An Explanation of Applied Kinesiology and Chiropractic?

I get asked all the time how the heck do you explain what you do. It’s not just for patients looking for an explanation of Applied Kinesiology and Chiropractic for their family and friends but also from chiropractic students. I thought I would finally take a post to talk about what I do and how to explain what I do.

Honestly it all depends on how I feel when someone asks me what I do. The normal answer is that I am a Functional Chiropractor. Who treats patients structurally with chiropractic and uses Applied Kinesiology and functional neurology to balance the acupuncture meridians and assess them nutritionally which helps them find them get better fast and more effectively.

That explanation is in no way all-encompassing of what Applied Kinesiology or Chiropractic can do. But when I tell people who I help patients find the impediments to what is keeping them from healing and removing them I always get a look like I’m crazy. For some reason, people seem to have forgotten that the body is self-healing and self-regulating.

Therefore, if you have symptoms anywhere, it means something is out of balance in the body. Maybe this is a good time to talk about what I really feel like Applied Kinesiology and Chiropractic really are in healthcare. I feel like I should talk about what Applied Kinesiology is and does.

Applied Kinesiology is an amalgamation of knowledge from all healing professions. And our goal is to address each patient structurally, nutritional and emotionally, because we feel that these are the root causes of all dysfunction in the body. So, I may get a bit scientific here, but I'll try not over to do It.

Applied Kinesiology uses muscle tests to decide how well your nervous system can withstand different inputs and stressors. We often describe it as an instant outcome assessment. Allowing us to have a direct and instantaneous dialogue with your nervous system, unlike blood test or other standard medical diagnostic test that take hours or days to get the results. AK gives us immediate ideas of what and where the nervous and acupuncture systems are out of balance.

This all may sound complicated and honestly a bit crazy, but there isn’t a cell in the body that doesn’t communicate with the nervous system. What makes muscle testing more fascinating to me is that it started in the medical professions at John Hopkins University as a way to rate disabilities. And that those medical texts on muscle testing have a quote that muscle testing gives knowledge about the patient that no other test can.

A little over 50 years ago this muscle testing phenomena was picked up by Dr. George Goodheart. Dr. Goodheart astutely realized that muscles didn’t just test inhibited if the patient was disabled, but if the patient was even slightly out of balance, this muscle might be turned “down.” Appearing to be weak. Over the next 50 years Dr. Goodheart added Osteopathic techniques, acupuncture, nutrition and many other imbalances that can cause a muscle to turn off.

In fact the last time I counted there were about 87 different things that can cause a muscle to inhibit and imbalance. I think that covers some of what AK is all about so we need to dive into Chiropractic before I let you go today.

I love the practice of Chiropractic, I think it is truly the best expression of the human bodies amazing ability to heal and overcome nearly anything. That happens in my opinion because of some of the principles we talked about in the AK portion of the post.

Chiropractic truly works because of the neurologic response from the joint proprietors (the receptors that tell us where things are in our body). If those joints aren’t moving properly then they are sending a bunch of bad input into the nervous system, unbalancing the brain and consequently the rest of the body.

We chiropractor's have termed this imbalance in the joints specifically the spine, subluxation. The amazing part to me is that this concept we are putting forward about Applied Kinesiology and Chiropractic when coupled together goes so much deeper than just getting someone out of low back pain.

Some of the latest cutting edge genetic and biological research is called Epi-genetic.

Epi-genetic movement is finding that control of your DNA is not in your DNA it is the input into the cell from the environment and your nervous system. So, if your nervous system isn't getting all the information, it needs from your joints.

Then the Central Nervous System may be out of balance and consequently may not be telling your cells and genes what to do and when to do it, causing dysfunction in your body.

Thus, by adjusting and balancing the proprioception (joint receptors) we are helping you be a better version of yourself.

So, to shorten the explanations of what it is Applied Kinesiology and Chiropractic do, we get your body out of its way Structurally, Chemically and Emotionally, by removing the impediments to healing.  Hope this helps and as always if you have any questions email me at [email protected]