Muscles “See How The Body Works”

Muscles “See How The Body Works”

Most of us are familiar with our muscles and have some idea what they do. But besides enabling us to stand upright, move and provide power to do many things, muscles are an important part of a feedback mechanism used by both the brain and the doctor.

One important tool used by applied kinesiologists is standard muscle testing. Used properly, this provides the doctor with another vital piece of information in his appraisal of body performance. Other tools used include blood pressures in the lying, sitting and standing positions temperature, vital capacity (how much air your lungs can hold), and blood and urine tests. Muscle testing has been shown to not only evaluate the local function of that particular muscle, but the state of the muscle also provides clues about other areas of body function.

How do the muscles in one part of the body give information about other areas? Through the nervous system. This involves sending messages through the nerves and brain from not only the muscles but the joints as well. Similarly, the ears and eyes communicate with the brain as well, and must interpret and return commands to the body, telling it how to move, stand and function.

The muscles, which attach to bones, act as levers and move the bones and joints. The joints, the point where two bones join, are like hinges. When the joint is moved, it sends signals to the brain informing it of what movements are taking place and the position of our body. These signals are sent through both conscious and subconscious pathways within the nervous system.

The subconscious messages are sent to an area of the brain called the cerebellum. Here, the information is integrated with messages sent in from other joints in the body. This allows the brain to coordinate body movements through the muscles.

Besides hearing, our ears are part of the body's balance mechanism. Messages sent from the ears also go to the cerebellum. When working properly, this whole system allows our muscles to keep us standing up straight and moving around with efficiency.

Two other areas, which subconsciously control muscle function, are the hearing part of the ear, and the eyes. If someone walks up beside you, for example, and speaks, you will turn (muscle action) and look (eyes) toward them. It is the ability of these systems to work together which allows the muscles to make proper motions.

The conscious messages from the joints are sent to an area of the brain called the thalamus. This is a "switchboard" which integrates the conscious messages with those subconscious ones from the cerebellum. The thalamus takes this information and sends it to another part of the brain called the cortex, which then, based on all this information, tells our muscles specifically what to do.

Looking at this whole mechanism we can see that the joints are very dependent upon the muscles. Actually, the whole mechanism must be balanced. If, for example, even one muscle is not balanced, the joint may send improper subconscious signals to the cerebellum, and the information sent to the thalamus will be flawed. This, in turn, may distort the information the cortex receives, causing the wrong messages to be sent to the muscles. The result is poor body function, whether it be posture, movement, coordination, etc. This may become a vicious cycle where now an imbalanced body sends confused messages, conscious and subconscious, to the brain with potential whole body dysfunction.

How can we break this vicious cycle of imbalance (stress)? An applied kinesiology evaluation can correct, or balance, the muscle problem through a number of therapies, which may include acupressure, manipulation or reflex stimulation. Even dietary and/or nutritional recommendations, and exercise, may be required. Correcting the muscle imbalance restores normal function of the communication mechanisms. This, in a sense, gives the brain back effective control over the whole body. If you have questions about your muscle function or want further information about how an applied kinesiology evaluation can benefit you feel free to contact our office for a free consultation via email at: appointments@waldmanchiropractic.com or by phone at 781-205-4914