Chiropractic Applied Kinesiology

[ranebowchild]

Hi. My husband and I have no experience with chiropractic care or applied kinesiology. My daughter (almost 3) has some reflux problems and I've heard that a chiropractor might be able to help us. (Note: she seems to be getting a bit better with lifestyle changes.)

I had a lot of concerns about the safety of getting your spine aligned, so I called the clinic I chose 3 times to ask questions about what exactly a chiropractor would do for my daughter. 

We took her to the appointment yesterday and it surprised me that the chiropractor used applied kinesiology to determine which spots on her back were out of alignment. I think it's called the surrogate method. My daughter sat on my lap and I held my arm out and tried to keep it up while the chiropractor put pressure on it using his hand. He used his other hand to touch each of my daughters vertebra. If my muscle gave way at all during this experiment, he would stop and use the activator on that area.

The chiropractor was very nice, but very strange (and that's coming from me hah!) He didn't have time to answer my questions, even though they said I would get some time.

I hardly understood what was going on during any of this. I had to go home and research. I discovered that using this practice in the area of chiropractic is mostly unaccepted and considered quackery.

I have to say that even though I'm finding applied kinesiology very interesting, I feel I should have been told that applied kinesiology was going to be used. I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't want to pay for that, even if it is real/true.

I called another clinic in my area and spoke to a chiropractor about this and he had a good laugh. He said "Oh, I know John (the chiro) but I had no idea that he was getting into that stuff. It is definately controversial and there are no studies to prove it to be helpful."

We talked for a while and this chiropractor is exactly what I expected to find. He is much more science-y and sounds doctor-y. 

I'm not sure where to make her next appointment. Can anybody please offer experiences and/or advice about what route to choose?

Thank you so much to any replies. :)

[sunnysandiegan]

First of all, I think you need to go where you feel most comfortable because that will allow you to relax. Then, healing can take place.

But, to answer your questions, yes, I have been to a chiropractor where he used applied kinesiology with me and my dd. He had me lay on my back on his table and have my dd lay on top of me. He did not use an activator on her and I don't recall him using an activator at all, actually. Another chiro has used one with me on my foot several times and I vaguely recall that being the first time I had seen one. (I saw him most recently.)

He also had her lay on the table without me to get her used to it. Honestly, though, he did all the work on my DD as a complimentary service. I was his patient, not her. He was into family care, though, and she was usually with me. He didn't do a lot of adjustments on her. She is super healthy and didn't need them. I recall one time she had fallen the day before or the morning of the appt and hurt her arm. He did an adjustment then and it worked beautifully. I also recall a cold or ear ache or something like that she had once and the adjustment or AK (whatever he did at the time, I don't recall right now...she's 9 now and this was back when she was 3-4) worked like magic.

I really liked this chiropractor! We had a good connection, which is really my point.

[PAgreenmama]

applied kinesiology is AMAZING!  

imo, it's a method that can more easily get to the root of the problem than most other chiropractic methods because it addresses many different causes of subluxation.  i would go ahead a make a few more appointments.... depending on how often he is seeing you, the general "rule" is that you should being noticing some changes within 2-3 weeks.  

stay away from sites like quackwatch... they are garbage.  chiropractic is WAY safer than any drugs or surgery a medical doctor will prescribe.  medicine has it's place but imo, you should always start with the least invasive treatments such as chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy...  

i hope your dd is feeling better soon :)