There are two parts to recovery from trauma. The first, repair of damaged muscles, ligaments, nerves and bones occurs automatically with rest and basic care. But there is a hidden aspect of healing that is rarely dealt with - body memories of trauma and compensations that followed to deal with the trauma which may now be causing ongoing pain and dysfunction. In some cases, this is like a fire alarm that stays on after the fire is out. Clinical Kinesiology (CK) can shut off these errant alarms, immediately relieving pain.

What is Clinical Kinesiology?

Kinesiology is a fascinating method of detecting and correcting various bio-energetic imbalances and stresses within the body through muscle testing first presented by Dr. Alan Beardall. CK looks upon the body as a living biological computer - one with complex functions and enormous stores of memory. By observing the body, the Kinesiologist searches for the underlying causes of the apparent symptoms. Clinical Kinesiology is a touch therapy which links Chinese acupuncture points, meridians (energy channels) and energy balance with Western anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. The aim is to achieve balance in the body by releasing energy blocks and by reducing toxic load.

The body is great at learning, but the problem is forgetting! For example, a simple sprained ankle can create long-term problems as after a sprain, your whole posture subtly changes to protect the ankle and avoid pain. The muscles throughout the body take on protective responses, tightening or loosening to change how they work together. The injured muscle may heal in a matter of days, but your body has in effect learned a whole new posture which is referred to as "compensation". So, although the ankle may feel like it's back to normal, the memory of the injury that changed the posture of the entire body may now be causing a knee, back or wrist problem or even prevent the ankle itself from recovering. CK may be the only therapy that has the tools to specifically address compensation. CK improves the effectiveness of any well designed athletic training, physical therapy, occupational therapy or other program by restoring proper function. If the hidden compensation is not dealt with, exercise, stretching, or other therapies may not be 100% effective. You will be more prone to future injury, less efficient in your activities, and your performance will suffer.

How Does CK Work? The concept is strange to most at first. With CK your shoulder might get treated to improve the function of your foot or knee. It is foreign to the way we are used to thinking of our bodies. If the knee is hurting, it is natural to want the knee to be treated. It is normal to want to go to a knee specialist. Yet, when a problem is chronic, returns again, or even in many first time injuries, the key to recovery is often how the whole body is relating to the area that is injured.

Restoring coordination of the whole body - through the nervous system, every muscle, ligament, organ and nerve in the body knows, or should know, what every other part is doing. When one part changes others must respond. "One of the things that I've found is that in an acute injury where the tendon is involved, you treat the local area, but if you have a chronic problem, you always treat away from the area of symptom. Many times, the pain that you find in a tendon is part of the body's adaptation due to other injuries that have occurred." Dr Buhler, CK practitioner.

What Kind of Athletic Conditions Can Be Helped by CK? The injuries that don't go away or keep coming back - the nagging pain that doesn't stop you from doing what you love, but makes it difficult - the feeling of imbalance in your body that you can't quite describe - the odd "only hurts when I do this" pains - the turned ankle, sore shoulder, gimpy knee, hurting wrist of even the sprained thumb.

Clinical Kinesiology restores normal function from the inside out:

Bursitis
Tendonitis
Adhesive Capsulitis
Carpal Tunnel
Sprain/Strain
Performance Issues
"Slump" relief
Mental Blocks
Unexplained Pain
Balance/Coordination
Tennis Elbow
Neck, Back
Arm, Wrist, Shoulder
Hip, Knee Ankle

What Makes CK Unique? The formula is basically simple. When muscular imbalances are corrected, pain decreases and function improves. Most forms of therapy focus on tight muscles in the area of pain as the primary factor in chronic pain or injury, but CK recognizes that muscle tightness is the body's protection of a joint that has become unstable due to weakness of other muscles.

If the weakness isn't addressed, however, muscles that tightened to protect joints and were temporarily loosened by treatment will tighten again. The weakness must be addressed. Through the nervous system, the entire musculoskeletal system acts as a unit Therefore, the cause of weakness can be anywhere in the body. No amount of exercise will correct a weak muscle when the cause is imbalance in the body-wide coordination and control of posture and activity. CK is unique in its ability to discover and resolve these hidden causes of weakness.

Correcting these imbalances stabilizes the involved joint, by allowing tight muscles protecting the joint to relax. The end result is reduced pain and increased mobility, strength and performance that athletes notice immediately.

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