Applied Kinesiology
Applied Kinesiology is also commonly referred to as “muscle testing.”
Applied kinesiology came into being in 1964 when George Goodheart, D.C., of Detroit, Michigan, began evaluating his patients’ muscles with manual tests. He observed that sometimes a muscle tested weak, but there was no atrophy or other apparent reason for the weakness. On one occasion he observed tender nodules at the origin of a patient’s weakened shoulder muscle; upon deep goading of the nodules, the muscle returned to almost normal strength as compared with the uninvolved side. This led to the original applied kinesiology technique of origin and insertion treatment.
In most cases, the results of a test do not depend on whether the muscle is strong or weak, but how the nervous system controls the muscle. Although the terms “strong” and “weak” have generally been used, one should think in terms of the nervous system telling the muscle to “lock” or “not lock” rather than the actual power the muscle is capable of producing.
Your nervous system has 3 basic functions: 1- gather information via nerve receptors 2- process that information in the brain 3- the brain sends a response to the muscle and organs. When using muscle testing we can use the response of specific muscles to identify how your brain responds to different stimuli. This gives us very specific information, quickly.
Applied kinesiology should be done by a physician thoroughly knowledgeable in physical, orthopedic, and neurologic examination and the other examination methodology in the healing arts to properly make a differential diagnosis. It should be used in conjunction with examinations, blood labs, x-rays, MRIs, urinalysis, etc. Some who use the muscle testing procedures of applied kinesiology make an inadequate study of the subject, or they have not had the necessary anatomical, physiological, and clinical expertise necessary for the proper application of the technique. This includes both doctors and lay people. Dr. Makin is a certified applied kinesiologist and has completed several hundred hours of additional study in this technique.
Techniques used widely in applied kinesiology evaluation and treatment are adjustment of the spinal column and manipulation of other joints in the body, nerve receptor treatment, balancing of the meridians and the cranial-sacral system (see the link to CranioSacral Therapy), and nutritional therapy. Again, it is strongly emphasized that an applied kinesiology evaluation of health problems is only part of the total patient work-up. Examination should include standard physical examination, using orthopedic and neurologic test, laboratory and x-ray when indicated, and the usual complete patient history. All factors of the total examination should correlate; applied kinesiology findings and the other factors of differential diagnosis should enhance each other. The major contribution applied kinesiology makes to standard diagnostic procedures is functional evaluation. Most standard diagnosis, excluding applied kinesiology, is directed toward discovering and evaluating pathology. Many individuals clearly pass a physical examination directed toward that end, but they may still complain of headaches, fatigue, and other general health problems. Applied kinesiology helps discover the reason for functional disturbances, and suggests a direction for corrective therapy. When applied kinesiology is used in conjunction with the standard methods of diagnosis developed in medicine and chiropractic, one has a greater ability to understand a patient’s health problem.
