Muscle Testing

Too often people call and want to return a product because their healthcare professional did a muscle test and said they didn't need it.

I Use Muscle Testing

First let me say that for over 30 years I have used and continue to use muscle testing in my chiropractic practice. I have learned that testing properly is not that difficult if the tester understands some basic limitations.

The Tester is Part of the Test

Any preconceptions of the tester become part of the test. If the tester has a preconceived notion about the results, the test cannot be unbiased and cannot be accurate. It is most difficult to stay neutral but it is absolutely essential or the test is meaningless.

It is Best to Test Against and Organ Point

Also just doing a general test is not that informative either. Generally the tester puts the object close to the chest in the energy field of the person being tested and then the muscle is tested for strength or weakness and that's that. It is better to check for effects on different organ systems such as separately test for the effects on the brain, liver, kidneys intestines etc. You may be taking something that your brain needs but puts some stress on your liver. That may be an acceptable situation for a short haul. This will be a judgment call.

Muscle Testing Is Only For the Moment, Not Past or Future

Muscle testing is not predictive. It only gives information for that particular moment. For example, let's say you take vitamin C at 7:00 a.m. and have an appointment with your chiropractor at 10:00 a.m. that morning. He or she does a muscle test to check the body's response to vitamin C and lo and behold, the muscle test says the body doesn't want it. This says absolutely nothing about what the body might want 10 minutes or two hours from now. If you want to be accurate, you would have to do the muscle test every couple of hours for a few days to see trends. I have never heard of anyone actually doing that.

Herbal Combinations Are More Problematic

Of course whole muscle testing approach gets more complex with an herbal combination product that you might get from NeuroScience. The problem may or may not be related to the formulation but it may be dosing. Your body's tolerance might be related to just one of the ingredients and as long the dose keeps the most reactive ingredient at acceptable levels, the body will tolerate the entire combination.

We Like Muscle Testing But Rely More Heavily On Lab Tests

We have learned to rely more and more on lab testing. Getting numbers from a lab is like getting an opinion from an unbiased third party. Subjectivity is removed. Since we learned how to order and read lab tests, our results have improved greatly. As I always say, you get the best results by testing, treating and retesting.

Use Muscle Testing To Fine Tune

Labs don't tell you everything so we still use some muscle testing. We might want to see which of two or three different formulations might best suit the body's needs. For example, if we are recommending a fish oil, we might muscle test two or three different brands to see if the body has a preference. Maybe we would test a couple of different types of GABA support to see if the body has a preference. I wouldn't use muscle testing to see if the body needed GABA support, however. I have much more faith in lab tests to learn something about the body's needs.

A Muscle Test, Even Properly Done Is Just One Data Point on the Graph

So if your healthcare professional does a quick muscle test of a complex formulation and makes a sweeping conclusion about the suitability of that product for you, you might as well be using a dart board to decide if you need it nor not.