Neurokinetic Therapy (NKT): The Missing Link

Neurokinetic Therapy uses manual muscle testing to determine whether or not muscles are firing properly on their own or in cooperation with other muscles. It uses specific protocols to determine which muscles are inhibited and which muscles are compensating for them, leading to a dysfunctional motor pattern. Think of these patterns as a bad relationship, with one partner doing all the work while the other is just along for the ride. Much like a dysfunctional relationship, these motor patterns can lead to a lot of pain!

Once the dysfunctional pattern is identified, the facilitated (compensating) muscle is stretched, foam rolled, released etc. and the inhibited muscle is activated using a specific exercise immediately afterward. This allows the inhibited muscle to do its job more effectively, reducing the strain on the facilitated muscle. The NKT protocol is an effective way to treat the cause of the dysfunction rather than jumping straight to the symptoms.

Often, these dysfunctional movement patterns appear as the result of an injury. For example, for patients complaining of posterior neck pain after a car accident, the pain will persist no matter how frequently the area is stretched or massaged. For many of these patients, they also have a subsequent weakness of their anterior neck muscles. By following their stretching with deep neck flexor activation, it is possible to get the neck muscles to start working better together, reducing posterior neck pain and tension.

The aspect that I love the most about NKT is that it gives me the ability to create highly specific homework programs tailored to each patient. Once we've found their most dysfunctional pattern they're given a few simple exercises to do and the results speak for themselves. This method is only as effective as its home exercise portion, putting the onus on the patient to fix their own patterning problems.

When I was assessed using NKT, it was found that one of my right quad muscles was overworking for one of my left glute muscles, resulting in left knee pain with running. By incorporating my re-patterning homework into my warm up and cool down, I've been able to run farther, with significantly less pain. I strongly recommend that patients find a therapist that uses NKT, and practitioners consider taking the courses!

#NKT #gamechanger