Case report
Applied kinesiology methods for a 10-year-old child with headaches, neck pain, asthma, and reading disabilities

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcm.2010.05.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

The purpose of this case report is to describe the chiropractic care of a 10-year-old boy who presented with developmental delay syndromes, asthma, and chronic neck and head pain and to present an overview of his muscular imbalances during manual muscle testing evaluation that guided the interventions offered to this child.

Clinical Features

The child was a poor reader, suffered eye strain while reading, had poor memory for classroom material, and was unable to move easily from one line of text to another during reading. He was using 4 medications for the asthma but was still symptomatic during exercise.

Intervention and Outcome

Chiropractic care, using applied kinesiology, guided evaluation, and treatment. Following spinal and cranial treatment, the patient showed improvement in his reading ability, head and neck pain, and respiratory distress. His ability to read improved (in 3 weeks, after 5 treatments), performing at his own grade level. He has remained symptom free for 2 years.

Conclusion

The care provided to this patient seemed to help resolve his chronic musculoskeletal dysfunction and pain and improve his academic performance.

Introduction

Developmental delay syndromes (DDSs) encompass the conditions known as dyspraxia, dyslexia, learning disabilities, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Over the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of DDS-related visits to health care providers. The percentage of children with severe behavioral and language problems is increasing.1 A study by the US Department of Education stated that more than 50% of minority and nonminority children are not reading at their grade level.2 With the increase of Ritalin (Novartis, East Hanover, NJ) use by 700% since 1990,3 it may occur to parents of children suffering from DDS to consider chiropractic and other means of treatment.

A recent case series suggests that a link may exist between motor impairments and DDSs in children. The muscle inhibitions found in 157 children with DDS were diagnosed using a manual muscle test protocol (MMT) developed in applied kinesiology (AK). Common psychometric tests used in the fields of educational psychology and special education were used pre- and posttreatment, revealing measurable improvements in cognitive function for 157 children with DDS between 6 and 13 years of age after the application of chiropractic treatments specified by AK.4

A growing body of research evidence has found that poor muscle tone is related to postural disorders, sensory-motor and coordination disorders, and kinesthesia in children with DDS.5, 6, 7 It has been shown that motor dyscoordination, especially affecting the postural and ocular muscles, is the most common comorbid condition associated with this spectrum of disorders.8 Because motor dysfunction, and specifically muscular inhibition, has been found as a common comorbidity associated with DDS, a reliable clinical tool for the diagnosis of this muscular inhibition is desirable. Poor motor performance is most practically assessed, with good reliability and validity in the clinic using MMT.9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

Applied kinesiology evaluates muscle function using MMT, a diagnostic test that has shown good reliability and validity for patients with muscle strength impairments. The use of MMT procedures is for 2 purposes in AK: to aid in the diagnoses of structural, chemical, and/or mental aspects of disease and to determine the effectiveness of treatments. In so doing, AK has been presumed to guide the therapeutic application itself.15, 16

In AK, muscular dysfunction is thought to reflect neural function. First, Kendall et al17 in the 1950s, then Goodheart18 in the 1960s, followed by many others, have expanded the construct validity and the clinical usefulness of the MMT9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 because of the recognition that muscular imbalance is a key characteristic of spinal and articular dysfunction. Applied kinesiology is a diagnostic and therapeutic chiropractic technique that has gained peer-reviewed published support within the chiropractic, dental, biofeedback, acupuncture, veterinary, and other health care literature.20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 The theories underlying the AK manual muscle testing procedures as this relates to the treatment of children have been reported.4,28, 29, 30, 31 A recent narrative literature review by Pauli32 presents the AK concepts and the clinical research articles regarding the treatment of children with DDS.

The purpose of this case report is to describe the chiropractic management of a child with DDS (slow learning, reading disability, distractibility), complicated by neck pain, headaches, and asthma.

Section snippets

Case report

A 10-year-old male elementary school student presented with a 3-year history of neck pain and headaches. At the author's request, the patient completed a pain drawing and a 1 to 10 numeric pain scale (NPS) of neck and head pain at his initial consultation. On the NPS, he rated his neck pain as 5 of 10 and headache as 5 of 10 at the time of his first appointment. When asked how many days a week he had the headaches, the patient replied “3 or 4 days out of the week.”

Three years previous to his

Discussion

In this case, the muscular impairments associated with the pain appeared to be an accurate measurement of the distress the patient was under. Treatment for these factors eliminated the patient's pain and restored his postural and muscular balance. In AK, the assessment became treatment in that muscular inhibitions found with the MMT were given specific physical challenges that improved the patient's muscular strength; these challenges guided the manipulative treatment applied and normalized

Conclusion

After 3 years of neck pain and headaches and 4 years of asthma, reading difficulty, and learning disability, this patient's symptoms resolved. The patient has remained free of symptoms in these areas of difficulty for 2 years since his initial treatments.

Funding sources and potential conflicts of interest

The authors are associated with the nonprofit entity the International College of Applied Kinesiology–USA. Scott Cuthbert serves on the Board of Directors and Anthony Rosner is hired as a research consultant for the International College of Applied Kinesiology–USA.

References (50)

  • KadesjöB. et al.

    Attention deficits and clumsiness in Swedish 7-year-old children

    Dev Med Child Neurol

    (1998)
  • MorrisonD.C. et al.

    Signs of neurobehavioral dysfunction in a sample of learning disabled children: stability and concurrent validity

    Percept Mot Skills

    (1985)
  • CuthbertS.C. et al.

    On the reliability and validity of manual muscle testing: a literature review

    Chiropr Osteopat

    (2007)
  • SchmittW.H. et al.

    Common errors and clinical guidelines for manual muscle testing: “the arm test” and other inaccurate procedures

    Chiropr Osteopat

    (2008)
  • JandaV.

    Muscle function testing

    (1983)
  • LewitK.

    Manipulative therapy in rehabilitation of the locomotor system

    (1991)
  • MotykaT.M. et al.

    Expanding the neurological examination using functional neurologic assessment, part 1: methodological considerations

    Int J Neurosci

    (1999)
  • GinR.H. et al.

    George Goodheart, Jr., D.C., and a history of applied kinesiology

    J Manipulative Physiol Ther

    (1997)
  • SchmitttW.H. et al.

    Expanding the neurological examination using functional neurological assessment part II: neurologic basis of applied kinesiology

    Int J Neurosci

    (1999)
  • KendallH.O. et al.

    Posture and pain

    (1952)
  • GoodheartG.J.

    Applied kinesiology research manuals

    (1964-1998)
  • American Medical Association
  • GelbG.
  • WaltherD.S.

    New concepts in craniomandibular and chronic pain management

  • Cited by (3)

    • Effectiveness of interventions for the treatment of dyslexia: A review

      2016, Revista de Logopedia, Foniatria y Audiologia
    • Applied kinesiology: Distinctions in its definition and interpretation

      2012, Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies
      Citation Excerpt :

      A 10-year-old male with a 3 year history of neck pain and headaches and 4 years of asthma attacks responded favorably to chiropractic (spinal and cranial) treatment guided by applied kinesiology in 5 treatments over a 3 week period, remaining symptom free for 2 years Previous use of medications, visits to the pediatrician and the emergency room had kept the asthma in check but did not permit exercising without significant respiratory distress. A marked increase of the patient's reading ability to his own grade level was noted as well (Cuthbert and Rosner, 2010a). A 30-year-old male with a right arm contracture, atrophy, and weakness resulting in a general paralysis of the forearm and index finger responded favorably in 8 treatment sessions to conservative care guided by AK diagnostic methods, whereas previous surgical and pharmacological interventions had failed (Charles, 2011).

    View full text