NeuroKinetic Therapy: The Missing Link to restoring optimum neuromotor connection, strength and coordination
What is NeuroKinetic Therapy?
NeuroKinetic Therapy (NKT) was developed by David Weinstock after spending 25 years studying body work and manual muscle testing. He found that muscles work together in predictable neurological patterns; either in reciprocal pairs or in a kinetic sequence. NKT is an elegant systemized method of determining through muscle testing, which reciprocal pairs or kinetic chain of muscles have lost their natural synergistic coordination with each other.
Normal Muscle Function
An example of a reciprocal pair is the antagonist-protagonist bicep-tricep pair. When you do a bicep curl at the gym, your tricep is neurologically signaled to relax, otherwise there is no motion. A kinetic muscle chain is when the glut, hamstring, calf and foot muscles of the leg fire in a sequence to take a step. It is important to note all muscles are neurologically controlled by the Motor Control Center (MCC) in the cerebellum of the brain.
Injuries to the body
Damage to joints, cartilage, tendons or muscles because of accidents, poor ergonomics or repetitive stress, will cause weakness in the body. The MCC will direct other muscles in the body to to compensate for the loss of function. Some muscles then will be over active while it’s reciprocal is under active, or one of the muscles in the kinetic chain becomes over active, ideally, to allow for healing of the damage. Sometimes the body gets “chronically stuck” in these compensation pattern, which eventually leads to further tissue damage, chronic weakness and pain syndromes. This would be termed a MCC error or a sensory-motor maladaptation.
Correcting the Cause-The Motor Control Center
Many of these compensation patterns are often resistant to normally good care under chiropractic, physical therapy or body work because it is not a joint, nerve or muscle problem but a MCC problem in the brain.
After a full NKT evaluation of the motor systems of the body through muscle testing, dysfunctional reciprocal muscle pairs and kinetic chains are revealed. Corrections consist of a variety of manual releases to the overactive muscle immediately after finding it’s weak reciprocal muscle for example. This sends new sensory input into the MCC, which can “reset” it’s motor control signaling for optimum muscle coordination. Muscle strength, coordination and symptomatic improvement is immediate. Neural re-balancing homework is given to the patient to help make the changes permanent.
NKT has been one of the most impressive techniques I’ve studied in my career. I have seen 10 and 20 year pain patterns suddenly change for patients that thought it was impossible to find something effective to help. It truly has been the missing link for many of my patients!