 80/20 Rule
An exciting and rewarding addition to your practice can be chiropractic craniopathy, which enables chiropractors to influence 80% of the central nervous system from the neck up. Since this 80% controls the other 20%, many persistent spinal conditions respond favorably. Although some of these methods require specific pre-cranial spinal corrections, many techniques can be integrated into your current practice techniques.

Adjustments for sinus congestion, equilibrium disruption, blocked eustachian tubes, temporomandibular joint dysfunctions, headaches, migraines, suboccipital muscular tension, and fixated cervical vertebrae can often be incorporated into your current techniques after a few basic diagnostic checks. Other adjustments for deep-seated cranial distortions and emotional release require specific pelvic and spinal correction prior to addressing the cranial component. There are methods to help infants with many of their disruptions as well. Powerful adjustments exist for earaches, colic, craniofacial distortions, and birth trauma.^2,3

One of the key requirements before performing many cranial adjustments is to ensure that the sacroiliac joints are stable.^4,5 This is one of the major differences between SOT and cranial-sacral therapy. As the name implies, SOT starts from the bottom and goes up. This is where DeJarnette found a way to achieve his goal of a systematic predictable approach in the application of cranial methods.

Blocking System
In achieving spinal integrity and pelvic stability, the category system of blocking is at the core of SOT. The basic miracle of the pelvic and spinal blocks is the ease of use and comfort almost instantaniously felt by patients.6 Standing, supine, and prone evaluations yield indicators that direct chiropractors to a clinical impression of a preponderance of a specific category, which contains basic areas of focus, narrowing the types and areas of adjustments needed. The result is a powerful, direct approach to patient needs.

The three main categories have their own specific characteristics, methods, and protocols for care.

Category I. This refers to the fixation of the synovial boot portion of the sacroiliac joint with associated meningeal system disruption. The spinal and intracranial dura is involved, along with the neurology, physiology, and reflexes of the central nervous system. The blocking position for correction is done prone according to short leg, which biomechanically corrects the typical flexed/extended ilium, and more importantly, neurologically balances the spinal column.

Once the synovial boot is properly set, the spinal and cranial dural tension normalizes, cerebrospinal fluid flow and pressure are normalized, and neural integrity is restored. Typical blocking time can be up to 7 minutes. Specific crest or dollar signs are adjusted to make the body hold the corrections achieved through breathing and the weight of the body on the blocks. Then sacral base +/- (plus or minus) extension or flexion of the dural is checked and corrected if indicated.^4,5

Category II. This category involves dysfunctions of the weightbearing part of the sacroiliac joints. This usually involves a tear, sprain, or strain of the hyaline part of the sacroiliac joint and can have far-reaching consequences due to the effect on proprioception, the muscular system, and the temporomandibular mechanism and cranial sutures. The blocking method for correction is done supine, again by short leg indicator.

Time needed for correction is between 30 seconds and 2 minutes, as nearly 250 pounds of pressure per square inch are achieved due to the weight of the body and the effects of breathing on the angulations of the sacroiliac joint. The trapezius fibers are a powerful set of indicators that map out the specific spinal segment(s) that need(s) adjusting on any given visit. There are seven areas on each side, from the acromioclavicular notch to just lateral of the transverse process of the first thoracic. Each area represents one cervical, one or two thoracics, and one lumbar vertebra.^4,5

Category II conditions, whether acute or chronic, make up a substantial portion of the patient population. The complaints can vary from low back pain, mid-dorsal pain, and extremity conditions to headache/migraine symptoms, emotional imbalance, and temporomandibular disorders. The correction of these types of patients is both rewarding and practice building, as often no one else has substantially helped them.

Category III. The third category involves discs and their blood supply. Most acute low back/sciatic pain patients are predominately in this category. SOT has special procedures for the care of these patients that are safe and effective. Patients are blocked in a prone position, again by short leg indicator. Time varies from several minutes to 20 minutes. Orthopedic blocking can be used to rotate individual segments of the spine by using a block on one side only. Scoliosis can also be addressed via this methodology.

The key object is to make the patient comfortable, and then the doctor can address the lumbar subluxation without abrupt force. One specific indicator that helps with the fifth lumbar is the styloid indicator. The body of the styloid is tender on the side of L5 inferiority. A contact can be made lifting that side of L5 via traction with the thumb. The proper line of correction will reduce the pain at the styloid. Hold the contact in that direction while doing leg traction on the involved side along with patient hand traction at the top of the table. Three respiratory cycles should correct the styloid indicator.^4,5

The Chiro Reflex
The final method of SOT is chiropractic manipulative reflex technique (CMRT). This organ reflex technique deals with common complaints in the chiropractic practice. Many persistent spinal subluxations remain due to the unresolved organ reflex that relates to that vertebra. The eighth thoracic is common due to its reflex relationship with the liver. Common symptoms include multiple joint aches, headaches (especially in the top of the head), and lethargy. First, the appropriate occipital fiber is goaded while contacting the side of T8 posteriority, completing the osseous adjustment after a release is felt at the transverse process. Then, five different anterior body and one posterior body contacts are utilized to decongest the liver and open the channels of drainage. This is just one example of CMRT application.⁷

There is something for most everyone with chiropractic craniopathy and SOT. Some methods can be incorporated into your current practice technique; others require some conversion to new protocols. This treatise is designed to whet your appetite for tools that will help your patients and practice. Seminars can be found at www.sorsi.com.

Kurt Larsen, DC, FICS, practices in Hot Springs Village, Ark, and is an instructor of chiropractic in the Complementary and Alternative Medicine elective at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences, Little Rock. He has more than 10 years of experience as a certified SORSI instructor. Larsen can be reached via email: fhl@ipa.net.

References
1. DeJarnette MB. History of SOT. Nebraska City, Neb: M.B. DeJarnette; 1977.
2. DeJarnette MB. Cranial Technique: Anatomy and Physiology of the Cranium. Nebraska City, Neb: M.B. DeJarnette; 1979.
3. Bathie R. SORSI Cranial Technique Manual. Overland Park, Kan: SORSI; 1996.
4. DeJarnette MB. SOT Manual. Nebraska City, Neb: M.B. DeJarnette; 1984.
5. Bathie R. SORSI SOT Manual. Overland Park, Kan: SORSI; 1996.
6. DeJarnette MB. The blessings of sacro occipital technic. SORSI Dispatcher. 1968:3(11).
7. Bathie R. SORSI CMRT Manual. Overland Park, Kan: SORSI; 2000.