The sacro-occipital technique, plus exercise, keeps patients of Kurt Larsen, DC, FICS, active in retirement   

Kurt Larsen, DC, FICS, has been providing care to retirees in Hot Springs, Ark, for the last 23 years, tending to their aches and pains and keeping them healthy, using sacro-occipital technique (SOT) and craniopathy—a gentle technique perfect for old and young, the active and the infirm alike.

The technique is well-suited for a practitioner in the No. 3 retirement destination in the United States. About 80% of the 180 patients Larsen sees weekly are retirees who live on the 23,000-acre gated community of Hot Springs Village that is aimed at both the retiring and active types. Among its features are six lakes and eight golf courses.

And Larsen’s Alternative Chiropractic Care location is perfectly designed to care for this active, aging population, offering the promise of well-being from the minute the patient arrives on the 58-acre property. The solo practice is located in a converted house with a full kitchen, the smells of chocolate chip cookies wafting throughout the building. In addition to the two treatment rooms, the center also includes a therapy and x-ray room. He has a staff of three employees—two full-time and one part-time.

The converted house is the hub of what Larsen hopes to develop into a wellness center, which will be available to his patients at all hours and will offer a variety of care from SOT to nutritional advice. He also plans to add an indoor walking track.

And though Larsen offers additional services aimed at keeping his patients as active as they can be, the key to his treatment success is SOT.

Head-to-Toe Care
Developed about 80 years ago by M.B. DeJarnette, SOT is a full-body system that Larsen describes as “a 100% nervous system approach.” The concept of SOT is about balance between the sacrum and the occiput, which Larsen describes as being like a teeter-totter—with a give and take between the two. For instance, severe low back pain could actually have its roots in the cranium. Larsen says that this is because the relationship between the two is reciprocal. The idea of SOT is to restore this sense of balance—and balance is restored through adjustment. Balance is not limited to just the spine and joints, but to the entire body as well.

What DeJarnette discovered was that each spinal segment has a correspondence to each organ, and a complaint in one of these organs—an upset stomach, for instance—could find relief by adjusting the spine. Conversely, if a patient has a particular joint ache, Larsen sometimes asks if the patient has a corresponding pain in the stomach or other part of the body—corresponding to the observations DeJarnette made—allowing Larsen to help the patient find relief of this seemingly unrelated pain.

The systematic way in which DeJarnette and his professional heirs—who continue to extend his work through the Sacro Occipital Research Society International (SORSI)—mapped these correspondences between the spine and soft tissue has given birth to the indicator system that allows those using SOT to consistently apply the technique and check to see if the adjustment is actually working.

While gauging a reflex point, such as across the top of the shoulders, Larsen does a prethrust check, moving the vertebrae into position and holding it according to the dictum of the indicator system. If the prethrust yields an appropriate result, then Larsen will make the adjustment, again monitoring the point to make sure it was the correct adjustment.

Larsen has found numerous advantages in using SOT. It is effective, the precheck and post-check allows him to monitor progress, and it can be used to treat complaints in areas such as the bottom of the foot, the extremities, the pelvis, and various internal organs such as the liver, the gallbladder, and the kidneys. It can also be used to treat ailments such as acid reflux, sinus problems, TMJ, and poor balance. “I am able to use this system to analyze what’s wrong with my patients,” he says. “Because of this, I end up being the primary care physician [for many of my patients].”

Probably the biggest advantage that SOT gives Larsen is that it is well suited to his sometimes-fragile patients. “It’s very gentle,” he says. “I adjusted my youngest patient on the day she was born, and my oldest patient was 99. You can do SOT on anybody.” This is particularly helpful with patients who have some wear and tear—such as joint replacements—that require a gentler but equally effective approach.

One of the reasons it is helpful to sometimes-fragile patients is the way adjustments are done to the pelvis, influencing the entire spine. Larsen uses two wedge-shaped blocks that are about 8 inches long, 4 inches wide, and 4.5 inches high with a slope of between 25° and 30°. “I use leverage instead of a hard thrust,” he explains. “The adjustment takes between 1 and 2 minutes, and it does not produce a ‘pop.’ ” Other adjustments to the spine are done manually according to the reflex indicators.

Though SOT can treat various conditions, Larsen does have patients who do not respond completely. In fact, a set of referral protocols are designed for the instances in which a patient is not responding. At the very least, Larsen will seek a second opinion. But instances have occurred when the protocols and Larsen’s own experience have aided patients with more serious conditions.

For example, Larsen sent a patient who was not responding to treatment and who had symptoms consistent with a more serious problem to a medical doctor. The doctor examined the patient and discovered he had a blood clot in his leg—a clot that would have killed him in a few days if he hadn’t been referred by Larsen.

Larsen also has a network of physicians to whom he refers patients who are not responding to SOT. “I have a good relationship with all the specialties,” he says. “They know I’m not crying wolf when I send a patient to them.”

In addition to the normal aches and pains, Larsen also treats patients suffering from migraines and headaches. “I see somebody every week with [severe headache symptoms],” he says.

He uses chiropractic craniopathy and SOT to treat these cranial problems. And his results have been impressive. For instance, one patient who had a profound case of Bell’s Palsy responded to treatment almost immediately—and saw his symptoms diminish significantly in a short time. “I had him blowing a trumpet in 10 days,” Larsen says.

But SOT is only one part of the array of services Larsen offers his patients. He also provides advice on nutrition and exercise.

Healthy Advice
Just as he uses triangles to restore balance to his patients’ bodies during their adjustments, Larsen uses the same idea in his approach to his patients’ overall health. These conceptual triangles consist of a balance of chemical, mental, and physical health. The chemical side includes practicing proper nutrition, using herbal supplements that do not interact with the patient’s medications, and drinking plenty of water. On the mental side is the idea that being old is simply a state of mind. On the physical side is the idea that exercise helps maintain good health.

Though the ideal situation is to have all three sides in balance, Larsen says that as long as two sides are strong, then the weak side will be pulled up. Conversely, he explains, two weak sides will pull down a strong third.

For about 10 years, Larsen has been giving advice to a local weight-loss group: Take Off Pounds Sensibly, or TOPS. This chapter includes a high percentage of senior citizens. A patient who was seeing Larsen about gall bladder and liver toxicity invited him to speak to the group. He speaks to TOPS every 6 to 8 weeks on subjects such as spine health, nutrition, and weight loss. On the latter subject, Larsen admits that he was a little nervous the first time he addressed the group, because “I’m skinny, and my wife is skinny.” However, his message about good nutrition resonated with the 50 members of TOPS.

This message includes a discussion about the difference between bad carbohydrates and good carbohydrates, and how to approach eating sensibly. “We use the idea of looking at the plate like a pie—50% of the meal should be complex carbohydrates, 40% should be protein, and 10% simple carbohydrates,” Larsen says. “And it has to be tailored to the individual with a stress on moderation.”

Larsen has become a bit more cautious about his approach to the exercise component of the triangle. “I’ve cut back on giving out exercise pamphlets,” he says. “I emphasize stretching first and then have the patients find an exercise activity they like.”

This change in approach is an acknowledgement of the continuum on which his patients find themselves. “People come to me sort of trashed,” he says. “They have acute, chronic problems, and exercise is not what fixes you; it maintains your health [after you’ve had the problem resolved].”

Larsen’s goal is to allow his patients to maintain their health and activity level. And this reflects his retiree patients’ desires, as well. More than 90 clubs are in the retirement community. Many of these clubs emphasize activities such as hiking, cycling, tennis, and golf. Larsen encourages his patients to find an activity that fits their lifestyles best.

Treating patients is only part of the work that Larsen has committed himself to perform. He also is helping to continue DeJarnette’s work, training a new generation of SOT practitioners.

Ensuring the Future
Larsen has been an active member of the SORSI board for more than 16 years, and he has served three stints as president of the organization.

He has taught weekend courses about SOT all around the world through SORSI and an orthotics equipment vendor. A recent trip took him to the Netherlands. He also teaches SOT to students attending New York Chiropractic College.

His teaching experiences have been as much about converting the skeptical as teaching the willing. In one class, a chiropractor who was seated near Larsen’s wife (and was unaware of her relationship to Larsen) told her that he would only be staying for a short time. Not only did he, literally, sit through the entire seminar on the edge of his seat, but he volunteered to be treated during the hands-on segment of the class.

Many times those adjusted during the seminar—Larsen notes that chiropractors tend to have greater needs than many of their patients—tell him the next day that they have had their first good night’s sleep in six months thanks to SOT.

This is hardly surprising to Larsen. “Those of us who use SOT are used to miracles,” he says.

C.A. Wolski is a contributing writer for Chiropractic Products.