The brain-body miracle

Since movement has been an integral part of my everyday life, it’s very rare for my body to give me problems. So, a recent bout of hip pain came as an unwelcome surprise. Every cloud has a silver lining though. In the quest to get it sorted, I have discovered a whole new way of managing injuries that I had not previously been aware of. It was quite an eye-opener.

Over recent years, I have become fascinated with the power of the brain and how to harness it to best effect. Generally speaking, traditional medicine treats the body and mind as two separate entities. It also tends to focus on treating the symptoms rather than the root cause of them. So when I recently heard about Neurokinetic therapy, I had high hopes that it would offer a more integrated approach with better outcomes. So it was that I headed towards London Bridge this week for my very first session.

What is it?

NeuroKinetic Therapy is a manual therapy technique that identifies and corrects dysfunctional movement and muscle imbalances. It combines muscle testing with an understanding of neuroscience in order to re-programme the way our bodies move, and thereby relieve pain and restore function.

How does it work?

The Motor Control Centre is a network of interconnected regions of the brain that work together to control movement. The core principle of NeuroKinetic Therapy is that, in the face of injury or weakness, the brain will cleverly compensate by creating alternative movement patterns. However, they are not always the most efficient, and so may result in one muscle overworking while another underfunctions. Over time, this can lead to pain or dysfunction, even after the original injury has long gone.

In simple terms, one area of the body might be painful, but the reason for this lies in somewhere completely different.

Manual muscle testing allows the therapist to track down what is going on, and establish the compensatory movement patterns. Then the brain is retrained to activate the correct muscles again.

I knew a little about the theory but I really had no idea what to expect. To see it in action was quite remarkable.

The session

After taking a detailed medical history Chloe, the lovely therapist, set to work analysing my movement, initially while I was standing up. I thought I was pretty in tune with what is going on in my body, but already she noticed some things that I hadn’t. My left knee was slightly bent when doing a heel raise (there’s no need for that!). There was limited range when rocking my hips towards the left, and much more restricted movement when twisting that way too. It didn’t take long to establish that the clues were in the left side!

Chloe then started to test individual muscles to work out which one was weak or not functioning as well as it could, and which was trying to make up for it. I had to push into her hands in different directions depending on which muscle she was checking. It became clear very quickly that certain ones could not give much pushback.

It turns out that the pain I had been feeling was actually caused by the gluteus medius, a muscle in the side of the hip, overcompensating for one in my core (the internal oblique in my waist) which was not firing up correctly. What happened next though was truly remarkable. Having established what she thought was the root cause, Chloe asked me to simply put my hand on my waist as she tested it again. This time, there was a marked increase in strength that was impossible to fathom. I was convinced she was not resisting as hard as before but she assured me she was. It was like magic!

HOW can that be?!

When you place your hand on a muscle during testing, you’re stimulating mechanoreceptors (sensory nerve endings in the skin and fascia). These send signals to the central nervous system, giving the brain extra sensory feedback about that specific area of the body. That alone is sufficient to temporarily change the muscle’s response. Incredible!

Chloe then set about releasing the tightness in the waist using massage techniques. She gave me a series of exercises to activate the area and encourage the Motor Control Centre to create a permanent new movement pattern.

My conclusion

I hadn’t expected the nervous system to respond so quickly to the new direction. There was no question that the results were immediately visible in terms of strength as described above, as well as range and quality of movement. It also felt uplifting to know that, unlike many treatments, NeuroKinetic Therapy aims to get to the heart of the issue rather than how it presents on the surface.

However the body is extremely complex and working on one area can often throw another out, as happened with me when my inner thigh started to kick off during the session for no apparent reason! Equally, old patterns are deeply wired, and so reinforcement in the form of regular repetition is needed to create permanent change. Some of this comes via the exercise programme you are given, but it may be that follow up appointments are needed. So the message here is a familiar one – do the homework consistently!!

All that said, my view is the NeuroKinetic Therpay is certainly an effective tool in the treatment of injuries, especially those that are related to movement dysfunction and muscle imbalance. It is also fascinating to see it in action. I will get on with my exercises and keep you updated!