APPLIEDKINESIOLOGY(AK) AMEDICALEXAMINATION METHODWHICH HOLISTICALLYBROADENS DENTAL DIAGNOSTICS IM K DDr.MargitA.Riedl-Hohenberger,Dr.RudolfMeierhöfer,Dr.UlrichAngermaier K • • IC1 K-A • • Preliminary remarks provedimpressivelywhatahighlyenergizedareaofthebody Thenumberofpatientsshowingvaguesymptoms,sufferingfrom dentistsworkin.Alargenumberofthebioenergeticmethodsof unclear complaints, which have been existing chronically for diagnosisrelyonelectronicmeasuringequipment.Appliedkine- yearsandareresistanttotherapy,hasincreasedsteadilyover siology,ontheotherhand,enablesustoexaminethebasicstate recentyears.Mainstreamdiagnostics,inspiteofconsiderable andthebody’sreactionstovariousformsofstimulationwithout progressinthefieldofmedicine,oftenareataloss.Theeffects usingtechnicalequipment. ofharmfulsubstancesandtoxinsonvariouspartsofthehuman bodyaremanifoldanddifficulttograspwiththehelpof“modern What is Applied Kinesiology (AK)? technicalmedicine.” First and foremost, Applied Kinesiology is a diagnostic me- Insearchofcomplementarydiagnostics,practitioners–besides thod,which,bycomplementingotherconventionaltestresults, inspection,palpation,X-ray,laboratorytests,etc.–increasingly canhelpcorroborateandrefinethediagnosis,yetmaybealso alsoresorttobioenergeticexaminationmethods.Doctorsnowa- broadentheresultingspectrumoftherapies. daysareexpectedtodealwiththeirpatients’illnessesandthe ThefirstmedicaltextsonAKwerewrittenbytheAmericanchi- causesnotmerelyfromamonocausalandisolatedpointofview. ropractorGeorgeJ.Goodheart,Jr.,D.C.,andpublishedin1964. Therealizationofquantumphysics,thateverythingisconnected Heobservedthatmuscles,whichheexaminedbymeansofthe toeverythingelseandthatallthingsinfluenceeachother,should standardizedmuscletestingmethodsasdescribedbyKendall alsoinspirethemedicalpracticeofthefuture. and Kendall, changed their strength from one second to the otherwhenpatientswerestimulatedbyvariousmeans,either Ailments of the modern age! locallyintheareaofthemuscleinquestionoralsoperipherally Millions of people in Europe suffer from so-called lifestyle di- somewhereelseonthebody.Thereactionofthetestmuscle, seases such as allergies, diabetes, rheumatism, osteoporosis, whichwasalsoreproducible,changedfromweaktostrong,and from diseases of the stomach, the bowel, the heart, and the vice versa, depending on the form of stimulation used. Good- thyroid gland, or from parodontitis, etc. And increasingly it is heart,quitegenially,combinedhisextensiveknowledgeofdie- younger patients who are worst affected. High-performance tetics,phytotherapy,acupunctureandconstitutiontherapywith medicineisconcernedwithalleviatingthesymptomsandles- hisvastchiropracticexperienceaswellastheresultsgleaned seningthecomplicationsofthesediseases,lesswithexploring fromhismuscleteststodevelopappliedkinesiology.Thenatural thecauses. consequence, for him, was to view each health problem from Manyofthepatientswithchronicdiseasesdonotshowaclear aholisticpointofviewthattakeseverythingintoconsideration. patternthatcouldbecategorizedaccordingtomainstreamme- Thisapproachhecalledthe“TriadofHealth.” dicine.Thecausesoftheseillnessesaredowntomanydifferent factorsandaffectthesystemofbasicregulation(matrixregula- tion)intheconnectivetissue. Why do these diseases become more frequent? Itisuncontestedthatinflammation,i.e.theactivationofourim- munesystem,eitherdirectlyorindirectly,viaanegativeimpact ontheimmunefunctionorbiochemicalprocesses,constitutes thekeytonearlyallsystemicdiseases. Geneticsalonewillnotaccountforthedramaticriseininflamm- atorydiseases.Today,weknowthatamultitudeofindividualtrig- gerandco-factorsplayapartinsettingoffchronicinflammatory illnesses.Inourmodernsociety,weareincreasinglyforcedto dealwithevermorecomplexforeignsubstances,which–taken together–constitutethesourceofinflammationand,againstthe backgroundofgeneticpredispositionandbiochemicalchanges, giverisetothemostwidespreaddiseasesofourdayandage. Unfortunately,modernmedicinetooplaysasignificantparthere. Interferingwiththebiologicalintegrityofhumanshasnearlybe- comeeverydayroutine.Forinstance,onlythinkofforeignsub- In this triad, the body’s structure, the biochemical milieu and stancesusedinthefieldsofdentistry,orthopedicsorsurgery, thepsychemergetoformadynamicsystem.Witheachillness drug-andhormone-basedtherapies,treatmentsusingimmuno- diagnosed,takingintoconsiderationallthreesides,andputting stimulantsorimmunosuppressives. differentemphasisoneachdependingonthesituation,therewill Afactthatisoftenneglectedisthatanyinterferenceintheorga- bevariousviableoptionsfortherapies.TheuseofAKineach nismhasvariouseffectsonthebodyasawhole.Sadly,thespe- casebuildsonthebasisofallthenecessarymedicaltestssuch cializationinmedicinealsoleadstosideeffectsandsecondary asinspection,palpation,imagingproceduresorlaboratoryre- diseasesoftennotbeingrecognizedaslongasthelatterarenot sults. directlyconnectedtotheorgansystemtherespectivediscipline is dealing with. These developments also affect modern den- Variants of Kinesiology tistry. Aswithallgreatinnovations,awidevarietyof“kinesiological” Especiallytheheadandtheoralcavityareembeddedinasy- variationshavedevelopedbesidesAK,especiallyinlaycircles. stemofenergeticpathways.Hereiswheremeridiansbeginand Wearethinking,forinstance,oftheTouchforHealthmovement, end.Inthecourseoftheirresearch,R.VollandJ.Gleditschhave BehavioralKinesiology,NeuralKinesiology,orEdu-kinesthetics, 2 • • tonamebutafew.Manyofthesemethodsdonotevenperform latingthesedationpointoftherespectivemuscle’smeridian), thenecessaryconventionalmedicaltestsordosoonlysuperfi- themuscletemporarilyreactsbywayofafunctionalweake- cially.Theyoftensetnogreatstorebysoundstandardizedmus- ning.Thismuscleisdescribedasnormoreactive. cletestings.AppliedKinesiology,asproposedbyGeorgeGood- 3.Themuscleisstrongwhilebeingtested,doesnotreacttothe heart,clearlydistancesitselffromtheselaymovementsinthis sedativemeasuresdescribedinpoint2though,andremains respect. strong.AKcallsthisahyperreaction. Muscle testing in Applied Kinesiology Thesethreetypesofmusclereactionarecomparabletothehy- The most important tool of Applied Kinesiology, as mentioned peractiveandhypoactivestagesoftheGeneralAdaptationSyn- above, is a correctly carried out muscle test. The muscle is dromeasdefinedbyHansSelye,namelyshock,alarmreaction broughtintothestandardizedtestposition.Thetestingprocedu- withsubsequentadaption,andexhaustion. reconsistsofthepractitionerpressingthemuscle,atmaximum contraction and without pain, against a broad hand contact. GAS (General Adaption Syndrome) according to Selye: Thistestiscarriedoutisometrically.Assoonasthepatienthas reachedhisorhermaximumstrength,thepractitionerslightly Levelofreaction patientwitha strongconstitution increasescounterpressurefortwotothreeseconds.Itisimpor- patientwitha tantthattheincreaseinstrengthisgradualandnottoosudden, weakconstitution sothatadditionalmusclefibrescanberecruited.Alladvantages inpower,duringthetest,shouldremainwiththepatient. pmax subjektivesKraftmaximumdesPatienten _____ pmax Druck the patient’sdesPatienten subjective power maximum _____ patient’s pressure ----- DruckdesUntersuchers shockalarm adaption exhaustion Δp- - - - - 2-3-4% practitioner’szusätzlicher pressureDruck desUntersuchers Δp 2-3-4 percent additional pressure through practioner langsam slowly increasingansteigend In the first reaction to stress (shock), physical performance a)dera) TheMuskel patient’sdes musclePatienten stays strong,bleibt i.e.stark, it is abled.h. to erreactkann dropsforashortperiod,inorderthentoincreaseagainthanks dencorrectlykleinen to Extradruckthe little extrades pressureUntersuchers, (Δp) appliedΔp by richtigthe toareleaseofcortisolandadrenalin(alarmphase).Ifthestress practitioner (“locking in”). beantwortenb) he muscle suddenly(„locking “breaksin“). down,” i.e. Δp cannot be ans- continues,probablyovermonthsandyears,thebodywilladapt b)plötzlicheswered correctly. „Zusammenbrechen“ des Muskels, d.h. (stageofresistence)ataconsiderablyraisedlevel.Thisisa Δpkannnichtrichtigbeantwortetwerden. sensible reaction, as the organism thus is very efficient and abletoremainsooveralongperiod.Ifthestressiskeptupfor toolong,however,astateofexhaustionmustfollow,areturn fromwhichtothestageofresistenceishardlypossible.What isrequiredthen,inanycase,isanextendedrecoveryphase andcomprehensivetherapeuticmeasuresincludingachange in the patient’s lifestyle (lifestyle modification). Today, many patientscomplainabouttypicalstress-relatedsymptoms.The effectsofstressontheimmunesystemnowadaysarebeyond dispute. Challenge and therapy localization Aftertheinitialexamination,whichprovidesthetherapistwith informationonthestrengthandreactivityofthetestmuscle, the patient, depending on the clinical problem, is subjected toastructural,chemicalormentalstimulus(TriadofHealth). AppliedKinesiologycallsthisprovocationachallenge.Inrefe- rencetotheconceptofstressformulatedbySelye,thepracti- The recognition of pmax and the sensitive execution of the test is the true tionertests,whicheffectsastimuluswillhaveonthemuscle DasartErkennen of the tester.von The pmaxpatient’sund reaction,die gefühlvollei.e. a) or b), is Testdurchführungthe crucial aspect reaction,whichofcourseisrelevantforthepatientandthere- of AK muscle testing! istdieKunstdesUntersuchers.DieReaktiondesPatienten(a) foreinneedtobeclearedup. oder(b)istdereigentlicheentscheidendeSchrittdesAK-Mus- Thesimpletouchingofapartofthebodytobeexamined(e.g. keltests! scar,infectedtooth,joint,vertebra,etc.)iscalledtherapyloca- Inaproperlycarriedouttest,therearethreepossiblemuscle lization(TL).Thelatterisaspecialformoftheso-calledchal-