Chiropractic/S.O.T.
Chiropractic is the foundation of Hands to Health, the oldest and most well established weapon in my arsenal. I use it as a major treatment modality in its own right and believe that is the only reasonable therapeutic intervention for people who have certain types of injuries, but I also use it, on occasion, as a supplementary form or therapy. I chose S.O.T. as my preferred chiropractic method because it was the key, all those years ago, to solving my own back problems. Nothing else was working and, at times, I feared that I had a lifelong disability. Then I was increasingly better and finally, pain free. I couldn’t have found a more solid basis for this important decision.
What is Chiropractic?
According to Gray’s Anatomy, 100th year, 29th edition, “The nervous system’s function is to control and coordinate all the other organs and structures…” The nervous system consists of the brain, the spinal cord and the nerves that exit the vertebra. The nerves, in turn, control and coordinate the organs and glands in the body.
The chiropractor looks for spinal misalignments that put pressure on the nervous tissue and interfere with conduction of nerve impulses and the vital functions they control. The chart below illustrates the effects of spinal misalignment. It shows the vertebrae that comprise the spine; the organs, glands and other parts of the body to which the respective nerves are connected; and the types of symptoms that may result when something goes awry.
Chiropractic adjustments return the body to balance through manipulation of the spine and joints to release pressure on the nervous tissue, normalize joint motion, alleviate pain and restore normal body function. Chiropractic is thus both a diagnostic tool that provides clues which can explain a patient’s symptoms, and a treatment method that eliminates the causes underlying the individual’s symptoms and with them, their troubling effects.
What is S.O.T.?
S.O.T. (Sacro-Occipital Technique) is a total body chiropractic technique involving not only the back and neck but also the internal organs, extremities and cranial structures. Its primary focus is on the structural stability and integrity of the cranial-sacral system as a whole; on the cranium (which houses the brain, the control center for the central nervous system); and the pelvis (the foundation of the spine, the nervous system which it protects, the internal organs which are dependent on proper nerve supply from the spine, and the locomotion system – the legs and the feet – to which it is attached). The alignment, balance and optimal function of the cranium, pelvis, spinal segments, organs and all of the extremities are essential to optimal health.
Like other chiropractic techniques, S.O.T. is used to correct misalignments in the skeletal structure including the neck, back, pelvis and extremities; but may also work directly on related musculature and ligaments (e.g., the ileo-psoas) as well as on the bladder, liver, kidneys and other body organs. In addition, it is the only chiropractic method that undertakes adjustments in the boney plates that form the cranium. The 22 sutures in the head are not entirely fused and, when functioning normally, are capable of a very small amount of movement. S.O.T. can be used to diagnose situations in which the plates of the cranium become “stuck” causing headaches, dizziness, sinus problems and other ills; and to restore normal fluidity once the source of the problem has been identified.
The keys to S.O.T. are gentle, non-forced manipulations and adjustments that achieve correct positioning naturally using gravity. Along with safe, consistent results, S.O.T is known for emphasizing