Chiropractic care benefits all aspects of your 
body’s ability to be healthy. This is accomplished by working with the nervous system, which is the communication network between your brain and all your cells. Chiropractors work to adjust spinal, pelvic and cranial misalignments or subluxations. There are many chiropractic techniques that have been developed to correct subluxations and assist the nervous system to function optimally and thus improve optimal health.
‘Applied Kinesiology (AK) is a chiropractic technique that evaluates structural, chemical and emotional aspects of health using manual muscle testing with other standard methods of diagnosis (www.icak.com)’. It was developed by a chiropractor called Dr George Goodheart, Jr (1918-2008). AK is based on the concept of the Triad of Health, which is a combination of structural, biochemical and emotional wellbeing for overall optimal health. When there is interference to the nervous system, any one of these areas can be disrupted in its functioning causing dis-ease and ultimately disease in the body. Ie. A problem on one side of the triad can effect the other sides as our body is completely interactive. AK evaluates where the dis-ease lies at any given time and then corrects the subluxation through a range of specific chiropractic adjustments.
AK is based on muscle testing. The reaction of the muscle is used as an indication of how the nervous system is functioning. When a muscle goes ‘weak’ after a specific stimulus is applied, it indicates that the nervous system is stressed. The chiropractor will then determine what the specific stress is and then determine the best treatment to correct it, thus reducing stress off the nervous system allowing the whole body to function more easily.
The correction of the interference to the nervous system may involve specific chiropractic adjustments to joints or joint mobilisations, myofacial work, cranial techniques, respiratory adjustments, meridian work, clinical nutrition and dietary management, counselling skills, identifying environmental irritants and various reflex procedures. Evaluation with the use of AK adds new dimension to standard diagnostics and allows us to look at the body as a whole system which is completely interactive rather than in parts.
‘AK skills are developed and approved by the
International College of Applied Kinesiology Board of Standards. These skills are refined from many disciplines including Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Medicine, Dentistry, Acupuncture, Biochemistry, Psychology, Homeopathy, and Naturopathy etc. Members of these professions share knowledge through the publications and conferences of the International College of Applied Kinesiology (ICAK).’ (www.icak.com). AK is a postgraduate specialty training.
Written by Dr Sara Winchester (Chiropractor)