Diagnostic kinesiology
Diagnostic Kinesiology is a general term for all forms of muscle testing used for diagnostic purproses. Out of the original Applied Kinesiology (AK) there are now over 130 different forms of diagnostic kinesiology in which AK is one of them. This is not to be confused with academic kinesiology which is concerned with the study of human movement. Practitioners of diagnostic kinesiology are most often chiropractors who have taken postgraduate courses in the technique of their choice. For a complete listing of all forms of diagnostic kinesiology go to The DOK.
History
Diagnostic kinesiology was discovered in 1964 by a Detroit chiropractor named George J. Goodheart. After several unsuccessful attempts to treat a man with winging of the scapula, he noticed that there were several palpale nodules on the front of the ribcage where the serratus anterior muscle attaches. After massaging these nodules for a few minutes he noticed that the winging of the scapula was gone. Thus was born the idea that there could be an immediate return to strength of muscles after a proper therapy was applied. Dr. Goodheart went on to discover many new techniques to add to his now named technique called Applied Kinesiology (AK). Chiropractors began to take post-graduate seminars from Dr. Goodheart and were soon making discoveries of their own. The field of diagnostic kinesiology quickly expanded as doctors formed their own techniques based on Dr. Goodheart's original (AK). A complete listing can be found at The DOK.
Mechanics of Muscle Testing
The basic idea is that the brain monitors and controls the entire body through the rest of the nervous system. Because the nervous system also controls the state of the muscular system, a kinesiologist is able to tell something about the body by measuring how the muscles are working from moment to moment. This is usually done through a simple manual muscle test, in which the subject attempts to resist a force applied against the action of a muscle or group of muscles. Typically, the subject extends an arm or a leg and tries to hold it up, while the kinesiologist tries to push it down. There are also more specific tests to isolate individual muscles for evaluation. During the test, the kinesiologist feels for changes in the amount or character of the force that must be applied to overcome the resistance of the subject. Anything that has an immediate effect on the body can produce a change in the state of the muscles, through the nervous system. The kinesiologist is generally looking for what will produce such a change. Various body positions, reflex points, hand modes, or nutrients are among the things a kinesiologist might test in this way. This method of directly testing the body's responses to different stimuli is noninvasive, and can allow a kinesiologist to determine what treatment, if any, will have a favorable impact on the health of the subject.