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NeuroKinetic therapy is a sophisticated assessment and treatment modality that produces effective, long lasting results for a range of pains and problems in the body by uncovering and understanding the root cause of a person’s dysfunctional movement patterns in the brain.
NeuroKinetic therapy (NKT) is a fantastic approach that was born out of the frustration of why ongoing pain and problems persist or keep coming back despite employing a range of rehabilitative techniques. Traditionally, when we look at addressing the causes of a person’s injury, a person may look at strengthening local weak muscles in isolation, or improving the flexibility of the specific tight injured tendon that has contributed to the development of an injury.
NKT, on the other hand, looks to the brain and its motor control centre that coordinates posture and movement, to identify dysfunctional movement patterns that are stored in the brain – and then “unlearn” them and re-learn optimal movement patterns that allow healthy, fluid and injury-free movement.
You know how everytime you kick a ball or cut a cucumber you do it in the same way, almost on autopilot? That’s because our movement patterns are stored in the brain, and these patterns can be altered after we sustain an injury, undergo surgery – or even when we repetitively perform a movement in a less-than-ideal way for whatever reason, until our brain learns and interprets it as the norm. Unfortunately, this can mean that it’s the way we are performing the movements without realising it that is the true culprit of our ongoing pain – and if we overlook this as part of rehabilitation – then we may continue to suffer from ongoing pain or discomfort and wonder why we’ve never reached that pain-free state we aimed for.
NeuroKinetic therapy can only be performed by certified therapists that perform a comprehensive assessment of the entire body, employing an extensive system of precise muscle tests, and interpreting the findings to identify muscle imbalances and dysfunctions that may be contributing to the problems and pains a person is experiencing.
The treatment is then to help re-educate the brain in a specific way through tailored exercises and hands-on therapies that restore functional movement, and ultimately lead to the long-term resolution of a person’s problems. The goal of the exercise program and manual therapies is to release overactive structures or inhibited muscles that may be causing a block in a healthy movement pattern.
An example of how NKT could work is looking at a soccer collision that resulted in a knee injury that has left your knee weak and unstable. As a result, your body has employed other muscles in your quads and legs to overcompensate and help support stable movement as best possible, leading to further leg pain. Without addressing this, your brain may think that this new movement pattern is now the norm, and you continue to naturally move these ways, with these additional muscles constantly engaged and compensating, even after the knee injury has healed. In this case, NKT uses touch, pressure and specific exercises to retrain the movement patterns of the muscles in the legs and ensure that these new functional movements are stored in the brain.
Almost instantly if the muscle imbalance is identified.
You don’t – but we’ll help you uncover it at your appointment through our specialised assessment and muscle testing, as well as by learning about your movement and injury history.
Aside from working with you through targeted exercise, we may use deep, focused manual pressure to release muscles. The amount of pressure required is moderate not intense, and we will often do more muscle testing to check if the necessary changes have been made.
Many people can notice a difference in their movement or pain levels after the first appointment, with many noticing that the movement that initially caused them pain no longer bothers them. You may also feel more energetic, you stand taller, and you generally have more freedom of movement.
