| Applied Kinesiology should be distinguished from kinesiology (biomechanics),
which is the scientific study of movement. According to the International College of Applied Kinesiology (ICAK), applied
kinesiology is an interdisciplinary approach to health care which draws together
the core elements of the complementary therapies, creating a more unified
approach to the diagnosis and treatment of functional illness. AK uses
functional assessment measures such as posture and gait analysis, manual muscle
testing as functional neurological evaluation, range of motion, static
palpation, and motion analysis. These assessments are used in conjunction
with other methods of diagnosis to develop a clinical impression of the
physiological condition of the patient, including an impression of the patient's
functional physiological status.
Some of the proposed etiologies for the muscle dysfunction include:
myofascial dysfunction, nerve entrapment, neurological disorganization,
nutritional inadequacy, toxic chemical influences, dysfunction of cerebrospinal
fluid or meningeal membranes, meridian system imbalance, and lymphatic/vascular
impairment amongst others.
During a functional neurological evaluation, muscle tests are used to monitor
the physiologic response to a physical, chemical, or mental status. The
following stimuli are examples: transient directional force applied to parts of
the body, stretching of the extremity, patient's digital contact over the skin
of a suspect are of dysfunction, repetitive contraction or motion, olfactory
stimulation, gustatory stimulation, or the patient's mental visualization of a
stressor among others.
There have been many offshoots of AK:
- Cardiac Rehabilitation Kinesiology
- Physical Rehabilitation
- Special Populations - developmentally delayed, physically disabled,
brain damaged, etc.
- Occupational Kinesiology - man and machine interactions
As an example: AK proponents claim that nutritional deficiencies, allergies,
and other adverse reactions to foods or nutrients can be detected by having the
patient chew or suck on these items or by placing them on the tongue so that the
patient salivates. Some practitioners advise that the test material merely be
held in the patient's hand or placed on another part of the body. A few even
perform "surrogate testing" in which the arm strength of a parent is tested to
determine problems in a child held by the parent. Many muscle-testing
proponents assert that nutrients tested in these various ways will have an
immediate effect: "good" substances will make specific muscles stronger, whereas
"bad" substances will cause weaknesses that "indicate trouble with the organ or
other tissue on the same nerve, vascular, nutrition, etc., grouping."
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