Re: Applied Kinesiology by Any Other Name… | Science-Based Medicine

[Guest guest]

IMHO, AK is yes, on the list - but I'm sure I can find many more things ahead of

it in silliness. For example, the notion that putting a crystal on somebody's

forehead is going to make them well...sans any other realistic treatment.

There's a new one every day - oh yes, another favorite is the " Tibetan Bowl

Massage " someone I know sells...(sigh). You get a metal bowl, burn some sage

torches, and a Tibetan monk (theoretical, can't prove he is or isn't one really)

and you charge oh, about 100 dollars a session. You get the monk to chant as you

burn the torch, and you have the monk touch the bowl. Then you take the bowl and

touch the injured shoulder (in this case). No actual massage is done (in fact,

you don't touch the client at all after touching the bowl to them.... " you might

disturb the energy " .). Needless to say, if this was truly effective, I'd be out

finding a monk I could work with, it would really reduce some of the mileage I

take on doing the heavy massage work here!

Another chiro " technique " one of my clients told me he was subjected to was the

tuning fork to the vertebrae - for 400 dollars a session.

There are people making a better living than I do by way of the placebo effect

IMHO - but I'm not willing to take that long walk off a short pier personally, I

choose to remain within practice in therapeutic/medical massage.

None of these are really dangerous, just silly and expensive. They rely heavily

on believe and finding those who believe them even in this economy, well,

they're still well funded apparently.

The more dangerous trend IMHO is to tell folks they have " dangerously low

adrenal function " and offer to treat it.... when clients tell me they're taking

sheep's gland extracts and other things as instructed by their chiro without the

knowledge or blood test by their PCP or other specialist, all I can do is

strongly suggest they get their MD involved....sigh. Some have given me

pamphlets they received claiming " 80% of all adults have adrenal

dysfunction/failure " .

I think AK is relatively mild compared to some of these above.

The Phantom

aka Schaefer, CMT/RMT, competing powerlifter

Denver, Colorado, USA

Applied Kinesiology by Any Other Name… |

Science-Based Medicine

Applied kinesiology (AK) was briefly mentioned in Gavura's article on Food

Intolerance Tests last week. Since AK is arguably the second silliest thing in

CAM after homeopathy, I thought it wouldn't hurt to say a little more about it.

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/applied-kinesiology-by-any-other-n\

ame/

Driscoll

Sydney, Australia