Nelson Chiropractic & Pilates Center

I recently had the opportunity to treat a high school cross country athlete with neck pain. She said that about halfway through her races, she would get a spasm in her right shoulder blade and then intense neck pain.

She showed me a video of her running and it was obvious that her right shoulder was elevated while she was running. Muscle testing revealed weakness in her right middle and lower trapezius, right levator scapulae, right upper trapezius, and right neck flexors.

NeuroKinetic Therapy® (NKT) testing revealed that her right upper trapezius was neurologically overactive and paired with underactive neck flexors. In addition, the right levator scapulae was overactive and the middle trapezius was underactive.

Treatment to the overactive muscles and a simple activation exercise of the underactive muscles resulted in all muscles now testing strong. Homework was assigned to reproduce the treatment at home. In addition, over the next 3 treatment session, we focused on scapular stabilization exercise.

On her 5th visit, the patient mentioned that for the first time in months she was able to complete a race with no spasms or neck pain! She also showed me a video of her running and there were no signs of shoulder elevation.

I’ll be teaching a NKT Level 1 in the Philadelphia area November 9 & 10, and Amsterdam in December. Check out https://neurokinetictherapy.com/upcoming-seminars/ for more information or to register.

NeuroKinetic Therapy Level 1 Philadelphia/South Jersey November 9 & 10. Save $100 if you register by October 9.

https://neurokinetictherapy.com/upcoming-seminars/

I recently had the opportunity to work with a piano player that was having neck pain and jaw tightness. She mentioned no obvious injuries but said that she spends hours and hours playing the piano every day. She also noted that she reads sheet music for many hours at a time and sometimes her eyes hurt.

Posture evaluation revealed a significant anterior head carriage with rounding of her shoulders. Palpation of her neck, jaw, and shoulder muscles revealed significant tightness and tenderness. Muscle testing revealed weakness in her neck flexors and her trapezius muscles tested strong but seemed a little too strong.

NeuroKinetic Therapy® (NKT) testing revealed a dysfunction in her eye muscles that was creating the weakness in her neck flexors and a neurological hypertonicity in her trapezius muscles. Specifically, her right superior oblique was neurologically overactive, and her right inferior oblique was neurologically underactive.

Gentle soft tissue treatment to her superior oblique and a simple stimulation of her inferior oblique resulted in her neck flexors to test strong and her trapezius muscles to return to normal tone. She immediately reported that her jaw had relaxed significantly and that she could fully open her jaw without pain and tightness for the first time in years.

On her follow up visit she commented that her neck and jaw pain hasn’t returned since her treatment and for the first time in years her upper body feels relaxed when she is playing the piano.

I’ll be teaching a NKT Level 1 in Atlanta in September (28 & 29), Washington DC in October, the Philadelphia area in November, and Amsterdam in December. Check out https://neurokinetictherapy.com/upcoming-seminars/ for more information or to register.

A patient recently presented with numbness down her left leg. She has been experiencing the symptoms for the past year and previous chiropractic, physical therapy, acupuncture, and massage therapy didn’t help. All imaging was negative aside from some degenerative changes in her lower back. She reported that her piriformis was very tight but that stretching it seemed to make her symptoms worse.

Muscle testing revealed weakness in her re**us abdominis, transverse abdominis, bilateral quadratus lumborum (QL), bilateral multifidus, left gluteus maximus, left piriformis, and left iliacus. NeuroKinetic Therapy® (NKT) testing revealed a compression issue in her lower back related to a neurologically overactive multifidus paired with an underactive transverse abdominis and a compression issue in her left hip related to an overactive iliacus and an underactive piriformis.

Soft tissue treatment to the overactive structures and simple activation exercises to the underactive muscles resulted in all the muscles testing strong on re-exam. While her numbness didn’t change, she immediately noted a significant improvement in her range of motion, specifically with her ability to rotate her torso and touch her toes.

On her follow up visit, she reported an 85% improvement in her symptoms! She mentioned that her homework exercises felt great when she performed them. She was happy to report that her piriformis no longer felt tight despite not stretching it at all since the treatment!

Key takeaway: Just because a muscle is tight, it doesn’t necessarily mean it needs to be stretched. Test don’t guess!

I’ll be teaching a NKT Level 1 in Atlanta in September (28 & 29), Washington DC in October, the Philadelphia area in November, and Amsterdam in December. Check out https://neurokinetictherapy.com/upcoming-seminars/ for more information or to register.