My wife, Karen and I hope you find lots of information on this site to interest you and help you to achieve and maintain optimal health and well-being!As you probably know, we use a different approach to health care than many people may be used to. Applied Kinesiology is central to this approach but many of my patients have a hard time explaining what that is to their friends and family. Ive written a short explanation below that I hope will be helpful.Applied Kinesiology (AK) is a wonderful addition to the health care professionals analytical and diagnostic tool bag. AK uses manual muscle testing in combination with various provocative sensory stimuli to get information about body functions. The concept behind AK is that the skeletal muscle tone is controlled by the nervous system and that the nervous system recognizes and reacts to sensory input along a variety of afferent (incoming) pathways. Thus information regarding proper joint alignment can be obtained by putting mechanical force into the joint in various vectors. The vector that increases joint lesion (malposition) will create a noxious sensory input and cause a temporary decrease in muscle tone throughout the body that can be noted on manual muscle testing. By the same token, stimulating the taste buds with a nutrient which is deficient in the body will cause a temporary strengthening of previously weak muscles.Sensory input can be either exogenous (from outside the body) or endogenous (from inside the body). Since the nervous system is constantly monitoring body function, muscle testing can also be used to obtain information about these functions. Over several decades the International College of Applied Kinesiology (ICAK) has mapped out relationships between specific organs and muscles. We have found, for instance, that when there is stress or improper function in the liver, that the sternal division of the pectoralis major muscle will usually test weak. Although there are many other factors that may affect the strength of a given muscle, this muscle-organ relationship provides a very useful tool for monitoring organ function when combined with a good physical exam, history and appropriate lab work.Variations on the same protocol can be followed to obtain information regarding blocked acupuncture meridian pathways, emotional stressors, food and other allergies and a variety of other factors.Please feel free to give us a call if youd like to see how Applied Kinesiology at our office can improve your health and change your life!