Dr. M.B. DeJarnette

Rose Ertler Memorial

DeJarnette Library

THE SUBLUXATION OF MOTION

• Home • Library Contents • Contact Us • From the Librarian • Source of SOT • Related Articles • Excerpts and Quotes •

THE SUBLUXATION OF MOTION

The Subluxation of Motion. Once again, we are talking about an original DeJarnette idea. I have never seen this concept discussed except in an original DeJarnette publication.

One reference is page 6 of "Chiropractic Manipulative Reflex Technic," 1966 version, in the 1973 edition. Other references are on pages 3, 5, 8, 11, 12, and others, in "The Oblique Sacrum and Related Subluxations."

The CMRT book states:

"FIGURE NO. 5. THE KIDNEY IS DAMAGED DUE TO THE PRIMARY SUBLUXATION OF MOTION AND REACTS BY A FIXED REFLEX, WHICH DESTROYS NORMAL KIDNEY FUNCTION AND RESULTS IN DISEASE. REMOVE THE REFLEX TO REMOVE THE THING WHICH MAINTAINS IT."

I must quote almost all of page 7. The first 3 paragraphs cover the indicators as found in the occipital fibers, the trapezius fibers, and the nodule over the transverse process of the involved vertebrae:

"NOW YOU HAVE A TRUE INDICATION FOR THE "CHIROPRACTIC MANIPULATIVE REFLEX TECHNIQUES.

THIS NEED DEVELOPED BECAUSE A VERTEBRA BECAME SUBLUXATED, AND GAINED MOTION IN EXCESS OF FUNCTION OR NECCESSITY.

THIS MUSCULO-SKELETAL RESPONSE MADE NECESSARY SPECIFIC MUSCLE SPLINTING.

THIS SPLINTING CONTROLLED MOTION, BUT DESTROYED NORMAL CIRCULATION TO THE INERVATED AREAS.

THE DESTRUCTION OF NECESSARY BLOOD ANDLYMPH FLOW SETS THE STAGE FOR VISCUS PATHOLOGY.

THE VISCUE PATHOLOGY MAKES NECESSARY A NEW ARRANGEMENTS OF DEFENSE THROUGH REFLEX FIXATION OF SOFT TISSUES.

CHIROPRACTIC MANIPULATIVE REFLEX TECHNIQUES SEEK TO REMOVE THIS SOFT TISSUE FIXATION AND THROUGH SUCH REMOVAL, RESTORE FUNCTION BY RESTORING CIRCULATION.

THE VERTEBRAL ADJUSTMENT CAN NOW BECOME EFFECTIVE IN MAINTAINING INNERVATION TO THE DAMAGED PART, BECAUSE THIS ADJUSTMENT WILL NOW REARRANGE STRUCTURE AND CONTROL MOTION AT THIS SPECIFIC VERTEBRAL LEVEL."

Please note the statement in the last sentence "control motion at this specific vertebral level." This concept is in strict contrast to the traditional chiropractic concept of "Get the bones moving and Innate will take it from there."

Factually, traditional chiropractic adjustments have very little effect on long term health. How many of the doctors reading this have been in practice 25 years or more? Of that group, how many of you have noticed that patients who have been under regular or somewhat regular chiropractic adjustment develop chronic diseases? Of course, there is always the life style and the spiritual factor, but have you noticed this occurring?

Probably no one concept in the healing arts has defied description more than the concept of the subluxation. It has been attempted in books and papers ad infinitum, and yet it eludes us. Why? Could it be that we have the wrong concept of its basic nature?

I will not dignify the "bone out of place" or" pinched nerve" concepts by discussing them here.

Let's take a look at the "Subluxation of Motion" and see if it can clarify things. First, it starts with a "primary subluxation of motion" (page 6, above). This is defined on page 7 as "motion in excess of function or necessity." What factors are necessary to bring this about?

Here are the preceding axioms to this occurrence:

1.	Movement is life and life is movement. (DeJarnette)
2.	The body is alive so it is moving totally and continuously.
3.	This movement is synchronized throughout the body and is reciprocal from one part to another.
4.	When a part of the body loses its synchronization and reciprocation {become subluxated} it continues to move but that movement is inappropriate to the state of the rest of the body.

Corollary: The only factor in the creation of force is resistance. (DeJarnette)

Item One, above: Does anyone want to discuss or contest this? If so, please write. Movement is universally recognized as the sign of life. If we are talking about a plant, the movement is very slow, but if growth movement does occur or the plant is adjudged to be dead or dying. Even if the movement is as slight as the constriction of the pupil when it is exposed to light, it is still movement.

Item Two: Here is a step forward that is so simple it is profound. This movement may be so subtle that it is not visible, but when all movement ceases, the body is dead.

Item Three: Here is another example of DeJarnette's genius. He was the first to depict the reciprocal tension membrane of the cranium. Of course, he studied under Southerland, but what the hell. They were in it together.

This also brings to mind Rozeboom's Law of Priorities, which goes as follows: "The more subtle a thing is, the more powerful it is." This reciprocation and synchronization is a very subtle function of the body, probably the most subtle, which makes it the most powerful in the body. Of course, when a thing is subtle, by definition, it is not dramatic, which tends to make it less interesting. And so it has escaped observation-until DeJarnette.

Item Four: Here is the essence of the subluxation of motion. It is not that the area is "fixated," although this may occur. But a fixation normally occurs when the part's reciprocal partner is in a subluxation of motion-out of synch and reciprocation. The fixated part then becomes so confused that all it can do is stay very still. The problem is in the fixation, but the solution is in the subluxation of motion.

Here is the basic difference between the chiropractic operating basis and the medical operating basis. Chiropractors are not looking for the problem; they are looking for the solution to the problem. Medics find the problem and then try to change it or move it around. They do nothing but make the problem persist. (LRH)

Now we come to the Corollary. This may seem unrelated but hold on. In order for a part to maintain its synchronization and reciprocation, it must have some force. This force is used to overcome the stress of gravity and other stressors. In order for a part to have any force, it must have some resistance to operate against. If this resistance is lost, the part has no force, and so cannot maintain its proper motion.

The primary example of this is the sacro iliac weight bearing structures of the body. They serve as a base to hold the opposing poles of the body apart. If these poles are not held apart, they collapse together, and so cannot function. This is the importance of the Category Two procedures. The poles are being held apart by the base, or they are not - it is not a grey area. It is black and white (almost). If they are being held apart, then one can proceed to other solutions, but if they are not, nothing one does will have a beneficial effect.

One other point. Why do you think they are called blocks? They are obviously wedge shaped. If someone calls them wedges, one can be sure that person does not understand SOT. They are called blocks because they block the aberrant motion of a part, and thus correct the subluxation of motion.

Humor me while I tell this story about how the blocks were invented. DeJarnette went out on a house call one day at a farm near his office. When he arrived, he found the patient to be a big German farmer, weighing about 300 pounds, round as a barrel and solid as a rock. To make matters worse, this patient had suffered his back attack while in a pig pen, and was laying half-buried in the muck of the pen.

DeJarnette knew he had to get him out of the muck before he could do anything to help him. Being an engineer, he decided to use a lever to make his job feasible. So he grabbed a board and a pivot of some sort that were laying nearby. He placed the active end of the lever under the patient's pelvis in order to roll him out of the pig pen. Miraculously, when he pushed down on the lever to roll the man over, the patient's back attack suddenly disappeared. He got up and came out of the pig pen under his own power. The lever had stopped the subluxation of motion, and corrected the problem.

DeJarnette then worked with different sizes and shapes of blocks for a long time until he settled on the current blocks as appropriate for 95 % of the patients. I do have the baby blocks from Lloyd in my office, and have tested them in various ways. The normal blocks work better, except in very small patients (under 100 lbs.)

DeJarnette also specified the use of a table board. This is based on the corollary above. If the blocks do not have a base to operate from (a resistance), they do not a whit of good. Try it for yourself.

Now , back to the subluxation of motion. Cranial distortions are a primary example of a subluxation of motion hereinafter referred to as SOM (not to be confused with SOOL, or SOB). What is occurring in a cranial subluxation? The cranial membranes and the cranial bones, separately and together, are moving with respiration and other forces. This movement is a flow. In health, it is a smooth, constant flow, going through all parts of the body. It is synchronized and reciprocating from one part to another. When health is lost, this smooth flow is disturbed. And so a subluxation of motion occurs. One part is slightly disconnected from the rest of the body. Since this part is disconnected, it does not receive the instant communication necessary for it to be harmonious with the body. This is a subluxation of motion.

One other concept. A cycle of action. The concept of a cycle of action has been around since the dawn of time. It consists, in its most simple form, of start, change, stop. That is, a body is started, grows in a curve which first goes up and then down, and finally stops. Each part of the body follows the same principle from minute to minute. It starts into its normal motion, goes through that motion, finishes the motion, and then starts again.

A SOM could be thought of thusly: Somewhere in the start-change-stop cycle, the part of the body is unable to finish. In other words, it is in the change part and cannot keep changing. It does not give up on the idea of doing its changing, but persists in that attempt. It continues to persist in that attempt so long that the rest of the body goes on to the next step and leaves the part on its own. That part is in a subluxation of motion.

Well, there you have it. A subluxation of motion. It is a powerful concept. I hope some of you can take it to heights I cannot yet reach. Write and let me know how it goes.

David L. Rozeboom, DC, CC